Wear your 80s addiction with pride
When it comes to movie worship, everyone takes second place to the cast of Stuck in the 80s. Or so I thought.
Remember all those cool t-shirts you see actors wearing in your favorite 80s movies? The "I (heart) Toxic Waste" shirt that Val Kilmer wears in Real Genius. The Bushwood Country Club shirt the caddies sport in Caddyshack. The so-cool "Senor Pizza" shirt that Patrick Dempsey wears in Loverboy.
All those and more are now for sale online from a website called founditemclothing.com. The company has been around for about two years, according to Adam Peter, who started the website in Portland, Oregon.
"I got the idea during a late night screening of Real Genius," Peter said. "I'd had seen the movie a bunch of times, but for whatever reason, after that viewing I really, really wanted an I Love Toxic Waste t-shirt. I figured that I could go home that night do a quick search on Google and eBay and find one, but I had no such luck."
After designing and producing the shirts, Peter sold a small run of 25 shirts from the movie -- enough to recoup his initial investment. Then customers started asking for shirts from other 80s classics. Another cool online venture was born.
"It's been a lot of fun so far," Peter said. "I've gotten a lot of great feedback from happy customers that appreciate the amount of detail and accuracy of our designs, and it's also a great excuse to watch lots of 80's movies."
(You need an excuse?)
Other shirts worn in movies you'll find at founditemclothing.com: Spinal Tap, Teen Wolf, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Tron, Beverly Hills Cop and more. There are shirts from movies outside the 80s too, including The Big Lebowski and Slap Shot.
And they've even got a page of 80s costume ideas -- something I'm asked about all the time here.
In addition, Stuck in the 80s is giving away five t-shirts from founditemclothing.com on our podcast. So check out the "Name that 80s tune" challenge in each of the next five episodes, beginning with the Kevin Cronin interview, for your chance to win.
Relive the music, movies and culture of the greatest decade ever with Times online editor Steve Spears. A teen during the decade, Steve is obsessed with everything from Duran Duran to Journey, John Hughes to John Cusack, and parachute pants to Reaganomics.
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Love my 80s Tees! I wear my Save Ferris shirt with pride! I also have The Gremlins, Karate Kid, and Pretty In Pink. It's a blast to see who "gets" the shirts!
Posted by: specialk | October 18, 2007 at 12:58 PM
I have a "WallyWorld" sweatshirt that I love. It features everyone's favorite moose, Marty, and some minor characters that most people don't know of. A classic relic of the 80's.
Posted by: Tom | October 18, 2007 at 03:25 PM
Oh my GOD Tom that is hilarious! My friend and I were discussing Wallyworld over a glass of wine this evening!
National Lampoon Vacation... brilliantly funny movie!
Posted by: specialk | October 19, 2007 at 06:48 PM
I realize most people hate it, but I also loved "European Vacation."
"My wife and I are looking for sex..."
Posted by: Spears | October 20, 2007 at 08:49 AM
Oh Steve what are we going to do with you?
Seriously now I want to go rent the whole set from Netflix. I just watched a clip on youtube, them going around and around in the roundabout in London... that's why I won't drive there!! LOL!!
Posted by: specialk | October 20, 2007 at 10:13 AM
I think the roundabout scene is in Paris, but I could be wrong.
My favorite quotes from European Vacation:
"Oh the hills are alive with the sound of Griswold. This s--t's been around for a very long time"
"Oink, oink, my good man!"
"He may pork her, finish your breakfast."
Posted by: Spears | October 20, 2007 at 10:19 AM
When I think of European Vacation I think of Audrey eyeballing the sausages and saying, "God, I miss Jack."
Posted by: Marissa | October 20, 2007 at 11:02 AM
check out youtube for scenes from the movie, I think there might actually be two roundabout scenes (we have them EVERYWHERE here!!!!). The one in London is hilarious because they just keep going round and round looking at Big Ben
Posted by: specialk | October 20, 2007 at 11:24 AM
I think the quote is "Look kids, Parliament, Big Ben...Parliament, Big Ben..." But my fav is from the first one, "You people are f@#*ed in the head! We're on a quest, a quest for fun!"
Posted by: Tom | October 20, 2007 at 07:42 PM