Come on… admit it… whether it’s in the back of your closet or on the back of your youngest son you’ve got a classic rock and roll T-shirt somewhere in your home.
You know the ones blazoned with the Rolling Stones logo or a classic black Pink Floyd tee. If you have an original one, get it off the bottom of your closet because those vintage frocks are worth more than you might realize.
A collection of 30 vintage rock and roll T-shirts is being sold to the highest bidder this month at Christie’s auction house in New York where it’s expected to sell for up to $4,500 apiece. The shirts feature the biggest bands of the ’60s and ’70s: The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors and Pink Floyd, among others.
The items up for bid are featured in the Johan Kugelberg book “What Comes Around Goes Around: Vintage Rock T-Shirts.” One of the famous items is a yellow Yardbirds T-shirt, which is expected to bring in about $4,000 at the November 30th auction.
The shirt collection was complied from a variety of different owners and auction house officials say they believe it is the largest collection of rock T-shirts put up for auction.
According to auction house managers, the shirts are in pristine condition, which is remarkable given that most people wear their concert tees until they’re ready for the rag box. If you are planning to bid on of the collectibles know that these shirts are not the updated versions of classic rock tees. The shirts in the Christie’s collection are originals from an era before mass merchandising, when the shirts were often available only to the tour crew and select audience members – such as a 1973 maroon Led Zeppelin shirt, expected to fetch up to $1,500.
Another one of the tees up for sale is a classic “Rock and Roll Lives” T-shirt that was once worn by New York Dolls bassist Arthur “Killer” Kane for a photo that appeared on the back cover of the trailblazing band’s second album, 1974’s “Too Much Too Soon.” Another item that is expected to fetch at least $2,000 is a white shirt with green sleeves that celebrates John Lennon’s foray into holiday music, with the words “War Is Over! If You Want It” – a lyric from his song “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” There’s also a 1979 T-shirt, which immortalizes the short-lived band the New Barbarians. The group featured Stones’ Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards; and disbanded less than a year after it was formed. There’s also a long-sleeved sweater, designed to promote the Stones’ 1973 “Goat’s Head Soup” album. It is believed to be one of only a dozen produced and is expected to sell for $4,500.
How much would you pay for a classic rock t-shirt?
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