If The Cosby Show was one of the pinnacles of television in the 1980s, then the infamous episode with "the shirt," being the pinnacle of The Cosby Show, must also surely be the pinnacle of all 1980s television.
Even people who remember nothing else about The Cosby Show will remember this episode. Theo desperately desires a fancy shirt from designer Gordon Gartrelle. His sister Denise, woefully overestimating her own abilities as a seamstress, offers to make him one by hand for a fraction of the cost.
Date Night arrives, and Theo comes looking for his Gordon Gartrelle knock-off. And the results of Denise's labor are… not good. Not good at all.
In fact, the shirt is so awful, and yet Lisa is so hopeful that somehow Theo won't notice its flaws, that "the Cosby Show shirt" practically qualifies as a meme among crafters. There are few worse things you can say about a project than "It reminds me of that shirt Denise made Theo on The Cosby Show."
The Cosby Show had a lot to say about fashion in the 1980s. "Cosby sweater" has become another meme, describing any colorful sweater such as those perennially worn by Cliff Huxtable. These sweaters are typically garish, usually baggy, presumably 100% acrylic, and often worn over a shirt with a button-down collar.
The Cosby Sweater Project is a tumblr with an admirable goal: showcase every Cosby Sweater (even those worn by other members of the Huxtable family) along with a hand-painted swatch highlighting the sweater's pattern.
(My own father had a vast and admirable collection of Cosby Sweaters that he had accumulated over the years. Then he lost about 100 pounds, got rid of every last one of them, and hasn't worn a sweater since. I think he emotionally scarred himself with those sweaters.)
Another Cosby Show-related fashion project is Huxtable Hotness, which discusses the various outfits on the show in depth. Although I love this blog's dedication, I have to confess that I'm not sure if it's meant to be sarcastic, or is genuinely discussing the fashions, and if so, whether it's discussing them in modern terms or in a contemporary (i.e. 1980s) context.
And in a perfect wrap-around moment, you can read the Huxtable Hotness entry for the Gordon Gartrelle shirt episode! Blogger Chris Kelly is clearly creating a work of love, here, because it must take a real effort of will to set aside consideration of The Shirt and assess all the other outfits from this episode!