Literal translation
there's someone in my shirt whom I love dearly
Meaning
there's someone close to me whom I hold dear
Explanation
This ironic formula points, without naming it directly, to self-love: it implies that the person dearest to the speaker is simply found inside his own clothes. The literal image plays on the extreme closeness of the shirt, a garment worn right against the skin: saying one loves someone found inside one's shirt amounts, through a playful twist, to admitting that one loves oneself above all, while avoiding saying so bluntly in the first person. The rhetorical device, a form of humorous detour, allows one to own a trait that would otherwise seem presumptuous or vain, disguising it as a light riddle the listener must solve. The register is familiar and cheerfully witty, delivered with a wink, often in answer to a question about the person's affections, cutting short any serious declaration with humour. The phrase belongs to a Provençal tradition of roundabout turns of speech where self-mockery and self-regard meet within the same sentence.