We grew up wearing shirts just like this. I got mine from the Shore Shop in Seal Beach, Ca. Tony got his gear from Looking Good in Davis, Ca. This was an awesome time to be preppy, or to be surf, or to be part of the new wave show in the early, early 80's.
I leaned on surf and preppy. Jump to the summer of 1981, right around my 16th July birthday. We got wind about The Stray Cats playing at the Palladium in L.A. My wallet was fat with tip money from bussing tables at Naples Rib Joint in Belmont Shore so coughing up the $20 for a ticket came easy.
Now, we were beach town, Orange County kids, who really loved this music but did not venture much to L.A. for shows. A bit young still but on this night, we piled in my '68 VW Bug and made our way north for the show. The energy was real. Much more real than our poser, rolled up sleeves on our plaid shirts and extra amount of Dippity Do in our hair "borrowed" from my sister.
We jumped out of the car, made our way to the line forming and flat out dropped our jaws at the real-deal kids that were in line in front of us. Full tattoos, major pompadours standing tall, cigs, creepers, the whole package. What I also remember is that no one gave a damn about our wannabe looks. We were all here for the music. That was it.
I will never forget that show and every last minute at the Palladium boogying to some serious rockabilly sounds with L.A.'s finest.
Point being, these short sleeve plaid shirt dreams take me back to what I frame as the most influential time in my life. To make them now speaks of our desire to build classic men's clothing that had a pulse decades ago, and still resonate today.
With that, we welcome you to our fresh out of the box, lightweight, short sleeve, plaid shirt.
Thanks for listening and enjoy your day,
Tony Patella
Pete Searson
Tellason
