A ‘don’t text your ex’ shirt and divorce rings: Fashion leads a break-up paradigm shift Let your wardrobe announce your newfound singledom, from tees with ironic break-up mantras to jewelry that serves as homage to one’s former partner Talk of break-ups, falling out of love and other romantic dramas is no longer relegated to weepy R&B balladry. Nowadays, fashion is also taking its inspiration from tales of the ex. T-shirts with messages that allude to going one’s separate ways are now a growing trend which, like so many others in this day and age, had its first go-round in the 2000s.
Those well-versed in pop culture will recall that in 2002, Britney Spears was photographed in a blue tee whose orange lettering spelled out “Dump him.” The Juicy Couture set the world aflame, worn as it was after Spears’ well-publicized break-up with performer Justin Timberlake . Many years later in 2021, another pop star, Olivia Rodrigo, shared an image to social media that showed her wearing an identical shirt, unleashing a collective mania to track down where she had bought the garment.
That same year on her worldwide Guts tour, Rodrigo bet heavily on message tees, sporting a different model at every concert. From Manila to Seoul, Los Angeles to Sydney, the California singer now has her fans guessing on what pithy phrase she’ll be emblazoned with at her next show. There have been winks to the city in which she’s performing (“I love pad thai”, read her shirt in Bangkok; .
