15 Offensive Articles Of Clothing

#1 Urban Outfitters’ “pro-ana” shirt

Urban Outfitters has a long history of producing all kinds of offensive merchandise.

#2 A shirt that evokes the Holocaust

Just another example of offensive clothing sold by Urban Outfitters

#3Urban Outfitters sells a "blood stained" Kent State sweatshirt

In 2014, Urban Outfitters sold a "vintage" Kent State sweatshirt decorated with a blood spatter-like pattern that was reminiscent of the 1970 Kent State Massacre that left four people dead.

The shirt sold quickly, but outrage spread. The retailer issued an apology, claiming the patterns were not blood at all, but simply "discoloration from the original shade of the shirt and the holes are from natural wear and fray." The statement added: "We deeply regret that this item was perceived negatively."

The shirt popped up on eBay shortly after, with a starting bid of $550. User "kentstatesweater" said of the garment, "I ordered it and am waiting myself, as soon as it arrives, I'll ship it to you. Perfect for Halloween or whatever your deal is," the description read.

#4 Polar Fox boots leave a swastika imprint

Bootmaker Polar Fox has recalled a pair of men's boots that leave tiny swastikas in the dirt. Thanks to a Reddit user, the boots were exposed to the public in a post that was viewed over 2 million times.

The company immediately tried to rectify the situation by removing the boots from Amazon and issuing a statement, saying: "We would like to issue a public apology to our customers and to anyone who was offended by an imprint one of our boots left behind. This was in no way intentional; it was an obvious mistake made by our manufacturers in China. We will not be selling any of our boots with the misprint to anyone. We would never create a design to promote hate. We don't promote hate at our company."

#5 Abercrombie sells shirts rife with Asian stereotypes

In April 2002, clothier Abercrombie & Fitch unleashed a line of t-shirts using Asian caricatures as its central motif. The retailer immediately received "hundreds and hundreds" of complaints and, shortly thereafter, removed the shirt from sale. The company maintained it had poked fun at other groupssuch as women, Irish-Americans, and skiersin the past, and the current line of T-shirts was merely intended to be humorous and whimsical in that same vein. (A few wrongs don't make a right, A&F.)

#6 A Zara children's shirt resembles a Nazi concentration camp uniform

This Wild West-inspired sheriff's T-shirt is an eerie reminder of clothing concentration camp victims wore during WWII.

The shirt, designed for toddlers up to three years old, features raking buttons on the left shoulder with a six-pointed gold badge underneath. While the badge does say "sheriff," social media users cried foul, saying it looked more like the yellow star Jews in Nazi-occupied territories were forced to wear. Combined with stripes also reminiscent of concentration camp garb, the Holocaust link is indeed clear.

Zara pulled the shirt and immediately apologized.

#7 American Apparel’s “Teenagers Do It Better” shirt

American Apparel is another one of those companies that's always skirting controversy, largely because of its porn-like billboards and its skeezy founder and CEO, Dov Charney, who's been sued for sexual harassment by more than a dozen employees and models.

One example of Charney's sleazy influence on the company is this t-shirt.

On its own, the shirt could go either way on the gross scale. But this is pretty incontrovertible evidence that the shirt is at least toeing the line of perverted (via the Huffington Post):

The shirt was made in collaboration with a publication called Ey! Magateen (potentially NSFW or LIFE at the link), a mag that celebrates "the magnificent vitality, energy and power of young male adulthood" and features sexy pics of boys ages 16-21.

The magazine features the tee on its Tumblr, modeled by a young teen boy in his underwear.

Yeah, no.

#8 Forever 21’s sexist “Allergic to Algebra” tee

If there's anything we don't need in this world, it's yet another message to girls that they aren't good at or aren't supposed to like math.

Reddit user mikgyver rather perfectly summed up why the shirt is so offensive (via ABC News): "It's a big deal because there is still this childish perception -- among females AND males -- that girls can't do math. I can't tell you how many times, as a girl who's good at math, that I've been accused of ‘trying to be a guy' when I get good grades in math."

So thanks for nothing, Forever 21.

#9 The Gap’s “Manifest Destiny” t-shirt

The Gap is more known for selling sensible jeans and khakis than anything vaguely "edgy," making the chain's new "Manifest Destiny" t-shirt a real head-scratcher.

James Mackey explains the history of Manifest Destiny at The Guardianand writes:

America has never really come to terms with the contradiction between this bloody origin and its rhetoric of exceptionalism, and American popular history thus remains dependent on a now largely unarticulated form of manifest destiny logic. That said, it seems astonishing that nobody during the product launch process said "Hang on doesn't this basically mean 'white pride'?" Artist Gregg Deal suggests the Gap should now launch "AMERICAN IMPERIALISM" or "FORCED ASSIMILATION" lines.

Even more disturbing, the designer of the shirt, Mark McNairy, may have known exactly what he was doing:

When activists contacted him to ask for the line's removal, he responded...by tweeting "MANIFEST DESTINY. SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST" (the tweet has been removed, but a screengrab is archived here). This seems to show that he is quite comfortable with a social Darwinist explanation for the destruction of indigenous nations.

#10 Wal-Mart’s accidental Nazi skull shirt

A firestorm erupted several years back when a blogger went into his local Wal-Mart and realized the store was selling t-shirts emblazoned with a Nazi SS symbol.

He writes:

The Death's Head symbol was worn by the members of the German Nazi SS. The Totenkopf on the Wal-Mart t-shirt looks very similar to the divisional insignia of the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf. As you can see, It's almost an exact copy.

Neo-Nazi's sometimes use the Totenkopf image because it is not as easily identifiable as other Nazi symbols such as the swastika. You might see one of these tattooed on someone's arm while standing in line at Burger King and think it's just a poorly done pirate skull. It's not.

He goes on to note that he doubts Wal-Mart was selling Nazi propaganda on purpose, but "Whoever designed this shirt had to know where the skull image came from."

#11 JC Penney's sexist shirt

This cotton long-sleeved shirt, originally sold by J.C. Penney in 2011, drew outcry from women's activists for an apparently sexist reference to young boys as having all the brains, while young girls, whom the shirt suggests are good mainly for their looks and attitudes.

The shirt reads: "I'm too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me." It ran under the alarmingly sexist product description: "Who has time for homework when there's a new Justin Bieber album out? She'll love this tee that's just as cute and sassy as she is."

Penney yanked the shirt, which was targeting girls ages 7 to 16, and sided with its angry customers, saying the shirt, on reflection, did not "deliver an appropriate message."

#12 A "Black Lives Matter" sweatshirt is pulled from Walmart shelves

Offensive or not? Depends on who you ask, but T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts bearing the message "Bulletproof: Black Lives Matter," were pulled by Walmart following a complaint from The National Fraternal Order of Police, the country's largest police organization. Walmart issued a statement announcing it was dropping the products because of customer complaints but is still selling other products bearing the words "Black Lives Matter," without controversy at this time.

#13 A suicide-themed shirt stirs outrage on social media

In March 2015, Twitter user @PsychoGF posted a photo of a t-shirt featuring an image of a noose along with the slogan "Hang Loose" which was being sold by major clothes retailer TJ Maxx. The image stirred outrage on social media and soon prompted a response from the department store chain, who reported that the shirt was being pulled from all their locations.

California beachwear company Tavik apologized for the offensive design, claiming that the shirt's "hang loose" slogan was related to surfing, but failing to explain how the noose was relevant to riding the waves.

#14 Sneakers with shackles invoke a public outcry

In 2012, Adidas withdrew plans to sell a controversial sneaker featuring affixed rubber shackles after the company generated significant criticism.

The high-tops, dubbed the JS Roundhouse Mids, were expected to be released in August of that year, but the company's Facebook post promoting the shoe post prompted plenty of criticism, with many commenters saying they felt the shackle invoked the painful image of slavery.

Designer Jeremy Scott defended his design via Twitter saying, "my work has always been inspired by cartoons, toys & my childhood." He attached a photo of a "My Pet Monster"a bright, plush character with its wrists shackled.

#15 Walmart sells—and pulls—a line of inappropriate men's tees

Wow, Walmart! In September 2016, several offensive men's tees were available on Walmart's website, somewhat undermining the company's wholesome, family-friendly image.

Of course, the complaints rolled in, and the company responded by saying that the shirts "obviously has no business being on our site" and pulled them. Sorry guys, you'll have to get your "I'd Rather Be Snorting Cocaine Off a Hooker's Ass," "Master Baiter" (a fishing punget it?), and "I (Heart) Breastfeeding" shirts elsewhere for now. Oh, the humanity!