# Question about Two and a Half Men **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215 "2017-03-15T03:15:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215/1 "2017-03-15T03:15:48Z")
Is there a specific name for the kind of shirts Charlie Harper wears? To me, they look a lot like bowling shirts, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some Californ-i-yay/Malibuey name for them. (I mean, if the shown had been set in Honolulu, he’d be wearing Hawaiian shirts, right? So what are these?) ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215/2 "2017-03-15T03:18:51Z")
A Camp shirt or Bowling shirt? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215/3 "2017-03-15T03:24:52Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > A Camp shirt or Bowling shirt? Kids wear shirts like that at summer camp? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215/4 "2017-03-15T03:40:28Z")
Whoops! Charlie just called them “bowling shirts.” Question answered, ignorance fought! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215/5 "2017-03-15T12:26:47Z")
Yeah, I’ve bought them on eBay using “bowling shirt” as my search. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215/6 "2017-03-15T12:49:54Z")
Larry David wears them on Curb Your Enthusiasm, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215/7 "2017-03-15T15:26:04Z")
I know that this is a device to make Charlie look like a man-child, but would anyone in his social circle actually wear clothing like that? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215/8 "2017-03-15T15:49:18Z")
I’ve called them bowling shirts, “regular guy” shirts (from the Rodney Dangerfield movie _Easy Money_), or Cosmo Kramer shirts. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215/9 "2017-03-15T16:59:00Z")
> [@K364](#): > > I know that this is a device to make Charlie look like a man-child, but would anyone in his social circle actually wear clothing like that? He may be rich, but he ain’t exactly High Society. I think the closest they ever got to showing him with “friends” (other guys) was when he had that booze-and-cigars session with three famous dudes. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215/10 "2017-03-15T19:33:13Z")
> [@K364](#): > > I know that this is a device to make Charlie look like a man-child, but would anyone in his social circle actually wear clothing like that? His social circle is hookers and drug dealers. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215/11 "2017-03-15T20:34:19Z")
I’d wore them in the past, and I would now (though not all the time). I don’t know what that says about me. I call them “lounge” shirts, after the lounge music revival as seen in _Swingers_. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215/12 "2017-03-15T21:32:55Z")
They were retro cool in the 90’s. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-two-and-a-half-men/782215/13 "2017-03-15T22:54:16Z")
In a few of my chorus’ concerts, we had to wear these, in a variety of solid bright colors, over black t-shirts. We called them camp shirts.