After years in the vintage t-shirt game, I’ve seen my share of fakes, reproductions, bootlegs and parking lot tees. Rest easy though. The overwhelming majority of vintage tees are authentic….knock offs will always find their way into any market. Stick around to the end of the article and I’ll show you a definitive example of a phony tee.
8 expert tips to spot a fake and tell if your vintage t-shirt is real.
- Tag
- Fabric
- Stitching
- Type and complexity of print
- New Print on Old Shirt
- Licensing/Trade-Mark
- Price
- Reputation
CLARIFICATION
Before we proceed let’s clarify the term fake. For the sake of this article, we will contrast a legitimate vintage t-shirt (something manufactured more than 20 years ago) vs a modern reproduction.
The reason to clarify is that a shirt can be unlicensed, bootleg, or a knockoff but as long as its older than 20 years it would fall under the “vintage” category regardless.
So we”ll approach this topic from the understanding that a thief is attempting to recreate a vintage shirt in modern-day.
W.W.A.B.D
W.W.A.B.D. What would a bootlegger do? Throughout this post, we’ll use this acronym to think logically about a bootlegger’s approach to making a fake. This will help us understand the mind of someone trying to reproduce a vintage shirt. We’ll reverse engineer their process to see if we can solve the dilemma.
Comparison
For our first example, I’m going to be using 2 blanks. The navy shirt is an authentic 50/50 Screen Stars tee from around 1988. The other is a more recent Chinese knock off. I’ll explain why I even have a fake.
In 2010 I was screen printing professionally and selling vintage online. I had the idea of re-introducing 80s style tees and then wholesaling to screen printers with the branded name Retro Tees. The tag had the same font as screen stars so it would be familiar. I was working with a Chinese manufacturer and they sent amazing samples.
The deal ultimately failed. In order to get a price break, I would have to order 10,000 shirts in each size. There was also the issue of warehousing a massive order. Finding buyers and ensuring reliable fulfillment if my customers wanted consistent inventory. Not to mention competing with gigantic t-shirt mills like Hanes and FTL that have dominated the market for decades.
Needless to say, there was a lot of complexity that I hadn’t considered. So I scrapped the plan. I did have some leftover samples though. So it’s a great comparison for our article. Let’s begin with the tag.
Tag
The tag difference is fairly obvious in this case. Although they are the same length and width, the knockoff is slightly darker. Plus it’s far thicker and has a ribbed look, like canvas.
The screen stars’ texture is silkier and thinner. It almost feels like damp office paper. The print on the fake tag is sharp, even when you zoom in really close. The text isn’t blurred at all which is strange because there’s a fuzziness to the tag.
If we just inspecting the tag, it would be easy to spot the fake. Even an amateur could do it.
Fabric
It’s much more difficult to distinguish a fake shirt just by fabric. Both shirts are super soft 50/50 polyester cotton blend. I did notice the Chinese fake was just slightly thinner and cheaper feeling…but nothing that would be noticeable to the average person. I wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t have an authentic shirt to compare against. Also, the collars were a match as well.
Stitching
The stitching on both shirts is identical in every way. The collars, the cuff and hem. They used a single stitch just as they would in the 80s. Even the inside is lock stitch.
If someone tries to sell you a shirt from before 1995 and it has a side seam or double stitching on the hem you know it’s a modern reproduction. Real vintage is single stitch and rarely had side seams. The fabric came in tubes so it wasn’t sewn together. I wrote an article all about this. You can read it here.
Smell
I’ve heard people say that there is a distinct smell to real vintage shirts. That they age like old books. Perhaps if they’ve been in storage for decades. Maybe if they’re deadstock? I’ve never noticed this. I have a dozen of vintage shirts and they have a mild detergent scent just like the new ones.
The smell isn’t an accurate gauge. I have deadstock tees in my collection that smell like they were screen printed today. In fact, I’ve had people accuse me of bootlegging because of the smell (a compliment to me I guess). If a shirt hasn’t been laundered it can retain its factory scent for decades.
Type and Complexity of Print
Until about 2005 the main way to decorate a t-shirt was screen printing. The technique of using plastisol based ink that is forced through a mesh stencil onto a garment and then heat cured.
More recently DTG printers (Direct to Garment) have become really popular. Imagine a DTG printer as an oversized inkjet but instead of printing on paper, it prints on fabric. I owned one of the first generation DTGs and while it sounded great in theory, the unit malfunctioned constantly and was a complete waste of money. The newer units are much better and more reliable.
Another thing to remember about DTG. Most garments have to be pretreated with a chemical and pressed in order for the ink to properly lay of the fabric. Plus they’re often heat pressed afterward as well. So most of the shirts have a stiffness to them and often a slight color discrepancy between the front and back of the shirt. You have to examine carefully but it’s a dead give away.
W.W.A.B.D (What would a bootlegger do). A bootlegger would most likely use a DTG unit. Screen printing is VERY time-consuming. The black death logo above is a 5 color. The set up on that shirt with artwork, emulsion coating screens, exposure, washout, drying, registration and print you’re looking at a half-day of work. Even for a pro. That’s why doing low volume screen printing is so expensive.
OR you can pre-coat t-shirt, press it and do a one-off print in probably 30 mins on a direct to garment. Bootleggers don’t want to waste their time either. So keep your eyes peeled for DTG prints.
New print on an old shirt
This is really hard to defend against. If a bootlegger gets a hold of old stock shirts it would be easy to fake and nobody would be able to tell. Not even an expert. Especially if they’re screen printing. I’ve heard of a technique where you could test the plastisol ink to determine its age. But that seems a little overboard. We’re talking about a knock off Motley Crue shirt not the Shroud of Turin.
Licensing/Trade-Mark
Look somewhere on the print for the trademark logo, copyright or sponsorship. Bootleggers rarely think about this. Its time consuming to add to the design and difficult to print accurately. Especially on Direct to garment printers. The finer the print the blurrier it tends to be.
As I’ve mentioned in other posts. Licensing laws before 1983 were different. So there are definitely occasions you’ll find legit vintage tees from the 70s and early 80s without any legal fine print near the logo. With time and experience, you’ll learn.
Price
If it seems too good to be true it probably is. The old saying applies here. If a bootlegger printed a bunch of fakes, they’d probably want to sell them as quickly as possible right? So they’d have to be priced to sell. Keep that in mind when you’re buying.
I went to the final Slayer concert in Los Angeles (2019) and when we left there was a guy selling knock-off tees in the parking lot for $5. Talk about priced to sell! Not sure how he could even make a profit?! He must’ve stolen the fake Slayer tees first. Lol.
Reputation
If you’re are interested in buying authentic vintage. Make sure the vendor is reputable.
- How long have they been selling?
- How knowledgable are they?
- How expensive are their items?
- Have they had previous complaints?
- Do they accept returns?
- Do they have multiples of the same “rare” design?
- Are they pushy or hasty in their sales approach?
- Do you have a bad feeling about them?
A truly reputable seller will always stand behind their product. If they unknowingly sold a fake they would gladly accept a return.
Breaking down an actual fake.
I found an eBay seller that was bootlegging Metallica, Exodus and Motley Crue shirts for $215 a pop. To a trained eye, they’re obvious fakes but to a novice, it will be more challenging to identify. Let’s dissect this phony. I’m going to use the Exodus shirt as an example. I’ve sold several of these over the years and could spot the fake from a mile away. Let’s have a look.
Upon first glance, you most likely wouldn’t be able to tell. You’re probably saying “of course I would”, but that’s because you’re contrasting with an authentic example. If you were at a flea market you might be tempted to buy. From a distance, the fake looks like a reasonable replica.
Let’s compare tags. As mentioned before a legit Screen Stars tag is made of paper. The fake is an odd color and slightly ribbed like fabric. Also, the font of the “s” is different. The real tag uses a bold font. Again, you probably wouldn’t notice if there wasn’t a comparison.
The real Exodus shirt above wasn’t printed on a Screen Stars tee. Many late 80s rocks tees were printed on Handtex and Brockum shirts. That’s not to say they couldn’t be printed on a screen stars tee though.
Fabric/Stitching
Fabric can be easily faked. 30-year-old fabric will look/feel exactly the same today. Make a note…when someone is trying to sell you a knockoff they’ll often overemphasize minute details you wouldn’t even consider. Specifics like how there is no side stitching or the hem and cuffs are single stitched. Only resellers care about these details. If you’re selling an authentic vintage item it’ll speak for itself.
This is pretty straight forward. You can see the difference between a professional 5 color screen print and a modern direct to garment hack job. In-person you’d be able to spot the quality difference even without the comparison.
BONUS!
Upon closer inspection, I noticed something funny. This is obviously a foreign bootleg made by a non-English speaker. They didn’t recognize that the writing on the arm is the lyrics to the Exodus song “Like Father Like Son”. On the bootleg, it’s just a bunch of gibberish. Very entertaining gibberish actually. It reminds me of the fight between these two guys. lol
Here are the other two fake shirts from the same seller. Both printed on the size small phony screen stars. Make note. If you ever see a seller that has a bunch of rare prints all on the exact same brand and size of shirt it’s a red flag. The quality of the print is decent but when compared to the original it’s not even close.
Always trust your intuition, and if you follow these steps you’ll have a great chance of buying an authentic vintage t-shirt. As always if you ever need help with anything. Just email or DM me a pic and I’ll help. CLICK HERE TO MESSAGE ME!
DEFUNKD!!
I’m pleased that so many of you have reached out for help verifying your tees. Well I have great news!! If you’re still confused as to the authenticity of your tee – there’s help. Our pals at Defunkd have a comprehensive site and forum to help you authenticate and verify your vintage rags. There’s also a section for appraisals incase you were curious as to the value of your tees.
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