Category: Shirts

The tag is one of your best allies in the vintage t-shirt authentication arena. It’s a stronger authenticity signal than single-stitching and a copyright combined, but authentication via the tag should always be done in conjunction with an analysis of the print. We’ll explain why below. Sewn-in Tags We have seen counterfeiters attempting to pass of t-shirts with genuine vintage tags installed from other shirts. It is, however, not very common – because it’s tough to do, seamlessly, pun intended. In most of the instances, I’ve seen it was super obvious – the seams are off – the tag is ... Read more

The year is 2022 and we need answers to some age-old questions about vintage t-shirts. Defunkd and Citees have teamed up to go inside the minds of vintage t-shirt heads. It’s about time we came to our census. What’s the actual definition of a true “vintage t-shirt” and “grail”? Can dry rot be cured? What’s the best stain remover? What’s the most liked vintage t-shirt tag? Are modern-printed original design vintage-inspired bootlegs accepted by the community? If you’ve ever wondered the answers to these and many other t-shirt related questions, well, we have the perfect survey for you. Complete it ... Read more

@tiltedmoons is the online moniker of t-shirt collector Brian Lugo. Self-described, “Chicago has-been with Floridian funk.” visit his page on Instagram to see more of his vintage Space Ghost shirt collection along with other gems from the 90s-00s. Our story starts with Space Ghost. The classic Hanna-Barbera property that was given a new life by being reimagined from his 60s intergalactic superhero persona into an overly confident, yet very out of place, 90s late-night talk show host. “Space Ghost Coast to Coast” was one of Cartoon Network’s first original productions. The weirdness of the show eventually gave way to the ... Read more

Not long ago, vintage religious-based t-shirts were a tough sell. In fact, the religion category on our website was among our least popular. But everyone loves a great comeback story, especially Jesus. One of the things we love about the new age of vintage t-shirt wearers is their appreciation for niche tees. We’ve seen collections of anatomical, recording studios, adult swim, and serial killer tees. Hell, even vintage Country t-shirts are having their moment, which is a sentence I never thought I would write. To help us make sense of all this we caught up with Javier, the man behind ... Read more

Dry rot continues to tear the vintage t-shirt community apart. While some people claim they’ve found a cure, we’ve been busy in the Defunkd labs trying to detect and prevent dry rot. This latest experiment was inspired by our colleague, Dereke from @waxandthreadsvintage. The man should be given a Nobel Prize for his non-invasive way to test a t-shirt for dry rot. More importantly, though, his process enables us to detect if a deadstock t-shirt’s pH levels are headed in the wrong direction can potentially save a t-shirt destined to become dust in the wind. But part of Dereke’s body ... Read more