Blue Monday Merch
I'm a diehard Gen-Xer. I learned everything I needed to know growing up by watching John Hughes movies (My favorite is Pretty in Pink - best soundtrack ever!) I have a lot of pride about being from Generation X and all that entails: our independence, laissez faire attitude, love of life, values. A large part of what goes along with being a Gen-Xer is our music.
Before college, I listened to Casey Kasem’s Classic American Top 40 Countdown. I loved the Grease soundtrack, Madonna, and Janet Jackson. Once I hit college my taste in music branched out to less mainstream bands like New Order, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Susie and the Banshees. And as I backpacked through Europe later, I added the Cocteau Twins, the Blue Nile, Deacon Blue, Echo and the Bunnymen. Over the years, I've enjoyed jazz, rock and musical theater. And, more recently, country music has entered my life which I am shocked to say I absolutely love.
One of the things that brings me joy in my life and feeds my passion for music is going to live shows. It's getting more difficult to do so with the insanity of Ticketmaster and the prices of tickets, but I figure since I don't have a lot of expensive hobbies this is my addiction and money well spent. I have a couple of friends from college who I consider my go to concert buddies. We scout out what acts are touring and ask each other who's in or who's out. Most of the time we are all in, but every now and then one of us refuses to pay 100 bucks to trek out to a show - depending who the band is. (There are not too many people I get off the couch for mid-week!)
Occasionally, my husband or kids will join me. Last year my son Joseph and I got tickets to see Jukebox the Ghost in Portland, ME. I was excited because I had never seen them before, and although I knew it would be a younger crowd, I was psyched to be getting out and to see live music.
One strange thing I'm passionate about when it comes to seeing shows is the clothing that people choose to wear when going to these events. I know this sounds bitchy, but I think as a general rule people should put a little bit of effort into their concert attire. And they should respect the genre. When you're going to a country concert, for example, it's kind of cool to wear cowboy boots or a flannel. I don't know, that may sound stupid, but I wouldn’t put on combat boots when going to see Tim McGraw. Likewise, when going to see Nitzer Ebb, I wouldn’t wear a cowboy hat to the venue. This is just something silly that I always notice.
A few years ago, my husband and I went to see The Cure in Boston. Sitting in front of me was a woman my age. She was wearing a tan blouse and plaid blazer. Her husband was wearing a pink button up shirt and a tie. They most likely came from work, and maybe they didn’t have access to change in a bathroom or whatever, but I think they stuck out like a sore thumb. The other thing about “Mr. and Mrs. came from work” was they sat down through the entirety of the set. What? My husband thought it was crazy how much this bothered me, but I found it inexcusable. Why pay and go to see The Cure if you’re going to sit down and scroll through your phone? If you’re going to do that, go to an Enya concert for goodness sake!
So, when preparing to see Jukebox the Ghost in Portland, I looked through my clothes to find something to wear. At the time, I hated every article of clothing I owned. So, I figured, hell, I’ll do some online shopping and look for something Gen-X related to wear- because I'm cool - and I'm Gen- X. Know what I found? Absolutely nothing. I saw a lot of stuff from the 80s: MTV shirts with neon pink squiggles, Purple Rain T-shirts, Madonna shirts. I even saw a shirt that said “I may be old, but I've seen all the best bands.” (That was pretty funny.) But nothing just simple. I wound up buying a black T-shirt with an outline of a vinyl record on the front. It was the best I could find.
Over the past few weeks while I have been enjoying not working a job, I have explored opening an Etsy shop. Apparently, according to TikTok, Etsy is super easy and very lucrative. Yeah, I'm not so sure about that! But nevertheless, I have been having fun with this project. Driven from the fact that I could not find a simple shirt to wear to a concert, I have opened a shop called Blue Monday Merch that sells the exact type of Gen-X shirts and gifts that I would buy for myself. Now I'm not sure if anyone else will find these items desirable, but it has been bringing me joy to create these designs and take a trip down memory lane.
Check it out! If you love the stuff in my shop, let me know! If you hate the concept, let me know! If you have an idea for cool Generation X swag, shoot that thought my way too. And remember, like Frankie says, Relax!
Gen-Xers take it all in stride.
*update 10/10/23: I’ve closed my Etsy store as of today. I learned a lot from the experience, but ultimately decided that running an online tee shirt business wasn’t bringing me happiness and was stressing me out. I’m still passionate about music and all things Gen X, however! Rock on!
