Vintage Highlights
Vintage Highlights
Hey! By now, you must have seen these curated items on display. I wanted to write a small story for each of these pieces to help you better understand why I treasure these shirts and why they have cultural significance.
Wrestlemania 21 EST. 2005 #
2005 was the moment when WWE leaned completely into cinematic absurdity, running those legendary movie trailer parodies. Booker T as Samuel L as Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction is unforgettable.
This was also my memory of the last time John Cena was introduced as the Eminem, hip-hop, "You Can't See Me" figure before his reform into the pro-military, more presentable icon that he eventually became.
On top of this, I got this shirt in Mexico where I was stuck in tourist jail - you can ask me about that one.
Shania Twain Up! Tour EST. 2003 #
If you are Canadian and only had basic cable, you will have heard Shania Twain roughly 1,038 times because that year was truly hers where the culmination was a Super Bowl XXXVII half time show.
She was really the prototype of sorts showing many future artists like Carrie Underwood, and dare I say Taylor Swift how to genre meld and have success in the mainstream while staying somewhat authentic to her genre roots (good enough for Dolly Parton I think).
This shirt reminds me of the CBC and radio days.
Yu-Gi-Oh! EST 2003 #
Okay, this shirt is iconic for several reasons.
The front is of Dark Rabbit while back is of Mystic Elf, both of which are actually heinous and unplayable Yu-Gi-Oh! cards with the exception that when Pegasus and Yugi respectively wield it, they somehow become an absurdly powerful monster.
For those who play this game, Dark Rabbit is a completely unplayable card with measly attack and defensive stats. But if you watch the entire sequence between Kaiba and Pegasus, he somehow has every card in the book to make this goofy bunny an unstoppable force.
Good cereal and cartoons make for good memories.
Kilban Cat San Francisco EST 1996 #
This shirt is a true treasure. The "Kilban" Cat was illustrated by cartoonist B. Kilban where he would often juxtapose this iconic cat in bizarre landscapes and situations.
One thing I am super keen on is looking for "As Seen On" (ASO) outfits as I do consider myself a fan of cinema. I think that Project: Hail Mary is likely to win the Oscar's for best film of the year and shown below is Ryan Gosling wearing the Kilban cat San Francisco shirt.
Honestly, I had made Instagram posts on this even before the shirt landed into my hands. And not only did the shirt come to me (thank you Marc), this is the original Made In USA Crazy Shirt print, a company known for using organic ingredients such as blueberry, coffee etc. for dying their shirts a certain colour.
Having this shirt on display for you to share my joy of cinema, vintage, and exploration all embodied within this iconic piece is my pleasure.
Iron Maiden EST 1990 #
Okay, so I can only name 3 songs by Iron Maiden and I cannot say that I am the biggest fan of them. I think they are outdone by their progressive contemporaries like Slayer, Pantera, Tool while being outshone by their peers such as Black Sabbath and Metallica.
However, I do believe this shirt is the original print for the tour which had an incredibly limited print run. Moreover, one key feature about the original prints is that they are slightly off-centred.
Cheshire Cat EST 1990 #
I don't know much about the origins of this t-shirt but they are part of a series from a label called Andanzia. They seem to be incredibly limited in print run and there are several collectible graphics. From recent research, it appears that the Queen of Hearts graphic is the rarest and most desired.
The most recent sale on eBay was for $500 USD!
