Category: Punk

Buying an original T-shirt can be tricky, but nothing beats having in hand the original you bought at the time. This is particularly true if you bought it directly from the band via mail order, as is the case here. Now, that might be an impossible bar to overcome for many, but for a T-shirt hoarder and folder like me, who tends to obsess, this is an easy one. From the first time I saw them live, I loved Spacemen 3. So, in 1988/1989, I wrote to the address on the back of the record sleeve, and in return, I ... Read more

If memory serves correct, the first concert I went to without parental supervision was a Suicide Machines show at the Metro in Chicago in 1997. Some friends and I took the Green Line from Harlem/Lake in Oak Park down to the Loop, transferred to the Red Line, rode it up to the Addison stop, walked past Wrigley Field, and found ourselves at the doors of adolescence. Thirteen years old with a pack of Newports that a homeless fellow purchased for me, a long chain wallet hanging off a pair of gaberdine slacks, and my brother’s brown Chuck Taylors, I was ... Read more

The Story Behind the “This is Not a Fugazi T-Shirt”, Tee Fugazi never made their own tees. But this opened up a huge opportunity for bootleggers and Ian MacKaye admittedly spent a ton of time tracking them down. He discussed it in an interview for The Art of the Band T-Shirt and detailed how there is one exception to his anti-Fugazi t-shirt policy. “I managed to trace one design back to a fairly well-known t-shirt company in the Boston area, and I called to tell them to cut it out. I spoke to the main guy there, and, of course, ... Read more

A gallery of punk tees that miraculously survived the mosh pit. Shirt #16: Operation Ivy Availability: Currently Available on Defunkd Year: 1991 Album: Operation Ivy Fact: Operation Ivy is one of the first bands to blend hardcore with ska elements aka “ska-core.” They helped revive punk in California in the early 90s. Approximate value: $50   Check out the previous vintage Septic Death t-shirt.

A gallery of punk tees that miraculously survived the mosh pit. Shirt #15: Septic Death Availability: Currently Available on Defunkd Year: 1990 Album: Unknown Fact: Septic Death was fronted by artist Brian “Pushead” Schroeder of Metallica design fame. Approximate value: $200 Image Courtesy of: stormcrow-vintage Check out the previous vintage Final Conflict t-shirt.