Because we’re apparently the clearing house for “plagiarized skull T-shirt” stories, reader Katie writes in with this disturbing tale of a costume designer from a TV show stealing a T-shirt design, then taking credit for it. It’s a cute design, with a skull and knitting needles rather than crossbones.
From Katie’s email:

To add insult to injury, this afternoon the Pop Candy columnist at USA Today posted a reader inquiry about where to buy Lorelai’s shirt. The columnist, Whitney Matheson, contacted The CW and received this reply
from the spokesperson:

“[The shirt was] a one-of-a-kind creation by the show’s fabulous costume designer, Brenda Maben.”

Pretty audacious to claim it’s one-of-a-kind when there’s ample evidence to the contrary.

Uh, yeah. The original designer is now working her way through cafepress, petitioning for the removal of all the knockoffs spawned by the costume designer’s theft. What a pain.

So if you were one of the many people looking to buy this T-shirt…do the right thing and buy it from the original designer at Craftster. —MEGHANN MARCO

The Candy Mailbag [Pop Candy]
Original Thread [Craftster]
Buy the cool T-shirt [Craftster]

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