Here Today... Gone To Hell!

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/guns-n-roses-and-harley-davidson-release-co-branded-collection/

Bloody hell. On top of this

 http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/guns-n-roses-announces-guns-n-roses-was-here-an-exclusive-multi-brand-retail-experience-at-maxfield/

it's starting to get a bit silly on the fashion items. If only they could release sonething other! Pretty soon you won't be able to move for expensive gnr branded items aimed at people with too much money.

For some reason this has really got to me. I know the answer is ignore it etc, but i've spent a summer seeing gnr shirts sold as fashion accesories in every store i go in, and it doesn't sit well with me. I don't like this weird new move towards them becoming what the ramones shirts were a few years ago- the go to 'rock shirt' for every clown that has read that the kardashians like to 'accesorize with a vintage band shirt' or whatever. I hate the fact that I'm starting to feel like a fashion chaser when i wearone of my shirts, and that if i used to see a gnr shirt i could have a chat with the wearer and know they were a fan. Now i see five people wearing them on my way to the train and can be pretty sure not one of those people give a flying fuck about the band. Enough of this shit. Why doea everything good get royally fucked over?!

Sorry! Rant over! Don't even get me started on fucking Justin Bieber and his brainless fans wearing marilyn manson shirts!

They might have more fans than we sometimes realize. GN'R is quite special in the way they have fans spanning across generations and genres of music.

Most are not diehards like us, but still.

Oh god, of all brands to hook up with, they choose the poster child of poseurs trying to look tough, obnoxious assholes, midlife crises and Boomer excess. :no:

It's a great way to reinforce the claims that they are only in it for the money, are washed up has-beens, aren't dangerous anymore, etc...

"Don't know why I'm here
Livin' on the run for oh so long
I gotta go collect
Double talkin' jive
Get the money motherfucker
'Cause I got no more patience"

I'd say they are doing a damn good job of getting the money.   :D

You know... the great thing about being an adult with independent thought is that you don't have to worry what other people think - you can live your own life and they can live theirs.  :)

I have bad news for you: They've been out there for years. From Kohls to Target to Hot Topic...they've been around for a long time. The AFD cross and bullet logo, specifically.

You're likely seeing more of them, and seeing them placed more prominently, because the stores are seeing an uptick in sales, directly related to the new tour.  I can't say I'm surprised.

Look, in the 90's, GnR shirts were EVERYWHERE.  They are the biggest touring act on the planet right now.....

I almost feel like the heading up above should add the word "Again".

Given the short lived commercial (which some people forget):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1F49RKNWgA

ahh remember those days, when we wished so hard for a new album to drop by?  :hihi:

I think this is a little different though. Rock & Metal shirts have become mainstream trendy. Not just GNR. But Metallica too.. and even Slayer shirts are being worn by people who I doubt have ever heard Raining Blood. Maybe it's supposed to be ironic and they're just taking the piss? I dunno. It's a fad and it will pass.

They were in the 90's, too.  What's old is new again. Hell, even the same bands (along with AC/DC).

Yes, many of these "kids", today,have probably never seen these bands, live.  I'd bet half my high school class, in 1992, wearing similar shirts hadn't either. 

IDK how you can tell just by looking at somebody whether they're actually a fan of the band or not...


This. All this generational bitching is just so hypocritically egotistical and narcissistic. "My generation wasn't taking selfies 24/7" Uh, yeah because Facebook didn't exist. You really think people weren't narcissistic before 2000 or something? By constantly talking shit about others and claiming a higher ground, it just proves how self-involved/egotistical you are.

I updated it.   :)

I called my local Harley shop. They said the beginning of September before the merchandise is available. Anyone else getting it earlier?

I think that's it- rock shirts in general used to mean you were a fan of that band, but now fashion has changed. Music has changed-it simply doesn't hace the importance it once had-and the tribalistic element has gone. Sure you saw a lot of band shurts in the 90s but it was a refelction of their popularity. Now it's more a reflction of who has signed a deal with livenation to put theur image in chain fashion stores.    It is a fad and will probably go away. Ramones shirts were everywhere for a while. Now you barely see one.

I see your point but would you agree with his commenta when you see things like Bieber and his fans buying marilyn manson shirts? I'd say it's fair to say they probably have never listened to him.....

Not arguing or anything, I just find this topic really interesting from a cultural and sociological point of view.

You mean like Brittany Spears, in 1999, wearing GnR shirts?

Or maybe you mean like Tiffany wearing Iron Maiden shirts back in '87?

Or maybe Madonna wearing all SORTS of rock shirts in the mid to late 80's?

Or Cyndi Lauper, at the height of her fame, wearing a Mettalica Shirt?

I mean, I have seen Ride the Lightening shirts on people, for the better part of 35 years, in all different walks of life, with all different music tastes.  I'm sure at least SOME of them were not really big Metallica fans, had not seen them live, and...in fact...might not even have heard the album.

It's not new for rock tshirts to be worn by the pop princesses (and princes) as part of their fashion repetoire. It's not new for those shirts to be offered in main stream retail, where they are adopted by the masses.

Beatles T-shirts (Abbey Road, especially) were HUGE in the late 80's and into the early 90's. I can promise you pretty much no one who I saw wearing them, in my high school, had ever seen them live. ;)

That's exactly what I mean! But it's far more widespread now than it ever has been, to the point of it being almost surreal! (I'm coming at this from a UK viewpoint of course, as that's where I live).
It's not about whether they have seen them live or not, but whether they have remote interest at all in the band whose t-shirt they are wearing. I find it totally baffling why anyone would wear a shirt of a band they don't like- and they do, as many conversations I've had with people has revealed. I admit to have given up on that, after recently standing next to a woman at  bar with a GNR shirt on, waiting to be served and asking her causally if she was going to see them on tour. She was unaware they were touring and said "to be honest, I don't now anything about them, I just bought the shirt from Primark". I liked her honesty, but that's not the first time I've had a similar conversation.  What's really changed I think is that rock tshirts are sold in fashion stores. Maybe that's not new elsewhere in the world, but it's certainly come about here in the past 5-6 years here on a large scale.  During the late eighties/early nineties I don't remember that happening- music shops and gigs seemed to be pretty much the only place they were sold. Perhaps that move is a result of declining music sales and attempts to claw back dwindling revenue streams. I also think where perhaps bands would have thought it was in some way 'uncool', not credible or embarrassing to have their shirts racked up next to Kim Kardashian's latest range or whatever that ship has long since sailed. The probable simple fact is- they've all getting bought and worn because they're in fashion stores. If they weren't, they wouldn't be getting bought!

This is MY point: At least stateside, it's not any more (or less) prevalent than it was in the late 80s and early 90s. What's old is new again.

Maybe it's new in the UK (I have doubts, but maybe), but music related shirts have been available in mainstream retail, here in the US, for as long as I can remember. Think...early 80s at least when I begged my mom for a Led Zep shirt in the middle of Caldors department store (think smaller version of Walmart that predated the Walmarts are everywhere era). That was in, like, 82? I was 8.

It's definitely a new thing here- but then, retail in general was totally different here in the 80s/90s. The only place I could ever hope to find a band shirt was HMV or Our Price (music shop chains) who stocked a small amount of shirts from current big bands. Even there it was pretty much 'luck of the draw' and they were fairly expensive. People at school were jealous of others shirts all the time!
Honestly, here, it's crazy now with certain bands- but only the ones that are selling through fashion chains. Big bands such as, say, U2 (who have just done a massive tour) you never see shirts for, because they're not in those stores. U2 have probably sold more tickets this summer within the UK/Ireland than GNR, but I don't recall seeing one shirt this summer! Seems like even little old ladies are wearing awful GNR shirts!

They've perhaps just ramped up in Europe chains? Maybe a Live Nation Europe thing?  Be interested to see what others think.

http://www.usc.co.uk/official-u2-t-shirt-mens-586072 (http://www.usc.co.uk/official-u2-t-shirt-mens-586072)

They've got a massive collection of shirts though, from bands that aren't really that  popular....

http://www.usc.co.uk/shop-by-trend/band-tees

It only really seems to be certain bands whose shirts reach this weird total saturation point in fashion retail. Why did it happen with the Ramones (and to a lesser extent the MC5) a few years ago I wonder? Why Slayer now? (They're popular sure, but not stadium popular)
It's interesting how it doesn't happen with certain bands and does with others. Is it as simple as someone like Bieber putting on an (ironic?) Manson shirt, which makes it take off?

No, I get this.

Flipside, GNR left an absolute shit ton of money on the table basically going underground for 20 years.

I see little evidence that these past 2 years have been about anything but recouping as much as they can.  The good side of that is the concert tour.  The bad side, yes, are some questionable items that are pretty nakedly just about turning over some new dollars.

On balance, I'll take it though.  Good outweighs the bad.

Very good points. Good does outweigh the bad. I just wish that in their seeming desire to turn over the dollars the method of doing so was more creative and considered. Hell, I'm a mark for them, and I'm a mark for band related stuff- so make some stuff I want to buy and is aimed at me and people like me.

Ludicrously expensive jackets I wouldn't be seen dead in and Harley Davidson t-shirts? My money is staying in my pocket.

Again, must be a UK thing.

Because I have seen a couple of periods of time where Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum Tshirts were all over the place (in stores and on people). Not right NOW, but, say, 5 years ago or so? Right now its Guns, AC/DC, Slayer, and Metallica.

Last year it was Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Led Zep, and Motley Crue.

Got to be a geographic thing- or the UK catching up with other places! Led Zep shirts you see a lot of- the others you mentioned haven't really hit the high street shops with vigour! AC/DC are everywhere-Iron Maiden too are big ones, as are Nirvana, Smiths and Joy Division. They're the big ones for the 'don't really like the bands but buy the shirts' stores here I'd say.

Hahahaha

Some of those jackets are truly brutal looking.  Who the hell is wearing that stuff?

Nightmare stuff! Think it's all aimed at the type of people who think a night in a Hard Rock Cafe is rock and roll!

So, back on topic.
As a fan and Harley owner, I need one.
I've called all the HD dealers in the Chicago area- nobody knows anything about it or has plans to get them.

Anyone else striking out or finding success?

Has anyone actually found these anywhere? Got a HD dealership here in Croatia, they said the shirts should arrive "soon".

Not something you wanna hear if you're a GN'R fan.  :)

Shirts have finally arrived here, some interesting designs to choose from: https://www.facebook.com/HD.Split/posts/519051998436693