Some vintage tees can cost thousands of dollars. But if your team, club or group can’t get enough of that retro look, there’s good news for your budget: you can create your own T-shirt design for much less at BlueCotton. Here are some tips to get the perfect retro tee for your organization at a fraction of the cost.
- Choose the right font
In the Design Studio at BlueCotton, there’s a whole menu of retro-style fonts. Find fonts that fit the ’70s and other eras, as well as stylized fonts with a weathered appearance. If you were thinking of using our Names & Numbers feature to create personalized shirts, there are also retro font options available for that.
Subtle changes to the text can also have a big impact on giving your custom tee a vintage look. For example, you could curve the text above your art or logo to go for a retro, badge-like appearance. You could even give your shirt design a movie feel with text shaped like the nostalgic intro credits famously found in the Star Wars movies.
- Add vintage-style clip art
You might be surprised at how many choices you have when you design your custom tees at BlueCotton. The built-in search function within our studio tool means you can easily find the clip art you need to create the retro look you want. Milkshakes were iconic in the 1930s to ’50s, and roller skates were at their most popular in the ’70s and ’80s. Go for a band shirt look with musical symbols, or even skulls for metal or rock ‘n’ roll!
- Import your own weathered or vintage-style artwork
Open-source programs like Krita will give you a whole suite of tools to create more detailed retro T-shirt designs. Once you have the specific vintage style that your group wants, you can easily upload that artwork into our online studio tool. There are also royalty-free picture websites, such as Pixabay, where you can find pre-made vintage graphics for your custom shirt. Most will have filters to help narrow down your search.
- Choose the right shirt
Just as important as the design itself is the garment it’s printed on. Look for custom T-shirts that work best for your artwork or logo. For rustic, retro-style tee designs, consider the Jerzees T-shirt that comes in youth sizes and adult options up to plus sizes. For 1960s and ’70s designs, the Colortone Tie Dye Tee could be exactly what you need. You also can’t go wrong with the classic, bestselling Gildan Heavy Cotton T-Shirt.
- Look for design ideas to get inspired
We have a large gallery of Design Ideas that include vintage looks and retro styles for T-shirts. No matter what aesthetic you’re after, you’re sure to find it there. Discover outdoorsy options in the camp gallery, seasonal vintage designs in the holidays gallery and more. The wide range of ideas is meant to give every business, charity, organization, school or other group a chance to find exactly what they need for their event or team.