BOOTLEG EMBROIDERY DAMAGE - PART 1
BY MIKI GUADAMUR
I have a huge collection of these weird embroidered tags. Most of them come from crappy clothes—sweatshirts and tees that are so ugly that I just cut off the tags and use the actual garment to clean my toilet. This kind of merchandise is all over the streets of Mexico City, where I live, although most of it seems to originate in either the Asian Third World or Hong Kong, Taiwan, or South Korea.
My interest in these cute little guys started almost 25 years ago when lots of teenagers, myself included, were wearing sweaters and t-shirts with goofy embroidered mottos splashed across them. In Mexico there was this particular brand called Goldie, which you found mostly at street markets and which was sort of a ghetto version of Fiorucci.
But I digress. These are some of my favorite pieces from my collection. Fun, huh?
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| I’m guessing this is from the late 80s, the height of acid-house fever. This one was on the inside and the outside of a sleeveless yellow t-shirt. It was pretty killer, actually. |
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| This one merges baseball, football, and soccer in an orgy of homo-phallic-jock self-indulgence, and it makes me feel kind of horny and celebratory all at once. |
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This was attached to the outside of a black t-shirt. I like the teeny-tiny stars all around the border. |
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CONTINUED
BOOTLEG EMBROIDERY DAMAGE | 1 | 2 | 3 | >
See all articles by this contributor Anonymous, on Oct 31, 2009 wrote:
Anyone who uses the term, "but I digress" is so fucking annoying. | | Anonymous, on May 22, 2009 wrote:
buy the big "D-25"? | |
| Varg, on Apr 15, 2009 wrote:
The last one is a boy scout patch | | Anonymous, on Apr 2, 2009 wrote:
Loren Burr reminds me of Liverpool FC patches. | | Anonymous, on Apr 2, 2009 wrote:
isn’t the green guy about to sit on a tnt plunger? | |
| kano1257, on Apr 1, 2009 wrote:
I’m in the navy, and in the machinery room where i work we get use these rags torn apart from hand me down clothing from the 80’s. we keep all the ones with ridiculous patches and sayings on them. | | Anonymous, on Apr 1, 2009 wrote:
how did this remind you of shirttales? should have been shittales. nice | | Anonymous, on Apr 1, 2009 wrote:
I feel a bit weirded out after looking at the skier guy...im going to go and check to see if i have any rad tags on my clothes. yes im lame. | | Anonymous, on Apr 1, 2009 wrote:
those work out men are great. i think the red ones my favorite | | Anonymous, on Apr 1, 2009 wrote:
ah, here we are-
youtube.com/watch?v=Tv3OqKkZuCM | | Anonymous, on Apr 1, 2009 wrote:
do you guys remember the cartoon shirt tales? i hadn’t thought of that show since i watched it i think until i saw this article. | |
| tom edo, on Apr 1, 2009 wrote:
Sports warrior looks like the ending of an ultra game for the NES. | | Anonymous, on Mar 31, 2009 wrote:
Who was the "designer" that made a jacket only from expensive designer tags? Anyone remember that? | |
| chickenhead, on Mar 31, 2009 wrote:
one day i will put together the tackiest most awesomest jacket that is cluttered from front to back with badges and tags like these. | |
| joey carrera, on Mar 31, 2009 wrote:
my favorite is definitely the magnum force janitorial badge. talk about taking your job a weee bit too seriously..looks like a branch off of the JANITORS COALITION OF THE MASTERS IN CUSTODIAL ARTS. | | Anonymous, on Mar 31, 2009 wrote:
this stuff kills me... why can’t the whole world look like this? | |
| jiminy, on Mar 31, 2009 wrote:
in my world, there are only two types of tags - itchy and non. the tag’s life depends on this factor. | | Anonymous, on Mar 31, 2009 wrote:
But are any of them made from dog hair? Didn’t think so. From here on I’m going only dog hair, even the care tags will be made from dog hair. I’ll bring them home in a dog hair totebag. | | Anonymous, on Mar 30, 2009 wrote:
I never noticed the embroidered tags inside of clothes but after this article i cant stop noticing them. Mine aren’t as festive though.. | | Anonymous, on Mar 30, 2009 wrote:
baby b’gosh is too cute. steel wool texture and all | | Anonymous, on Mar 30, 2009 wrote:
lol - the stripe across the skiers face makes a perfect fat mustache and the one below makes the perfect nutduster. | | Anonymous, on Mar 30, 2009 wrote:
WOW is not my desktop background, so thanks, for about two days until i get really tired of the cheesy colors!1 | | Anonymous, on Mar 30, 2009 wrote:
It’s bugging me that the World Cup isn’t gold. The guy in the middle - is that supposed to be a baseball player holding up a glove? It looks more like a Mayan heiroglyph and why is his arm so long? That can’t be anatomically correct. | | Anonymous, on Mar 30, 2009 wrote:
i want to attend a magnum force janitorial meeting. can you imagine? i bet they know how to party, and if you ever needed advice on removing graffiti and dried piss, they’re your men. | |
| enstigator, on Mar 30, 2009 wrote:
i think the crab was born with clubclaw | | Anonymous, on Mar 30, 2009 wrote:
i still love the old "palyboy" jacket in the do from long ago. "motherfuckin’ PALYboy?" hahahahahaha | | Anonymous, on Mar 30, 2009 wrote:
me gusta mucho. in america far less creativity is involved with shitty stiching. usually you’re forced to deal with "versake" and no one would ever champion anything as questionably communistic as the broom/mop emblem.
go south of the border, bootleggers, and let your creativity soar! | | Anonymous, on Mar 30, 2009 wrote:
and like anyone that wears 501s goes to the gym anyways. i do like how their heads match the weights though. | | Anonymous, on Mar 30, 2009 wrote:
remember the embroidery kiosk at the mall? are those still around? you could get anything you want sewn on almost anywhere. lots of crappy custom new era hats were abundant for a while there. | |
| zerotransfat, on Mar 26, 2009 wrote:
south koreas always been extremely good at bootlegging clothing, but of course you’ll get the occasional few that are just ridiculous. i’ve come across plenty in the past such as, "tonne hilfigier," the all-american french canadian designer | | | Next 30 comments > |
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