Guy Fieri hates his flamed shirt. He gets no joy from the black Hawaiian-style button up with orange and yellow flames licking up from the hem that so perfectly complements his white-blond hair spikes. In fact, Fieri seems hyper aware that the shirt has become an overused symbol of the way he attacks life (and also sandwiches): loudly, and with gusto.
Fieri opened up about the flame shirt on the latest episode of the Sporkful podcast. Per Eater:
I think there’s way too much stereotyping. There’s a picture of me in a flame shirt that everybody loves. I get that picture sent to me when we do fan mail; it’s the picture they send more than anything. And I think people want to love the shirt... ‘cause I hate the shirt. We’d opened a barbecue restaurant—and this was way before even the Food Network—we’d opened a barbecue restaurant, and that was one of the shirts that we had. I don’t know where we got the shirt or what happened. Goddamn I hate that shirt.
A powerful condemnation. Fieri also got introspective about the decisive role a wardrobe plays in crafting a public persona, whether its wearer intends it or not:
But the funny thing is that people want to make a story of what something is when they don’t understand it. Yes, I work hard. And yes, I love my cars. And yes, I love to go to football games. And I love rock concerts. And I love anything crazy—except for jumping out of airplanes, which is a whole other story. But I love all that stuff. So, people are going to say whatever they’re going to say. People are going to go on their own way about, “Oh man, everything’s flamed at his house.” And I just kind of go, “Okay, you know, alright. Well, think what [you’re going to think].” I mean, what do I wear? I wear shorts and tennis shoes and a t-shirt every day unless I’ve got to go to work.
Little did Fieri know he'd don the shirt, open a BBQ restaurant, snap a pic, and become an Internet meme (and a very good Halloween costume for Chrissy Teigen). But instead of growing defensive and angry, he spent years letting people believe what they want to believe about him. This is almost as good as the time he classily addressed criticism from Anthony Bourdain and The New York Times.
The real question is: Would he be an ounce as famous without the flaming shirt?
