I've always been conscious of what I am advertising as I wander around the world.

I find it strange that people pay to be branded with advertising, almost as an expression of themselves.  What is it they are expressing when they wear something with a brand name ostentatiously strewn across it ?  Mostly a strange sort of conformist consumerist individualism: I have money to buy this, or I'm up with the fashion, or I am a member of an exclusive group.  Given the herd nature of fashion, perhaps mostly please don't judge me because I am wearing what everyone else is wearing.  If you had one thing to say to the world as you walk past would it be Dues Ex Machina, FCUK, Dickies, Hilfinger, Gucci, Armani, or Klein?

Part of the point is that they don't really say anything particular.  A bland statement of consumerism, after all, can't really be criticised too harshly. There was an amusing phase in the 2000s where the fashion, certainly for men, was to wear a t-shirt emblazoned with jibberish.  They often had catching designs and fonts, telling all around that although they have nothing interesting to say, they will say it loudly and stylishly. As James Brown said, just talkin' loud and sayin' nothing. Well, nothing good anyway.

Advertising, of course, works; there is a reason there are so many billboards in the world.  So I have generally chosen to wear fairly blank things, things given to me for free, or things which have a message.  This Howard Zinn quote is vitally important as I believe patriotism is a corrosive force in the world.  Most of my other political shirts will be about animal rights or the environment.  I had one made for myself recently that says "More trees, less consumerism".

Pretending you aren't communicating something to the world by how you dress is almost always a fiction. So I guess think about what you are encouraging as you wander around the world, paying to market someone else's brand.  Maybe you could just let other people have a moment of peace without being marketed at, or maybe you could communicate something of your real self to them.