Here is a quick and easy guide to finding your first collection of vintage tees.
In no particular order :
- Colour : White, black, faded black, grey or a nice sun faded colour of your choice
- Stitching : Single stitch vs double stitch. If you haven't got one yet, then definitely pick up a nice single stitch piece. It's an essential to own, and ideally I'd want all my tees to have it. However, don't let it dissuade you from buying a double stitch, it's not as big of a deal as lots of people make it out to be. Some of my favourite personal pieces are double stitch.
- Fit : Trial and error. I would go a size up to what you would normally get from a high street retailer. You can't go wrong with a loose fitting vintage tee. From there you can measure pit to pit and length to find your favourite measurements.
- Print : Screen printed. Graphic cracking and fading is a bonus to look out for. Avoid vinyl and heat transfer prints for the most part.
- Tag : There's some OG's to look out for (90% of the t shirts on the website are these). There are also lots of random obscure tags that are great too.
- Price : Regardless of how much money you have to spend, I would recommend getting one at £30 or under first. Why? Forget hype and rarity for now. Your first guitar shouldn't be a custom Gibson Les Paul. Same with vintage tees. There are loads of amazing tees at this price range with the same quality as the most expensive tees. Enjoy them, learn what you like, resell and build your collection from the ground up. For now you don't really know what you want or like, so no point splashing out just yet.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to DM me questions on IG, or come and swing by my weekend stall at Portobello Market.
Darragh
Major League Vintage