Dennis, no, I don't think a PiL tee would look bad on you. Do it! They did some great stuff, esp. early on.
Anyone remember, from the early 90s, the "Fuck Me and Marry Me Young" t-shirts? or the "Fuck You, We're From Texas" t-shirts?
The "Your Mom Goes to College" shirt is just especially egregious because it's basically saying the wearer is coming from a higher social caliber; your mom has had to go back to college or may be going to college the first time, something working class parents often do (community college) when they're jobless later in life, or it's ageist in the same way making fun of "there's a guy in our class over 30! haha!" is a big joke to young college kids. It's of the "kick them when they;'re down" school of obnoxious crap. "Haha, your parents are trying to make their lives better -- they must have fucked up and had kids and been trashy earlier on," or something. What's galling about it is it slams someone for trying to do something good -- get a college education. But they didn't do it the right way.
It stings personally because my mom had me at age 20, no college degree, had to move back in with her parents, single mom, tried to go back to college a that point, her parents would only help her out if she chose to be a teacher or nurse (I'm dead serious; cliche yet very true here), but she couldn't juggle it all and never got a degree. Seeing some smug shit in a t shirt like the one I posted would make me see red for a lil' bit.
-B.
Dennis Perrin wrote
"Dennis(wondering if wearing a Public Image Ltd. tee at my age would look pathetic)"