The Team Store: A glorified stadium and arena memorabilia store where sports fans shop official jerseys, hats and a variety of magnets and key chains.
Also: probably pass.
“This is very interesting,” said Lily Shimbashi of Sportsish, a pop culture newsletter and podcast aimed at female sports fans. “No one buys clothes from the teams anymore, because it’s boring. It’s ugly.”
For more and more fans, official game-day apparel has been replaced by less official, more fashionable gear sold online. That shift has created a particular frenzy around vintage sportswear, like graphic tees circa 2001 — the Mets’ opening day or Florida A&M University homecoming — or colorful, crisp NBA Starter jackets.
According to Google Trends, search interest in vintage NFL items has nearly quadrupled in the last year, particularly in Missouri, home of the Kansas City Chiefs. The day after it was found that Kansas City would play the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, searches on eBay for vintage 49ers jerseys increased by more than 400 percent in the United States and Canada.
But it’s not just about the Super Bowl: Over the past six months, searches on Etsy for vintage football jerseys, regardless of team, are up 62 percent, compared to the same time last year.
“People want to wear something more unique,” said Michael Spitz, the owner of Mr. Throwback Vintage, an East Village store specializing in sporting goods since the 1990s.
Mr. Spitz, a basketball jersey collector, has been in business in New York for over 11 years. “Every year, vintage sportswear gets harder and harder to come by,” he said.
At the Westside Storey in Kansas City, vintage Chiefs sweatshirts were priced around $25 when owner Chris Harrington added them to his inventory six years ago, he said. Today, some of his sweatshirts sell for more than $300.
Explaining this inflation, Mr Harrington said the pool has improved significantly, increasing demand while supply has decreased. There wasn’t much to offer to begin with. Much of today’s popular vintage sportswear comes from the 1980s and 90s. And then, Mr. Harrington said, the Kansas City team didn’t sell much merchandise, serving a smaller market than the New York Giants or Jets.
The vintage clothing trade has also become more competitive in every category, from concert tees to red carpet looks. As for the team’s merchandise, there’s also a plethora of vintage-inspired T-shirts and ‘retro’ hoodies – knock-offs and fakes – sold online.
“You can take a label off and wash it a few times and 75 per cent of people who aren’t familiar with vintage will think it’s vintage,” Mr Harrington said.
Then came Taylor Swift. In December, she wore a Westside Storey sweatshirt while cheering on boyfriend Travis Kelce. Half red and half black — a color combination the average Swiftie could probably chalk up to an album release theory — with large block letters spread across the chest, the piece cost $250. Of course it made headlines.
Westside Storey sells vintage Chiefs apparel online in twice-monthly batches announced on Instagram. Before Taylor ( BT ), only about 60 percent of a drop would sell out, with each drawing 30 to 50 active visitors to the site, Mr. Harrington said.
After Taylor (AT), the drops have typically sold out within 10 minutes and attracted about 1,200 to 1,500 visitors to his site, he said.
At Mr. Spitz’s East Village store, Ms. Swift “changed the game and helped drive sales,” he said. “There’s always demand for any team in the Super Bowl, but obviously there are so many new fans today because of Taylor Swift.”
Sarah Chapelle, who maintains an Instagram account devoted to cataloging and analyzing the pop star’s style — a book is coming in October — said in an email that Ms. Swift’s fans appreciate how her game-day choices “spark the excitement and her support as a viewer, but don’t act as a nondescript billboard for the latest merchandise.” Ms. Chapelle wrote that the singer chooses “small businesses that are often local to Kansas City, women-owned, handmade, or offer sustainable options like vintage.”
An old sweatshirt can never be just an old sweatshirt for Ms. Swift. It is a statement of values.
While it’s true that vintage pieces appeal to young sustainability-minded consumers, Ms. Shimbashi said, they are also seen by those buyers as rare and valuable items. This may explain their acceptance of a $200 price tag on a cotton sweatshirt.
“People want a unique way to be part of a team’s legacy and history,” Ms. Shimbashi said.
“If you’ve got a grandparent who’s a sports fan and they’ve got a piece from when they were growing up, that’s something to get your hands on,” he said. “It’s so precious right now. I have my dad’s leather Knicks jacket from way back and I’ll keep it forever.”
