Vintage T-Shirt Forum & Community Authentication Appraisals

Hey guys, wanted to get some opinions on this. It popped up on Ebay for cheap & I scooped it up for the sheer weirdness factor. I've never seen anything similar.

It's a 90's era t-shirt for the band Pavement. The seller described it like so: "Here's a rare, mysterious Pavement shirt that I mail ordered back in 1993 from a company called Burning Airlines. The front just says "Pavement" and the back has a picture of original drummer/lunatic Gary Young hanging upside down. The tag says Made in England but doesn't state the size; I'm guessing a larger L or maybe XL. The dimensions are approx. 29" long and 22.5" wide, you be the judge. Been in storage for many years"

I've never heard of Riot (the name printed on the label). Burning Airlines seems to be a t-shirt company that is still in business (and has been since 1981). The print on this tee is also pretty unique, placed high up on the chest and up to the collar on the back.

Any thoughts on the label or the value? Thanks!

Never heard of Rio, but it's a dot-matrix tag, which is consistent with some tags of the period- though more for sizing/sourcing/washing info (depending on the circumstance) than branding. Unless my eyes deceive me, there looks to be the frayed remnants of a another tag above that one that was chopped off. Though that could just be me...

If it's Pavement, and 1993 (which would be somewhere between Slanted and Enchanted and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain), I can't imagine $100 or more would be out of the question- they're a legendary but semi-obscure band with not a lot of merch.

Thanks for the reply! I think what you're seeing at the tag is just a slight shadow, in person I can't see any evidence of a second tag having been removed.

I did some additional research and found that the guy pictured on this shirt played drums for Pavement on Slanted & Enchanted as well as a few of their early EP's, but was booted from the band before Crooked Rain (under less than friendly circumstances). That being the case, I can't imagine them using his image after that point, so that would definitely put this in the 92-93 range.

It's a shame that it's so big, I'd keep it if it fit (I love Pavement). Maybe I'll save it and try to fatten up . I've noticed that they have very little in the way of merchandise out there, and most of that is recent. Very little in the way of tees from their early years.

Thanks again for the feedback!