Dirty Coast

BE A NEW ORLEANIAN. WHEREVER YOU ARE. read the ubiquitous bumper sticker in the years after Hurricane Katrina. It was a simple, direct, and on-target message—the sort that’s been perfected by this T-shirt shop, with stores uptown on Magazine Street and in the French Quarter on Royal Street. Among the things that make these garments stand out is that they’re often seen on locals—perhaps more than on tourists. Inside jokes are favored, such as shirts declaring NEUTRAL GROUND SIDE or SIDEWALK SIDE (which is how people describe where they’re standing during a parade). Another shows the more useful cardinal directions given by residents in a city that has a challenging relation with north and south: RIVER. LAKE. UPTOWN. DOWNTOWN.