Sell Them Shirts!
A reader wrote us yesterday about this post on Craigslist, in which a wardrobe-paring hipster is selling his old concert tees for low, low prices. And what's Shirtless In The City's sales pitch? Instant indie cred!
Find yourself coveting those other hipsters wearing better band t-shirts than yours because they're from that tour BEFORE the band hit it big or got that primo review on Pitchfork? Want to look like you've been "in the know" and a "scene fixture" for years instead of just a few months?Seeing is believing and all that, so here's the pictorial proof.Here's a quick and easy solution for you. I have far too many shirts that I never wear just taking up room in my closet. Some I bought them out of obligation because I got into a show for free, some I bought them after a few too many beers. At any rate, I just wanna get rid of them, and you clearly need them. Right? A few (noted in description) are gently worn and clean, most are NEW and NEVER WORN.
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"It Was Never Like That And You Know It" Red Medium Hanes Beefy T. This is actually from the McSweeney's store when it was in Park Slope. Purchased Winter 2002. This is a little more worn than the rest of the offerings, but still a charming addition to your high-irony wardrobe.
Portastatic -- Bright Ideas. Green Small Standard American (American Apparel). Cute, with image of two little girls from Bright Ideas album cover.
The Mountain Goats -- Get Lonely w/ Tour Dates. Pink Large Fruit of the Loom Heavy Cotton. From the early fall 2006 tour.
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists -- Rising sun graphic with band name. Black Medium Standard American (American Apparel). From the first Shake the Sheets tour.
Asthmatic Kitty Records. Orange Medium Standard American (American Apparel). With adorable label logo of the wheezing kitty. For all you Sufjan & Co. fans!
Head over for more if you're interested, but if you're like us, you're dealing with one TOO MANY concert tees (and not enough closet space!). Craigslist may be a good way to go (who knows, a music blog might just link to your post). But before you go there, you gotta come to grips with saying goodbye to that special, Death Cab before-they-were-on-The OC shirt! Which concert tee do you refuse to get rid of, even though it's a holey, stained mess? Maybe you can talk it out of your system. Your bureau will thank you, even if your inner-hipster won't.
Posted at 6:12 PM
I've got this Yo La Tengo tee I picked up when I saw them in '03. The armpits went green a long time ago, it sags in the neck, there are bleach spots and coffee stains and it's still the first thing I reach for.
Fun Come Alive!
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I'll sell anyone my beat down Joy Division "Love Will Tear Us Apart" shirt from my senior year of highschool, 1998-99.
That was a long time ago, kids.
Never mind that Ian Curtis died 7 months before I was born, this shit is old school.
Puchased at Drastic Plastic (Omaha, NE) before they moved their screenprint operation and hired a bunch of Indie-come-latelies.
Aged black (Beefy-T?) to nearly grey, Medium, holes in armpits.
$35.OO
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I like that all those shirts are from LONG LONG after those bands "hit it big" and got reviewed on Pitchfork.
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In high school I had that cool navy blue Pablo Honey shirt with the big-eyed baby on it. And I lost it! I wish I still had it.
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My favorite and first concert tee:
The Connells Live at the Boathouse (Norfolk, VA)1992
125 degrees - just right
Smashing Pumpkins - tour shirt 1993
it's a tie ;)
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Steely Dan t-shirt from a tour in like '98. Josh you stole it!
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Come down you two before I have you both eating pies!!!!
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most missed: Morrissey shirt from Your Arsenal tour, 1993
still have: Blur Parklife tour shirt from '94 & Graham Coxon solo "Roxons" t from 2000.
i feel old.
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Come down you two before I have you both eating pies!!!!
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The Modest Mouse bitter buffalo. Yea, I'm a child.
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So you are selling these shirts? What are you asking or is it determind by which one someone wants?
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I have an old Owls shirt that will be hard to get rid of despite its stains and being a size too big.
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oh, reflective spacehog tee, i miss you so
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my Depeche Mode, Music for the Masses t-shirt from 1988. my first concert!! i never wear it. shirts from then are all baggy. it sits safely at my parents' house. Same w/my Erasure tshirt. I had Gene Loves Jezebel but i think i got rid of it. Ah, the late 80's...
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I used to wear a Neil Young t-shirt which designed by myself black and very charismatic.
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They're worn, ratty, and shrunken to the point where I no longer can wear them, but I can't bear to part with my Mission UK "Children" tour and my Cult "Sonic Temple" tour tees.
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wait, so no one is going to make fun of this craigslist guy?
Is that post-post-modern or something?
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I have a Beastie Boys "Fight For Your Right to Party" shirt from 1986. Bought it at the thrift store for 2 dollars in 1997.
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I have a Beastie Boys "Fight For Your Right to Party" shirt from 1986. Bought it at the thrift store for 2 dollars in 1997.
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i also had the radiohead pablo hunny shirt with the baby on it in high school, except it was purple. it went missing
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might as well admit to it... I have a Death Cab shirt from their spring 2001 tour. It's navy blue with the We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes album cover outline of the joggers on the front. i still wear it. The OC didn't make their last two albums crap. Death Cab did.
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i can't believe someone didnn't mention yet that the author of that craigslist ad is a tool.
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Thanks for the plug, Stereogum!
And hey, maybe I am a tool, but I've sold almost all the shirts. Maybe you're just jealous because you didn't think of it first? And of course, I'm not selling the REALLY good ones -- those aren't going anywhere -- like my favorite Okkervil River shirt.
Oh, and by the way, I'm a girl -- thanks for assuming that I'm a guy, btw. Nice.
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you can still buy that octopus project t-shirt on their website. (not surprising, since that tour was only a year ago.) i considered buying it again because i burned a hole in the front of mine and because their new shirts are not as cool.
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I'm certainly not jealous of having so much useless crap I spent money on. But then again, I'm a cheap Yankee.
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The Clash London Calling tour T, worn nearly to transparency.
First one to call me old gets a whack with my cane.
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I should add, however, that I am jealous of the oodles of cash you probably made. Because I'm broke.
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Smashing Pumpkins 1994, Mighty Mighty Bosstones 1993, Primus 1992. That's as old as I get. All three concerts were fucking awesome too.
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Of the ones I still have, it's either the Rollins Band "Be Strong, Get Stronger" shirt from the 1994 "Weight" tour with Helmet, or my "Building"-era Sense Field shirt from 1996. I can't remember now if I still have my Digable Planets shirt from their 1993 tour opening for Sade.
I've still got music-related newsgroup and mailing list shirts. alt.fan.oingo-boingo and alt.music.nin shirts are still in my collection from 1994. Good times on the shell account...
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This thread stirs painful memories of long-gone Dogmatics and Volcano Suns shirts....
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