In this section, we highlight the vintage shirts you simply must have in your poly-cotton arsenal. Some are hot commodities while others are speculation on a future trend.

Selection: Vintage Lightning Bolt Shirt (Explore eBay’s Inventory)

Demand: Moderate – High

Price: $75-$150   

HOT: Lightning Bolt shirts are the bi-product of a Hawaiian brand of surfboards that began to take shape in the late 1960s. By the latter part of the 1970s the surf board was being ridden by the top names in the sport and the company extended their brand to apparel. Their shirts usually featured a beautifully detailed surf inspired landscape across the chest or back (above left) or refined details for prints on terry cloth material (above right). These shirts can also be easily identified by an embroidered outline of a lightning bolt on the fabric at the base of the buttons (which were made of wood). The popularity of the brand was mainly indigenous to California where it became the brand of choice for surfers and skateboarders and then became trendy leisure wear for the masses. In recent years their vintage shirts have made waves as one of the most sought after polo style t-shirts around. 

BUY LOW: Vintage Ocean Pacific shirts featuring similar landscape chest designs are fast becoming popular vintage polos. Waves (left) and Pipeline are two of the more obscure vintage polo brands that share the same design inspiration. The generic tourist Hawaiian polo (right) also utilizes the cross chest design.

View the previous Essential Selection: vintage Hypercolor t-shirts.

Every so often we feature an interesting vintage tee that’s currently on the eBay auction block. Please feel free to link us if you create or discover an auction we might like.

Description: vintage 1970s Fila Bjorn Borg tennis shirt

Sold by: houseofcult

Measurements: 20″ pit-to-pit by 26″ length

What the Seller Says: You are bidding on a beautiful and original MEGA RARE TENNIS POLO FROM FILA, THIS KIND OF POLO WAS WORN BY BORG IN HIS EARLY DAYS!! REALY A COLLECTIBLE SHIRT!

What I Say: To complete the outfit you’ll just need the shorty Fila shorts, the matching striped headband and wristbands, the BJ logo socks and the Diadora Borg Elite Trainers.

Check out our post on the top 5 vintage tennis shirts.

No vintage enthusiast’s wardrobe is complete if it doesn’t show a little love for tennis shirts. So we’re serving up a set of the top five to help ensure you’re an ace on the concrete surface of the urban court.

1. Fila BJ Borg

Borg is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport. He won 11 Grand Slam singles titles between 1974 and 1981. And if you think that’s a big deal, get this: in March of 2009 The Vintage Aficionado named him World’s No. 1 in terms of vintage tennis shirts. Luke Wilson’s character in The Royal Tannenbaums was loosely based on Borg, but his style was an exact match. Despite being the most reproduced tennis shirt on the planet, the originals continue to fetch top dollar.

2. Nike John McEnroe Checker

What would Johnny Mac say if he was reading this? “You cannot be serious! I beat Borg the last time we played in 1981!”  His 7 Grand Slam singles titles, 9 Grand Slam doubles, and a number of legendary rivalries (Borg, Connors Lendl), coupled with his wicked tantrums, made J-Mac the player to watch in the 1980s. He even came out of retirement in 2006 to win a match – making him the only player to win doubles titles in four different decades. He continues to entertain in modern days as the king of movie and TV cameos.

3. Nike Andre Agassi Challenge

With this tennis player, image was everything. His long hair, single earring and cheeseburger diet were the keys to his success. Well that, and maybe 8 Grand Slams, an Olympic gold medal and being the only male player to win a career Golden Slam had something to do with it. His on-court fashions were a continual thorn in the side of the game’s elder statesmen who favored traditional white attire. He even opted-out of Wimbeldon play for two years in protest of their lame dress code. Tennis jean shorts aside, we’re down with this rebel’s get-up.

4. Lacoste

Rene Lacoste is the godfather of vintage tennis shirts. ”The crocodile” first introduced the tennis shirt in 1929 and was the first player to sport his own shirt during a match. Lacoste dominated the game of tennis in the 1920s and early ’30s, winning 7 grand slam singles. Hey college kids, please pay attention and take notes: never once did he wear his collar popped. Thankfully that fad has finally fizzled. Now Rene can stop rolling in his grave and we can consider wearing Locoste again in the near future.

5. Fred Perry

Perry was the first player to win all four Grand Slam singles titles, and the first to achieve the Career Grand Slam. He’s a British tennis icon and the last one to win Wimbledon. Even sweat was no sweat for Perry, who has been credited with inventing the athletic wrist sweatband. In 1952 he turned his focus toward shirts. By the 1960s, his tennis shirts became a staple of British mod and skinhead attire. All in favor of producing Perry shirts in an array of colors, say “Oi!” It was these trend-setters’ that influenced Perry to expand his hue.

Honorable mentions: Ivan Lendl Adidas, Jimmy Connors and Sergio Tacchini and thanks to Kirk at 4all2envy for collaboration.

Check out the 10 Worst Vintage Band Tees You Must Wear.

or more vintage t-shirts on our homepage.

Every two weeks we scour through eBay’s past auctions and report which relics are fetching the big bucks. Even more reasons to raid your granny’s closet.

Click the links below to view the full eBay listing or the sellers current inventory.

1. Jacket: vintage 50s Buco motorcycle sold for $1691.99 sold by mayberrysbarney
2. Runners: vintage 70s Nike waffle shoes sold for $917.77 sold by vintagepimp
3. Sweat: vintage 40s US Army sweatshirt sold for $710.00 sold by inthreadible
4. Sweater: vintage 90s Ralph Lauren P Wing sold for $660.00 sold by kurokuni
5. T-Shirt: vintage 40s Champion t-shirt sold for $338.99 sold by vintagerental
6. Tee: vintage Routt’s Cycle Center tee sold for $203.49 sold by kustomhut

View previous mens vintage clothing auctions.