The t-shirt is dead. Long live the t-shirt?

September 4, 2009 4:20 PM

My band t-shirts are dying. How can I replace them?

I have a couple of t-shirts that are precious to me. They've been staples in my wardrobe for years now, and they're falling apart. Oil splatters, holes in the armpits, wearing designs, fraying edges, etc. This is expected, and they're now my favorite relaxing-around-the-house tees to wear. But I like the designs so much I want them to be in my normal out-going selection still. And into the foreseeable future. They were both purchased at merch tables outside of the respective artists' live shows, and I haven't seen them since. Not at subsequent shows, not on artist or label websites, and not at band shirt-type stores in my area. Where can I get old band tshirts? Where can I get these band tshirts, specifically:

- Yo La Tengo - It's a blue Fruit of the Loom tee with the name of the band being beamed down from a UFO in white on the front.

- The Shins - It's an asphalt American Apparel tee with a green maze printed over the left breast. The name of the band can be deciphered in the center of the maze.

?

posted by carsonb to clothing, beauty, & fashion (14 comments total)

searching google for yo la tengo shirt ufo returns a lot of results. the first 2 i clicked seem to have the shirt.
posted by nadawi at 4:28 PM on September 4 [1 favorite has favorites]

This? Check ebay periodically is the best bet.
posted by fire&wings at 4:30 PM on September 4

And Shirt #2.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:48 PM on September 4

Damnation - not asphalt w/green, but green with white.

The main merch for The Shins is this link, but there aren't other color options.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:51 PM on September 4

Holey t-shirts, AskMe! I knew this was a dumb question. That merch.com site is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for from the Internet. Thanks, y'all!
posted by carsonb at 4:54 PM on September 4

Yeah, not crazy about the green, filthy light thief, but maybe it'll grow on me. Or shrink on me.
posted by carsonb at 4:55 PM on September 4

Well, apparently it won't. Not only is it available only in the one color, but also just the S size. I am not a S, sssadly.
posted by carsonb at 4:56 PM on September 4

Here's your Yo La Tengo in an XL on this site; they have Shins shirts too but not the one you're looking for.
posted by pised at 5:08 PM on September 4

I like the fact that t-shirts fall apart a bit after years of use. Replacing them feels like sacrilege, and just lets people know you were into music that was popular a few years ago.

I say, frame 'em.
posted by hnnrs at 5:11 PM on September 4 [1 favorite has favorites]

just lets people know you were into music that was popular a few years ago.

Actually they're both fairly ambiguous when it comes to band identification, especially the Shins tee. Look at filthy light thief's link; 99% of people you'd meet while wearing that shirt wouldn't know it was pimping for The Shins, and the delight they express when I show them the hidden band name is my delight as well. As for framing, no thanks. I'll still wear the beat up tees in private, and would prefer to wear the same styles around. But thanks for not answering the question.

As for The Shins shirt flt found, it looks like that's leftover tour merch (odd color, one size, discount price). If that's all that's left, I'm probably not gonna find it new anywhere. Would it be feasible to transfer the design to another tee myself somehow? To get some print shop to mock one (or three) up for me?
posted by carsonb at 5:31 PM on September 4

(Oh yeah, the link above is not correct. Here's the Shins shirt I'm looking for (albeit in a nonhelpful size).)
posted by carsonb at 5:40 PM on September 4

Count me in the hanging onto the past camp. The question spurred me to replace my long lost Sleater-Kinney Show Me Your Riffs shirt, so thanks for asking!
posted by yellowbinder at 6:09 PM on September 4

I saw a quilt made of old band tee shirts once. That's too much work for me, but I have been thinking about making pillowcases out of some of my disintegrating faves. That idea wouldn't help your wardrobe's loss, but at least you wouldn't have to throw out your precious souvenirs.
posted by Bergamot at 7:26 PM on September 4 [1 favorite has favorites]

Would it be feasible to transfer the design to another tee myself somehow? To get some print shop to mock one (or three) up for me?

Sure ... copy the image on the right here, paste into photoshop, turn black and white, do some smoothing, upload to any number of custom t-shirt printers and have it sent to you in the colors of your choice. It wouldn't be quite the same, but it would be pretty snazzy in its own way.

(For real snazz, print out on card stock, x-acto knife, spray paint ... you picked a particularly tough image for that, but it could be done if you were careful, and it would win you insane points with the humans.)
posted by jhc at 11:42 AM on September 5