Old, thin, faded T-shirts have gone from garage sale fodder to wardrobe gold in the eyes of many retro-minded Mississippi State students.
Vintage ’70s and ’80s T-shirts are one of the latest-and most pocketbook-friendly-trends to hit the college fashion scene.
Lauren Lockwood, an MSU sophomore, described vintage T’s as “a worn-in T-shirt that you would have found in the ’70s or ’80s.”
There are many avenues a college student can take when looking for a vintage or vintage-style T-shirt, but one of the most common are local thrift shops.
Rosemarie Cook owns Nearly Nu, a clothing and costume shop on South Jackson Street in Starkville.
The shop sells some T-shirts that feature, among other things, popular icons from ’80s television like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
She said vintage T-shirts are a good way to stand out in a crowd.
“It defines your style,” Cook said. “It’s an opening statement-a way to get acquainted.”
Cook, who sells her shirts from $3 to $10, said they are also a cost-effective alternative to buying new clothes from major retailers.
“You’ve got to wear clothes anyway so why pay a lot of money for them,” she said.
Mississippi State is not the only place the vintage T-shirt craze has caught on.
John Keddie, the self-described “vintage emperor,” owns Vintage Vantage, a clothing store based in Ventura, Calif. that specializes in vintage T-shirts.
“Vintage clothes are big everywhere,” he said. “Most of them go to college kids.”
Keddie said, although his clothes appear in Urban Outfitters retail stores, he sells most of his T-shirts over the internet.
Keddie said the exclusivity of the shirts is their main appeal.
“It’s nice to be able to wear something that other people don’t have,” Keddie said.
“It’s getting harder and harder to find vintage clothes in your thrift stores. There are only a certain number of them in the world.”
Keddie also sells a line of original, vintage-style T-shirts, the most popular of which is a T-shirt emblazoned with the words, “Voting is for old people.”
Vintage Vantage originals run about $19, but Keddie sells some vintage originals for much more. A 1984 Willie Nelson concert T tops the list of high-priced originals on the Vintage Vantage online store at nearly $2,000.
Keddie said he hopes to persuade Nelson himself to be photographed wearing the shirt so it can be auctioned for charity.
The shirts appeal to college students’ senses of nostalgia, Keddie said.
“It kinda hearkens back to a simpler time,” he said. “The ’70s and ’80s when kids were growing up and there was no homework.”
Lockwood said she’s been wearing the vintage T-shirts since she was in high school.
“My dad gave me some when I was, like, in the 10th grade,” Lockwood said. “My favorite is a rust-colored one with “Methodist Hospital” (written) in silver.”
She said the T-shirts are more comfortable than regular shirts because they’ve been worn in.
She said she also likes them because a lot of them have history.
“Lots of people have worn them before you,” she said. “Some one might have worn them to China-to the Great Wall.”
Lockwood’s friend Jordan Cunningham said only the hippest people wear the vintage T’s.
“Cool people wear them-sexy guys,” Cunningham said.
Check out Vintage Vantage’s shirts at www.vintagevantage.com.