Vintage Sweatshirts

Crewnecks, quarter-zips, knitted jumpers and heavier fleece. Most of it is college and sports prints, cartoon graphics and plain heavyweight blanks, plus the odd knitted piece where the pattern does the work.

Sweatshirts are the easiest vintage buy to get right, because they were cut generously to begin with. What's worth checking is the fleece. Old cotton fleece softens and thins as it's worn, so a thirty-year-old jumper feels different to a new one. Where a piece has pilled, thinned or faded, we've said so.

Most of these come from vintage Nike, vintage Adidas and vintage Ralph Lauren. The full range has everything we stock in one place.

Common questions

How should a vintage sweatshirt fit?
Vintage sweatshirts sit closer to modern sizing than vintage tees do, though the body's often shorter and the sleeves wider. Check the measurements we've listed, and size up if you want it properly oversized rather than hoping the letter on the tag will do it.

Can I wash it normally?
Wash cold and inside out, then hang it to dry. Heat is what shrinks old cotton fleece and cracks a printed graphic, so keep it well away from the dryer. Anything knitted is happier washed by hand and dried flat.

Why do some look worn already?
Because they are, and that's rather the point. A thirty-year-old sweatshirt that's been worn will have softened, faded and sometimes pilled, and for most people that's the appeal. Anything we'd call a fault rather than character is photographed and written into the description.