University of Alabama students will have the opportunity to purchase parts of past decades today at the 8 on Repeat Vintage Clothing T-shirt sale in the Ferguson Center Lounge Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Former UA student Brandon Gardner is bringing 2,000 vintage T-shirts back to his alma mater.
“I’m selling vintage concert shirts, hot-rod shirts, old motorcycle shirts, college shirts and even some with old-fashioned advertisements on them,” Gardner said. “I have the most random, yet legit stuff from the 70s and 80s.”
Gardner’s idea of 8 on Repeat Vintage Clothing began after college when he moved back home to Mississippi. While at home, his mother suggested he sell items from his parents’ antique store on eBay. After the success he found through eBay, Gardner decided to use the website as a platform to create a business of his own.
Gardner’s love and signature look for vintage T-shirts began in high school when he started visiting local thrift stores with his friends. With a growing collection, Gardner thought it would be a great idea to sell some of them on eBay.
“I wanted to try and sell what I was passionate about, so I listed some of my old vintage T-shirts I had collected over the years,” Gardner said. “I was so surprised by how quickly the shirts started selling on eBay that I knew that I had caught onto something big.”
Since his eBay site was becoming increasingly popular, Gardner decided to expand his online business to pop-up stores, taking 8 on Repeat Vintage Clothing on the road. With the popular interest of vintage T-shirts among college students, Gardner travels frequently to college campuses and sells shirts to universities such as Mississippi State and Auburn.
Gardner said 90 percent of his shirts are on a college budget, and most of the shirts at the sale range from $10 to $20 with just a few racks of concert shirts that are significantly more expensive due to their rarity.
Will Dodd, a senior majoring in political science, bought two T-shirts from Gardner’s sale two years ago and plans to check out the sale Thursday.
“He has an incredible collection, concert tees from the 70s and 80s that you won’t find anywhere else,” Dodd said. “These aren’t the novelty T-shirts you find in the mall, they’re the real thing.”
Throughout the years, Gardner has come across shirts that mean more than just a purchase to the customer. He has even met students who have found a piece of ancestral history with the T-shirts.
“Last year, this girl found an old graduation shirt from Huntsville High School, it had all these signatures from the graduating students,” Gardner said. “When the girl was looking at the shirt, she found her dad’s name written on the back.”
A 1975 Jethro Tull band T-shirt is the oldest shirt Gardner has and doesn’t collect many shirts from before 1989.
Last year, Gardner sold one of his most rare shirts, a 1976 Lynard Skynard T-shirt to a student for $200. Gardner said the customer was so happy with the shirt, that they took a picture together holding it.
“In the picture she had this huge smile and it made me feel good I helped her find that shirt,” Gardner said. “It’s not just a piece of clothing, it’s a work of art.”
