Vintage Sonic Youth Sister LP T-Shirt

This vintage T-shirt has undergone a meticulous in-person examination by an authenticator (James A.), who has concluded that it is an authentic European Sonic Youth Sister LP t-shirt from the 1980s. The artwork features the entire design without censorship, as was the eventual fate of the physical album.

This garment is in used condition and graded as Good/Worn. It has many flaws, yet it is in stable condition with plenty of wear life left.

This item is in Good/Worn condition, based on small holes and small marks primarly on the front of the garment. The construction of the piece is stable, with plenty of wear-life left.

The following factors contributed to this grade:

There is a tiny hole at the bottom edge of the front collar.

There is an area of blemishes and a tiny hole to the left of the front collar.

There is a mark near the shoulder seam.

There is a tiny mark near the armpit seam.

Tiny marks to the left of the print.

There is a faint horizontal mark and tiny holes, lower front, under the print.

Additional marks and another hole in the lower front.

The lower front hem has loose threads, yet no broken stitching, and poses no risk to the garment's construction.

The back of the garment is issue-free, except for this tiny dot on the rear right arm.

Additionally:

• The print has expected cracking and wear, most visible in the black areas.
• The T-shirt fabric is thinned from wash and wear, expected for its age, and mildly see-through.
• The collar's elasticity is good.
• Faint yellowing in both underarm areas.
• There is no pilling.
• No underarm holes or seam separations.
• There are no signs of any repair.
• Given this is a white-based t-shirt, dry rot is not a concern.
• The print registration is good.

Print type: CMYK, aka four-color process printing that can produce a full spectrum of colors.

Color: White

Construction: Tube Knit

Neckline: Finished

Style: Standard

Fabric: 100% Cotton (Assumed)

Stitching Profile: 1,2,2 (single stitch on collar, double on arms, bottom hem.)

Pit-to-Pit: 21.25" (54.975 cm)

Full Length: 26.5" (67.31 cm)

Left Shoulder seam to arm hem: 8.66" (22 cm)

Right shoulder seam to arm hem: 8.86" (22.5 cm)

Left Arm Opening: 7.68" (19.5 cm)

Right Arm Opening: 7.68" (19.5 cm)

(The right/left measurements above are from the perspective of the wearer's body)

Tag: Unknown, worn

Size: Illegible

Fabric: 100% Cotton (Assumed)

Country of Manufacture: Unknown, likely European

Installation: Under, generally well centered on the neckline.

Condition: Worn blank, see-through, not printing legible.

Width: 1.10" (2.794 cm)

Length: 1.25" (3.175 cm)

"Sister European tour July 7, 1987, Helsinki, Revolution club. I saw on a Helsinki poster that Sonic Youth would perform at the Revolution Club. The motto of this club was 'This ain't the summer of Love.' It was at the Nyland Student Nation's House. I was working as a care assistant in the night shift of the local mental hospital. I was supposed to work that night but called in sick and went to the show with my ex-girlfriend.

The gig was so loud that we had to sit by the bar in the next room occasionally. It was the loudest gig I had experienced at that time. After the encore, guitarist/vocalist Lee Ranaldo stayed on stage performing a weird 15-minute noisy solo with ear-splitting distortion. I bought the T-shirt in the vestibule. One can notice that this original print is from the uncensored cover of their Sister LP. In re-issues, they covered the Disney picture. Very early promotional posters and pressings of the album did feature these photos, but later ones did not."

- Mato, aka Mats S.

Thurston Moore designed the photo collage-style cover with help from his bandmates. The photo of the woman - Audrey Rose, is from a Richard Kern film. Some imagery is from postcards the band collected while on tour, including the Disneyland photo. After Richard Avedon threatened to sue because his photo of Sandra Bennett was used on the flip side of the album, the label worried about potential legal issues with the Disney photo and subsequently blacked it out or put a barcode over it.

There don't appear to be many modern versions of this particular print, though, oddly enough, an unauthorized reissue is censored.

Unlike the U.S.-based versions, this t-shirt has no official licensing information, but it is a legitimate release from the band.

The U.S.-based versions have an SST copyright on the bottom left-hand side of the design.

The version that is the focus of this authentication appears to be a European variant without the SST copyright on the bottom left-hand side of the design.

There also appear to be similar T-shirts featuring the album's flipside instead, though I haven't investigated these fully.

According to confirmed eBay sales in the last three years, this item peaked at $801 when auctioned early late 2022. Most recently, when auctioned at the end of 2024, it fetched $455.87.

We estimate this will sell between $350-$500. It is currently being auctioned on eBay, and we'll update this section when the auction concludes.

This item sold on eBay on February 27, 2025, for $565 USD. The item was paid for, and the sale is confirmed. 

The artwork of the original front cover contained a photograph of 12-year-old Sandra Bennett, taken by Richard Avedon on August 23, 1980 and used as the cover of his book In the American West, published in 1985. The photo was censored for later releases after a threat of a copyright lawsuit. [13] At first the picture was merely covered up with a black sticker, but on later pressings the photo was totally removed, only showing a black area. Similarly, a photo of Disney's Magic Kingdom on the back cover was later obscured by a Universal Product Code. [13] Very early promotional posters and pressings of the album did feature these photos, but later ones did not. “ - wikipedia

I consulted with t-shirt screen printing veteran Brett Weiss to better assess this t-shirt's print.

8 high-resolution microscopic images highlighting the unique characteristics of this t-shirt—such as its print, fabric, and tag—have been captured and securely linked to this certificate. Just as no two fingerprints are alike, no two vintage tees are identical. These images create a robust and verifiable connection between this certification and the garment, eliminating the need for aftermarket tags, marks, or alterations, thereby preserving the t-shirt's original state.

To prevent counterfeiters from copying our photos, the publicly visible ones have been reduced in quality, while the original, high-res images have been stored privately with this certificate.

These images are exclusively accessible by Defunkd for future verification.

Additional information discovered after the original publishing date of this certificate can be added to the following sections:

• Artists
• Reissues or Counterfeits
• Licensing
• Related Material
• Value
• Variants
• Notes

Changes will be noted here.

All other sections are locked except for formatting, errors, grammatical corrections, or additional photos.

March 7, 2025: Updated final sale price in "value."