Georgia Tech Throwbacks: See Vintage Georgia Tech T-Shirts
By: Kelley Freund, Photographs courtesy of Sam Beagle, CE 24, MS ID 26 | Categories: Featured Stories
Whether it’s buying a vintage handbag off eBay or a T-shirt from a thrift store, Gen Z-ers (including Georgia Tech fans) are embracing unique ways to add items to their closets. Gen Z and Millennials are leading a secondhand clothing boom, according to eBay’s 2025 Recommerce Report, which noted that nearly 80% of the demographic groups see themselves as part of the movement to purchase pre-loved clothing. Sam Beagle, CE 24, MS ID 26, says that everyone he knows has purchased something secondhand.
Why? First of all, Gen Z is a generation that values sustainability. Young adults understand that clothing waste is created by fast fashion and the need for eco-friendly shopping options.
“When you buy clothing cheap online, it’s not the best quality,” Beagle says. “But you can go to a thrift store and find something made 20 years ago that was chain-stitched and is great quality. People are noticing that.”
Buying secondhand is also a budget-conscious way to express style. Beagle believes that thanks in part to social media trends, there has been a rise in throwback culture, where young adults are seeing what their celebrity idols used to wear and wanting to emulate that. He recalls once finding a corduroy jacket at a thrift store, one that his dad said made him look like Bob Dylan.
“I remember thinking that was so cool,” says Beagle. “Here was a way I could dress like a celebrity without spending a lot of money.”
Campus Pop-Up Markets
After attending a pop-up clothing market during his sophomore year at Georgia Tech, Beagle pitched an idea to his Sigma Nu fraternity brothers of hosting their own.
The first Sigma Nu Secondhand market was held at the fraternity in the spring of 2023, and since then, Beagle has helped put on nine more. Wanting to grow the markets into more than just a fraternity event, Beagle eventually partnered with the Caribbean Student Association and member Marc Liger. The markets are now held on Tech Green under the name Yellow Jacket Vintage Market, and the event attracts even more students. Vendor participation fees go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and since the market’s launch, it has raised almost $15,000 for the charity.
Vintage Tech Tees
Beagle moved on from the Yellow Jacket Vintage Market in May when he graduated from his master’s program, but in order to celebrate his passion project, he has put together a coffee table book. While the first half of the book showcases the growth of the market, the last 30 pages feature vintage Georgia Tech merchandise.
“I work at a streetwear and vintage clothing store in Atlanta, and because of that and the vintage markets, I see a lot of Georgia Tech stuff come through,” Beagle says. “The old T-shirts and jackets especially have these really interesting graphics. I wanted to have a way to archive and commemorate these pieces.”
Hunting down these items for the book was no easy task. Beagle reached out to everyone he knew at Tech, sent email blasts to alumni, contacted vendors, and spent hours poring over Georgia Tech archives.
“It’s incredibly interesting to see these styles change and evolve,” Beagle says in his book. “And they are the basis for what so many current students are into: vintage clothing.”
Take a look at some of Beagle’s favorite vintage Georgia Tech pieces from a 1989 Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate tee to a ’96 Olympics shirt.
