This Vintage Anatomical T-Shirt Collection Takes Heart (and a Lot of Guts)

Hi, y’all! My name is David and I’m a yoga instructor that collects novelty Anatomical Diagram t-shirts. It started with one and ballooned into a dozen and a half. Students love them and they’re excellent teaching tools.

Blinded by Science Test Answers AOP

This was my first anatomy tee. I bought it some 7-ish years ago during my first yoga training as a joke for my teachers…the joke was on me after seeing there were multiple companies and diagrams for the human body.

Anatomical Chart Co

Muscular System

The most popular version of Anatomy Tee is the Kurt Cobain Muscular System from Skokie. Anatomical Chart is responsible for the bulk of the pieces and range from the digestive system, kidneys, the heart (the only one which I’ve sold but more on that later), the skeletal system, pregnancy, and the epidermis. Pretty much every science class had posters from this series in school and that nostalgia makes the shirts rare and collectible.

Skeleton

Digestive System

Eye

Kidneys

Heart

Rudiger Anatomie

Another company designing Anatomy Tees in the early 90s was Rudiger Anatomie from Berlin. What’s most obviously different from these are the bold texts above the design. They’re unique and often the text is in German but the US variants are out there as well.

Ear

Heart

Arnold

Leslie Arwin

One of the most artful designs in the anatomy series are the Leslie Arwin’s. Taken from the artwork in the late 70s and reprinted in the late 80s the Leslie Arwin series is usually monochromatic black and white designs of the muscular system the heart and the skeletal system.

Skeleton

Anatomical Band T-Shirts

Nirvana In Utero

The Anatomical Charts Inc designs are said to be much of the inspiration for Kurt Cobain and Nirvana In Utero art. Within the collection, it’s easy to see where he got the concept from and how it made its way into other bands decades to come. (Carcass’ nervous system tee not pictured…too deep in storage lol).

Pearl Jam Anatomy

Male & Female Anatomical Chart

Nothing really known about this one other than it’s a spectacular graphic.

Art of Healthcare

Absolutely had to have this when discussing the importance of yoga and healthcare.

Wild Creations

They’re newer production pieces that pop color into the anatomical designs. Affordable with great graphics.

Organs

Brain

Phrenological Diagram

Definitely not real science but scientifically a rad shirt. This piece was gifted to my sister who’s a psychologist. Felt like the best place for it to go, because I only sell these anatomy shirts to people who work in professions dealing with the body. It just feels right that the flexing that happens in the t-shirt game goes to benefit someone else.

Brain on Vacation, Fashion Victim

The newest piece in my collection comes isn’t quite a diagram, but what the ultimate goal is of the yoga practice. ‘Brain on Vacation’ anatomy parody piece by Fashion Victim purchased from Dead Union. Just as cool as the design is the person who sold it to me.

In March 2021, @davesdirtyclothes started daily ‘Vintage Yoga’ lives and it’s since become part of the daily routine for the vintage community. The idea was to offer free yoga to promote mindfulness and create a safe space within the male-dominated vintage community. Alternatively, it would be a great platform to curate and sell shirts from the classes. However, not everything ends up for sale…such as certain German anatomy tees.

You can catch Dave vending at ThrfitCon in Houston on July 18 and in-person yoga during Brrtual Flea weekend.