Defunkd

[passionkiller]

About two years ago, my mom let me have a few of her vintage tee shirts. Among those were an '79 rush tee that I have confirmed to be authentic, and a 1984 Van Halen shirt I am completely unsure about. I would like to say preemptively that I do not intend to sell the shirt and am aware that it's in mediocre condition.

Van Halen 1984 Tee

Usually, it would be easy to tell, but the tag is completely gone. Either it completely wore away, or my mom used a sewing tool to take it out, as she hates tags.

Van Halen Tee 1984 Collar

It's worth noting that both the shirt and the print itself are very well-loved. You'll notice the carton of cigarettes is worn away. The shirt may have been shrunk at some point, as the paint on the print (which is rubbery in texture) has actually begun to wrinkle on the borders.

Van Halen 1984 Angle Shot

Something I also found a little strange is that the color of the collar and sleeves are a little off from the color of the main part of the shirt.

Van Halen Tee 1984 Sleeve

The last thing I can offer to help identify this shirt is that it has comic-book style coloring/shading on the print. There are only 4 ink colors on the whole shirt. I've seen t-shirts with prints stylized similarly of both Van Halen and other bands from '83 and 84, so I'm very curious. Real or not, though it's still one of my favorite shirts.

Cherub Detail 1984

(Also, sorry if my photos stink. I just have my webcam.)

[jimmyj]

It's vintage for sure - but it's not licensed - classic bootleg print. And the tee looks to be that 100% cotton Pakistan style, probably mishapen by no, super cheap blanks that the bootleggers used to print on.

But that doesn't mean it doesn't have value - boots have their own little niche in the market.