New throwback line of University of Delaware shirts feature retro Blue Hen looks

Vintage T-shirts, especially featuring classic rock acts, have been hot for several years with the younger set.

If you see a college student wearing a Billy Joel T-shirt, you may want to think twice about striking up a conversation with them about the Piano Man.

You will most likely be met with a blank stare since the shirts are more about the fashionable look than the rocker printed on the shirt.

But throwback shirts are also popular for those of us with a few more years behind us, but instead of having no connection to the shirt's subject, the opposite is true. They usually harken back to a cherished memory of the past.

And for University of Delaware alumni, there's a new line of retro shirts for Blue Hens in search of a new look for their UD football tailgate this season.

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UD has teamed up with Indiana-based upstart collegiate clothing company Homefield Apparel for a dozen T-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies featuring logos from the '60s, '70s and '80s.

One even recognizes five of UD football's six championships in 1946, 1963, 1971, 1972 and 1979 with an image of an old-school Blue Hen running with a football. (Their 2003 championship doesn't quite fit with the historical pastiche.)

The T-shirts and sweatshirts, most of which are made with 50% cotton, 37% polyester and 13% rayon, are sold in sizes ranging from extra small to 4XL. T-shirts cost $36; sweatshirts, $44-$65; and hoodies, $72.

Among the standouts is a "Dr. Suess-esque" shirt honoring the UD marching band with a Blue Hen blowing on a trombone, an image taken from the cover of the UD vs. University of Akron football program from 1973.

Not only was it Band Day, but UD routed Akron 45‐24. The blue shirt, which reads "Fight! Fight! Fight! For Delaware" is available as a t-shirt or sweatshirt.

A 1987-themed white hooded sweatshirt features a retro logo of an angry Fightin' Blue Hen with a furrowed brow and a bandage on its beak, which had been used by UD from 1987 to 1998.

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The most curious shirt, which may draw more of a chuckle than fear from an opposing team, depicts a skinny Blue Hen in scuba gear gripping a trident with the words "Chicken of the Sea" on a gray T-shirt.

It's a nod to the university's marine studies department (not the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment) with the humorous logo dating back to the '70s.

If you're looking for something a little less goofy, there's also a more standard blue-and-gold T-shirt with a simple message of "The Blue Hen."

If it looks old-fashioned, that's because it truly is.

It is the first-ever emblem adopted by UD, used as the school's emblem from 1939-1954. It's a soft heather-style shirt made with 50% cotton and 50% polyester.

The new collection was released by Homefield, an emerging online college athleticwear company that was formed in 2018 by CEO Connor Hitchcock with his wife, Christa, serving as creative director. They specialize in vintage shirts, snagging licensing deals with more than 150 universities (and counting) over the past five years.

As Indianapolis Business Journal reported earlier this year, the Delaware shirts are a "perpetual Homefield favorite" in terms of sales.

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While most of their college shirts are sold to alumni and fans of a school's athletic teams, sometimes it's the design or subject matter that makes it a must-have beyond campus. Delaware shirts fit both categories.

As it turns out, the tiny state of Delaware and the concept of a Fightin' Blue Hen are, well, funny to some.

As Hitchcock told The Athletic in 2020, “We have people buying Delaware apparel because they think the Blue Hens that we use are hilarious."

We'll take it as a compliment.

Have a story idea? Contact Ryan Cormier of Delaware Online/The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier) and X (Twitter) (@ryancormier).

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Just in time for the UD football season: A dozen vintage Blue Hen shirts