London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

How Vintage Graphic T-Shirts Became a Status Symbol

How Vintage Graphic T-Shirts Became a Status Symbol

The closet staple has come a long way in the past century, going from an undergarment to a status symbol all its own.

The graphic T-shirt is a great fashion equalizer, coming in a wider range of sizes and representing more ideologies than perhaps any other garment. While you might have to get lucky at a flea market-or have a trusted vintage dealer on call—to find that perfect Joy Division concert tee, the thrill of the hunt is often more rewarding than picking up a licensed reproduction at a fast fashion retailer.

While T-shirts are now ubiquitous, the closet staple has come a long way in the past century, going from an undergarment to a status symbol all its own.



The T-shirt as we now know it first came about in the early 20th century. Sold primarily as undershirts, the T-shirt wouldn’t emerge as a staple of casual menswear until the ‘50s, when stars like Marlon Brando and James Dean famously wore them on the big screen. While it was common to see someone in the military sporting an issued tee, civilians taking the shirts to the streets was subversive for the time, and the T-shirt began its association with youth and rebellion.

In the 1960s, innovations in screen printing led by pop artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein opened up a new world of potential for the T-shirt, finally cementing it in the world of pop culture. The decade saw the emergence of commercial shirts used to promote films, beer, and even Disney characters, while tees were also used in the latter half of the decade to bring awareness to the peace movement.



However, it wasn’t until the ‘70s that the graphic T-shirt became the cultural symbol we know it as today. The tee was a canvas used as a messaging platform by political campaigns and the young people that protested against them. Sporting a graphic T-shirt became an easy way to project your identity to the masses, described by The New York Times in a 1973 article as “the medium for a message.” Popular graphics also emerged during this time, like the yellow smiley face, the “I heart NY” slogan, and that famous Che Guevara image.

Most notably, band T-shirts became popular during the ‘70s. Fans were already making their own merchandise, and musicians realized they could release their own concert tees as a new revenue stream. Bands like AC/DC, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin began selling tees at their stadium shows, eventually making more money from merchandise than ticket sales. As band tees became ubiquitous, their formerly political nature was watered down, and in came the punks in the later ‘70s to reinvent the band T-shirt. The radical designs Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren sold at their famous King’s Road boutique, simply called Sex, captured the ethos of members of the subculture in Britain, who opted to DIY their shirts with rips, pins, and homemade graphics.



In the decades since, the T-shirt has continued to be a symbol of the times, from Keith Haring’s AIDS awareness designs to the “We Should All Be Feminists” shirts Dior sent down the Spring/Summer 2017 runway. Brands like Fear of God and R13 have also gotten in on the trend, releasing new renditions of classic merch from bands like The Velvet Underground, Nirvana, and Iron Maiden. The popularity of vintage T-shirts coupled with millennials’ and Gen-Z’s obsession with nostalgia has given rise to an aggressive resale market where vintage band T-shirts can go for hundreds of dollars. Celebrities from Zoë Kravitz to Travis Scott are also often spotted in vintage tees, only further increasing demand.

T-shirts have proven to be a sound investment, only increasing with value over time. So don't donate your high school concert tees just yet-they may find a new home in the wardrobes of next generation's tastemakers.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×