In this section, I highlight vintage tees you simply must have in your arsenal of poly-cotton. Some are hot commodities you may be aware of, while others are speculation on a future trend.
Info: In the 1980s, Pushead (aka Brian Schroeder) rose to fame for for two types of artistry, both of the hardcore persuasion. A skull-obsessed artist who was the cornerstone of Metallica’s branding, he also designed skateboards for Zorlac, and imagery for Thrasher magazine. During this time he moonlighted as the frontman for a punk band called Septic Death too.
HOT: The most expensive vintage Metallica tees are Pushead designs; and they’re going to run you quite a few bones. If you’re really looking to shell out some loot, try to find an original Septic Death shirt. They’re super rare, so you’ll probably end up looking like one of Pushead’s designs before you get your hands on one.
To view eBay’s current inventory of vintage Pushead/Metallica t-shirts click here.
BUY LOW: In the early 1990s Pushead created artwork for Rush’s “Roll The Bones” album and subsequent tour. All bones aside, this combination made for quite the odd couple. Rush was trying to harden their soft, high-pitched, prog-rock image and Pushead wanted more than Metallica in his portfolio, since they’d worked him to death the previous decade. The strange pairing makes this tee all the more cool.
To view all other Pushead t-shirts on on eBay click here.
Please excuse our appearance for the next week, or so, as we customize the blog. We added some tabs up there to make it a little easier to navigate between our website, blog and eBay store. We’ve also added some buttons to help you keep your finger on the vintage t-shirt pulse, i.e. our email list and RSS feed.
The Death Star isn’t fully operational yet, but hold tight, Darth and the boys are working around the clock. That is all.
In this section, I highlight vintage tees you simply must have in your arsenal of poly-cotton. Some are hot commodities you may be aware of, while others are speculation on a future trend.
Info: In 1955, Luciano Benetton, at age 20, realized there was a market for colourful clothing. But without any green in his pants, there was little he could do to set-up shop. His first executive decision was to hawk his little brother’s bicycle, then invest the proceeds in a second-hand knitting machine. After a successful run of sweaters, he decided to include his sister and brothers in the venture, aka “The Benetton Group.” Two weeks later they had over 100 locations around the world. I’m pretty sure his brother has since forgiven him.
HOT: The various incarnations of their famous rugby shirt has been quite a hot commodity on eBay. In the late 1980s these shirts were totally awesome. I even wore one to my first day of high school. Granted, that was only two weeks ago, but it was still a special occasion. I’m not exactly sure what’s driving the trend, maybe something similar to the throwback preppy Lacoste phenomena, or the recent Polo Sport resurgence.
To view eBay’s current inventory of vintage Benetton shirts click here.
BUY LOW: Despite being in production for so long, strangely, not a lot of vintage Benetton has value. I expect this fact to change sometime soon. No, I’m not suggesting all of their old attire will be worth a fortune; it will be the similar shirts and sweaters which are unmistakably 1980s and branded with an obvious Benetton logo.
To view additional Benetton vintage on eBay click here.
I finally managed to get my hands on all the vintage t-shirt books published in the last few years. Truth be told, I would recommend any book that contains photos of vintage tees, even if it was scribed in crayon by a two year old child.
Meet the authors:Amber Easby has worked for bands such as the White Stripes and the Raconteurs as their merchandiser. Henry Oliver played in the band Die! Die! Die! and designed their album covers and T-shirts.
When it comes to vintage t-shirt books, this one screams KISS. No, I don’t mean it’s full of Gene Simmons merchandise; I mean, it keeps it simple, stupid. The fact that the book is only six by six inches is part of what makes this work - there’s no room for any B.S. And I agree with this approach; it’s a t-shirt, not the Mona Lisa. I don’t think it’s necessary to dissect every shirt like it’s art history class. Not to say that one day some of this schwag shouldn’t appear in the Louvre, but let people a few centuries from now worry about that. Until that day, I see vintage tee, I read blurb, I flip page, I happy.
If anyone is going to dissect the artwork and tell us what they were trying to tell us, it should be the designer or band. Well, in this book they do. It includes a handful of interesting blurbs that detail what they had up their sleeves: i.e. learn all about the Rolling Stones’ logo directly from the horse’s lips.
The intro to this one is tops amongst the five vintage tee-related books I have in my possession. A well-scribed mental time lapse of the origin of the t-shirt and its evolution into the band tee. Then we are treated to a few cool vintage photos of people wearing, you guessed it, tees.
Keep in mind the book doesn’t limit itself to strictly vintage, or original vintage at that. It does go beyond 2000 and has more than a few admitted reprints scattered throughout. There are plenty of Screen Stars, old Hanes and completely worn tags in there for the vintage heads out there. While I would have preferred these pages to be vintage-oriented, the book doesn’t claim to be vintage-centric, just band tee obsessed. The latter part is still worth a look; and something tells me that in 10 years from now I won’t be complaining about any of the shirts featured.
After writing this, I realize this book is as far from a KISS (the band) book as it can be, given that not a single KISS shirt appears in it. A little ironic, given that Simmons prides himself on being merchandise iconic. Are the authors sticking their tongues out at KISS? I say bonus points. I get enough of KISS merchandising when I’m flipping through channels and Family Jewels is on.
I fully recommend adding this book to your library.
Whoa, my eyes are bloodshot…and not in a good way. I just uploaded over 300 photos of the rarest vintage tees we’ve had our hands on in the last four years. Yes, I created a vintage t-shirt gallery on our brand spanking new Facebook fan page.
Don’t worry, I’m not asking you join some silly group! You can access this page without even signing in, it’s totally non-committal. Hey, we understand if you want to say NO to web 2.0. But if you do want to be more than a voyeur, we welcome you to becoming our friend, or a fan. Track us down by clicking the logo below.
If you haven’t already, you can also check us out on ol’ reliable MySpace and join our alumni by clicking the logo below:
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In this section, I highlight vintage tees you simply must have in your arsenal of poly-cotton. Some are hot commodities you may be aware of, while others are speculation on a future trend.
Info: The roots of fantasy art can probably be traced back to classroom doodles by bored students with over active imaginations. The other kids poked fun at them, while their parents were drawing conclusions about their drug use. If they were victorious in battling their outer demons, these days, demand is high for these respected artists.
Most fantasy art is extremely detailed and features scantily clad women versus magical creatures. Think Angelina Jolie battling Puff the Magic Dragon, that is, if he were freebasing cocaine instead of just smoking weed. These D&D style prints are geeky cool and will make you the dungeon master of vintage t-shirt collectors.
The art is easy to reckognize and the artist can be determined by their insignia below each shirt.
HOT:Boris Vallejo is the grandfather of fantasy art. He’s basically lent his hand to every form of print media that can make use of it - the covers of video games, magazines, movie posters, etc. Vallejo has a huge fan base of aging Napolean Dynamite types, so most of his art on t-shirts is sought after by those who may otherwise not wear vintage.
BUY LOW:John Pound has created tons of fantasy art that has been featured on fantasy and comic book covers. He’s also done work for Mad Magazine, various skateboard companies, and is the man behind The Garbage Pail Kids. Pound’s shirts are also a lot tougher to find, so if you do come across one, snap it up and stash it away.
For a custom Pound vintage tee shirt search click here.
A few years back I authored a couple of eBay guides to shopping for a genuine vintage t-shirt. They have been very well received, viewed over 35,000 times and rated 92% helpful by readers. Unfortunately, the eBay system’s limitations prevented me from authoring the guides exactly how I wanted. Well, I just updated them with the latest info on forgery techniques and decked them out with tons of new photos including a vintage brand gallery.
These three guides will remain static resource pages on the right hand side of the blog, or check them out here:
Every two weeks we scour through eBay’s past auctions and report which relics are fetching the big bucks. Even more reasons to raid your granny’s closet.
Click the links below to view the full eBay listing or the sellers current inventory.
eBay vintage clothing models are by far the funkiest models in the world. But lets face it, their faces never get the credit they deserve. Until now.
I declare a headwear war. Click on the links, view their auctions, peruse their poses and then vote for your favorite below - poll closes on Friday October 17.
1. shirtswithballs‘ Professor Polyester is the master of mesh and Miss B. is the queen of the vikings.
2. All the models at the_black_barn encourage us to remember the 5th of November.
3. refreshmint’s Evan thinks t-shirts are acceptable attire in extremely cold climates.
4. All the models over at vintagevantage have a party on their heads and everyone is invited.
Each week we feature an interesting vintage tee that’s currently on the eBay auction block. Please feel free to link us if you create or discover an auction we might like.
What I Say: Get your motors running, head out on the highway, looking for adventure, or what ever comes your way. Just make sure to get back in time before old McDonald realizes you escaped from the pen and borrowed his ride, he definitely won’t think it’s kosher. This Harley 3D Emblem design gets gobbled up faster than slop.
Essential Halloween Selection: Vintage Pushead T-Shirt
HOT: The most expensive vintage Metallica tees are Pushead designs; and they’re going to run you quite a few bones. If you’re really looking to shell out some loot, try to find an original Septic Death shirt. They’re super rare, so you’ll probably end up looking like one of Pushead’s designs before you get your hands on one.
BUY LOW: In the early 1990s Pushead created artwork for Rush’s “Roll The Bones” album and subsequent tour. All bones aside, this combination made for quite the odd couple. Rush was trying to harden their soft, high-pitched, prog-rock image and Pushead wanted more than Metallica in his portfolio, since they’d worked him to death the previous decade. The strange pairing makes this tee all the more cool.
Please excuse our appearance for the next week, or so, as we customize the blog. We added some tabs up there to make it a little easier to navigate between our website, blog and eBay store. We’ve also added some buttons to help you keep your finger on the vintage t-shirt pulse, i.e. our email list and RSS feed. 
