Category: Shirts

First Sale Doctrine: The three words you’ve likely never heard that allow you be in this business. Chances are, you’ve never really questioned the legality of selling vintage t-shirts. Find shirt, sell shirt, buy more shirts. It’s not until you’re challenged by a very official-sounding message that you’re forced to even think about it. Maybe it’s Ebay’s VeRO (Verified Rights Owner) program that removed your item, or Etsy pulling a tee for Intellectual Property Infringement. Maybe it’s someone with an actual connection to what’s on the shirt (I’ve been bullied twice this way, once by the previous owner of an 80s ... Read more

Defunkd’s exclusive collection of new t-shirts for sale at reasonably exorbitant prices. Item #41: Defunkd Ltd Ed. Death Before Dry Rot T-Shirt Year: 2022 Price: $19.99 USD (Tracked shipping included) We made a handful of these t-shirts to test modern DTG technology, and its potential usage for creating counterfeit vintage. Plus, no one likes dry rot, right? Brand: Defunkd Label Size: L (We also have a few other sizes, please inquire here.) Measurements: 21″ (pit-to-pit) 30 (rear collar-bottom seam) Condition: Mint, never washed or worn. https://www.defunkd.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/DeathBeforeNFT.mp4

Screen Stars is the most recognizable vintage t-shirt brand from the 1980s and likely the heaviest circulated brand in that decade. It’s a property of Fruit of the Loom which used/uses the Registered Identification Number (RN) 13765. FOTL branded blanks were manufactured many decades earlier but they continued to market them as undershirts while Screen Stars was targeted at the burgeoning screen printing industry. So let’s start from the beginning with the earliest version of a t-shirt we’ve found labelled with RN 13765. The following tag may be as early as the late 1960s when the trend was 100% cotton construction. Certainly ... Read more

We’ve seen claims of Jesus’ image appearing in everything: bread, potato chips, mud…and even a piece of ham. And this isn’t the first time he’s shown his face on a tee. But this particular instance is a little different. There’s no mistaking it’s Jesus this time because among the image he’s also included what appears to be several instances of his written name in a bold font. See if you can make it out: Did you spot it? It’s tricky, so here’s a closer look: And his choice of t-shirt? Could there be anymore irony? He’s obviously trying to warn ... Read more

What is Dry Rot? Surely you’ve done it. It’s mail day, and there’s a package with your name on it. You tear open the mailer and inside is that deadstock t-shirt you ordered last week. As you slip your arms through the holes and pull it over your head, you hear that unmistakable sound of fabric ripping. You’re not Hulk Hogan (hell, you’re not even Brooke Hogan), but somehow you’ve summoned the super-human strength to rip through a t-shirt like it’s Wrestlemania 3? It might be all of the steroids they’re putting in our chicken these days, but more than ... Read more