Band tees are so 2017. Why not rock a pair of band merch shorts this summer?
This post is all about band merch shorts….
Band tees were peak basic last summer. Or, as my old editor so lovely coined it: bedgy.
It’s tragic for those of you who, like me, have been treating band tees as wardrobe staples ever since you discovered Fuse and/or Avril Lavigne.
While I’d never stop wearing one of my go-to pieces for fear of looking basic/bedgy, I can’t deny that whenever I throw on a band tee before leaving the house, I can’t help but wonder if my peers on the Subway think I bought my The Cure tee at Forever 21 (I didn’t, but I can’t pretend I haven’t bought band tees at Forever 21 back in high school that I still wear today).
At the same time, you never want to be that girl (okay, but 99% of the time it’s a guy) that approaches the chick wearing a Metallica shirt and says, “Oh, you like Metallica? Well then what is James Hetfield’s zodiac sign?”
But, if you’re down to wear your favorite band on your sleeve — why not consider wearing them on another item of clothing so as to stand out from every other girl at [insert music festival here]?
What I’m saying is to wear your favorite band on your ass, basically.
I mean honestly, you think I’d ever shy away from the chance to wear Jim Morrison’s face right on my lady parts?! You clearly don’t know me very well.
I got this sweet pair of band merch shorts at a little site called Get Bad Vibes in 2014, and they’re still cranking out band merch shorts today, although they appear to have rebranded under the name “Backbite.”
The cool thing is that each pair of shorts is made from a real band tee, and handmade especially for you. They used to be made from “vintage” t-shirts so each pair was one of a kind, but looking at their site now it looks like they might be working from more mass produced shirts. Either way, they’re still not mainstream enough that you’re likely to run into someone wearing the same pair.
In terms of how I bought my shorts and how the sizing/quality/etc. is (essentially a Backbite review) here are the deets:
I’d been following them for a while back in 2014 and had been waiting for them to finally release a pair of shorts with a band I listened to regularly so that I wouldn’t have to deal with the aforementioned dude calling me out on the fact that I don’t actually listen to Motörhead on a daily basis. Immediately after they listed this pair for pre-order, I said goodbye to my $80 and patiently waited for a month to get them.
Side note: if you’ve been following me for a bit you know I have an obsession with The Doors and have way too much of their merch.
Unfortunately, when I got the shorts, I realized they were super tiny (I had ordered a Small, even though I normally wear an XS). Since they were made from a unique t-shirt, it’s not like I could exchange them for another size. I rocked them maybe once or twice with opaque black tights underneath to tone down the scandy factor, and then demoted them to a beach/pool cover-up.
Thankfully, the one good thing about losing a little weight recently is that these shorts are slightly more acceptable on my body now (R.I.P booty though). That’s not to say I didn’t get weird looks while traipsing around in this outfit at 12 PM on a Monday in downtown LA, but I’m honestly used to that by this point.
If you are in between sizes, I’d definitely recommend sizing up! If you’re tall/have long legs/a big booty, I’d definitely recommend sizing up!
When in doubt: measure yourself and check the measurements! You’ll never regret doing it and you’ll be able to use those measurements for future online purchases!
In terms of the quality, I’ve had mine for about four years now and I haven’t seen any sides of fading/ripping/pilling, but then again I haven’t been wearing them super often until recently. They have nice stretch at the waist without losing their shape, but the thigh hems don’t leave a ton of room for stretch. They’re t-shirt material, so they’re super comfy — great for summer days where you want to wear gym shorts but don’t want to look like a slob!
Anyway, here are some more pics of how they look on me and how I styled them:
If you end up getting your own pair, let me know! I always get so many compliments on mine 🙂
Other Outfit Deets:
Robe: Buy it here
Bodysuit: Buy it here from Oh Polly [I’m wearing a UK size 6]
Boots: Buy them here
Necklace: Buy similar here
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