How to confirm a shirt is vintage and not a boot

GhoulishMayhemSat, 06/01/2024 - 21:47

Hey yall just wondering abt what the title says. Are there specific ways as to tell if one is a boot or not? I’m trying to get into t shirt collecting but I’m not sure as to what would be a bootleg vintage tee and what wouldn’t be. If yall could list what yall look for when identifying shirts that would help a ton. Thanks and as always, have a great one \m/.

doctordeath on Sat, 06/01/2024 - 23:14

you cant, they even buy dead-stock blanks from 1989 and re-print perfect silk screen copies onto them...

GhoulishMayhem on Sun, 07/01/2024 - 18:00

That sucks. I was somewhat aware of this which is unfortunate. I appreciate the heads up though.

doctordeath on Sun, 07/01/2024 - 18:05

sometimes the reprints look "too exactly worn" and some look too fresh... its tough

GhoulishMayhem on Sun, 07/01/2024 - 18:08

Yeah. Shits making my head spin for just wanting to really get into it.

Steven Price on Sun, 07/01/2024 - 08:22

The tag. If its gildan or comfort colors it's most likely a bootleg or reprint. Look up the actual vintage shirts and check the tag brand for comparison. You can look for the copyright stamp also but that's not the best option because you can get a shirt that has a copyright stamp of 1994 but actually is a reprint from 2020

doctordeath on Sun, 07/01/2024 - 17:56

but dead stock tshirts (blanks from 1990) are available with tags

Beer.Browser on Thu, 02/05/2024 - 23:29

A lot of it comes with time and knowing how a vintage shirt “should look”. Bootleggers buy deadstock blanks and print on those. A lot of these shirts have target or walmart brand tags and bigger bands wouldn’t have ever printed on those shirts.

Ink quality is a good way of checking. A lot of bootleggers like to cake on ink to almost 1/2 cm thick. Though they’re getting better now.

Tags are a good way of telling most of the time. Wild Oats is a common one that gets faked a lot. But the bootleggers cut the tag too short so it gets sewn in too close to the collar.

It also depends on how hyped the shirt is. Nirvana shirts get faked a lot more than say White Zombie. If the shirt is normally $500+ and it’s brand new for 250 that’s a good sign it’s fake. Though some people don’t understand the true value of shirts.

GhoulishMayhem on Fri, 03/05/2024 - 08:35

Thanks for the heads up man, it’s greatly appreciated. Shit seems so complex can’t lie. Hopefully I can get my collection up and running soon. Take care \m/