Retro jerseys are bringing the ‘80s back

Monday, February 18, 2008

Photo by Mindy Ricketts

Brad Witherspoon, senior guard is wearing the retro uniform that they wore in 1988 when they were champions and now you can buy it.

Legwarmers and rope chains aren’t the only fashion items inducing ‘80s flashbacks on campus. Stores on campus and in Lawrence started selling replica basketball uniforms from Kansas’ 1988 national championship season two weeks ago.

The dark blue throwback jerseys feature a variation of the previous font that the font Trajan replaced on jerseys this season. The throwback jersey also has red-, yellow- and blue-striped trim and features a patch recognizing the 20th anniversary of the 1988 championship. Jerseys feature a few number choices, but most feature the number 25, which Danny Manning wore that year.

The shorts are back too, but they look a little different from their 20-year-old counterparts.

“Fortunately, Adidas had enough foresight to make them a little longer,” said Toni Retonde, assistant store manager at Jayhawk Bookstore, 1420 Crescent Road.

Prices for jerseys range from $75 for the official replica to $40 for a screen-printed mesh version. Shorts cost between $40 and $55 at local stores and online. Youth jerseys are also available, but Retonde said that the adult jerseys were more popular.

Retonde said that her store sold its first shipment in a week, and received a new, larger shipment Thursday.

Kansas Bookstore, second floor of the Kansas Union, has sold about 50 jerseys and pairs of shorts, according to Mario Bonilla, lead clerk for gifts and clothing.

breakbox

1988 throwback jerseys are on sale at:

—KUStore.com and inside the Booth Family Hall of Athletics —KU Bookstore, second floor in the Kansas Union —Jayhawk Bookstore, 1420 Crescent Road —University Book Shop, 1116 W. 23rd St. —Jock’s Nitch, 837 Massachusetts St. and 1443 W. 23rd St. —Sports Dome, 1000 Massachusetts St. —D3 Sports, 2040 W. 31st St., Suite D

“We’ve had phone calls for them and maybe 2 or 3 weeks before that. We had to call a few back and tell them we had them in,” Bonilla said.

Other 1988 items that stores are selling include a DVD of Kansas’ Final Four games from that year, T-shirts and pint glasses celebrating the championship and a poster of the front page of The University Daily Kansan the day after the Jayhawks won the title.

The men’s basketball teams wore the throwback jerseys Saturday against Colorado, but they weren’t the only ones in Allen Fieldhouse sporting the tend.

“It’s a cool piece of history to be able to say you own the retro jersey,” said Chelsea Montgomery, Hays sophomore, who wore the throwback jersey her boyfriend bought her.

Montgomery, who was only five months old when Kansas won the national championship in 1988, said owning the jersey was like owning her own piece of University history.

—Edited by Matt Hirschfeld

Merchandise sales spike after championship victory

Championship shirts have also been hot sellers.

/news/2008/apr/22/merchandise_sales_spike_after_championship_victory/

KU Athletics teams up with adidas

/news/2005/jul/13/adidas/

Beat the Bookstore leaves 12th and Indiana ...

The store will have more space at its new home.

/news/2008/feb/07/bookstore/

Online textbook information increases

The KU Bookstores Web site will now feature more information about textbook ...

/news/2007/may/09/bookstore/

Orange is the post season’s new green

Local retailers see increase in bowl game merchandise sales as students return ...

/news/2008/jan/22/memorabilia/

Bookstores trying to lure students

/news/2005/apr/19/news_campus_books/

Bookstores offer discount for teams success.

Shoppers receive up to 30 to 35 percent markdown depending on what ...

/news/2007/oct/24/bookstores_offer_discount_teams_success/

Local businesses prepare for Final Four

Jayhawk apparel sales are skyrocketing and bars are preparing for a crowd ...

/news/2008/apr/04/business/

New south Lawrence retailer wants to attract ...

/news/2005/aug/30/31st_street/

Championship parade takes over downtown

Basketball players and coaches, the Marching Band, Chancellor Hemenway and fans from ...

/news/2008/apr/14/championship_parade/

KU apparel stores compete in saturated market

With as many as 15 places to buy KU gear in Lawrence, ...

/news/2010/jun/29/ku-apparel-stores-compete-saturated-market/

Overpriced book leads to refunds

Jayhawk Bookstore, KU Bookstore and University Book Shop offer reimbursements ranging from ...

/news/2007/sep/28/overpriced_book_leads_refunds/

Owners sell Jayhawk Bookstore

After 33 years at the top of the hill, the bookstore is ...

/news/2010/jul/19/owners-sell-jayhawk-bookstore/

Don’t dump, donate instead

Local charities and Web site recycle old goods within the community.

/news/2009/jul/16/donate/

Everyone loves a weekend Valentine’s day

Exhibits, concerts and theater performances among holiday happenings in Lawrence and KC

/news/2009/feb/13/weekend_valentines/

Nothing like Kansas basketball

Unique traditions add to the experience of watching a Kansas basketball game ...

/news/2009/nov/20/nothing-kansas-basketball/

110 years of basketball celebrated

Wayne Simien and the 1988 national championship team are among the visitors ...

/news/2008/feb/18/110_years_basketball_celebrated/

Professors promote local bookstores

/news/2005/aug/29/localbookstore/

Hidden treasures

How the pastime of antique shopping is receiving new street cred from ...

/news/2008/nov/06/hidden_treasures/

Get some culture

Kendra Marable at Wonder Fair

/news/2009/dec/10/get-some-culture/

As students rush to sell, pawn buyback ...

/news/2005/apr/21/news_lawrence_pawn/

Students shift from buying to renting

As textbook prices rise, students consider rental programs that slice costs.

/news/2010/aug/16/students-renting/

Students look for textbook alternatives

The dampening economy provides incentives to look for the best deals, in ...

/news/2009/jan/22/student_look/

Bookstore opens for buyback season

Beat The Bookstore will sell nothing but textbooks. The business owners say ...

/news/2007/apr/27/bookstore/

Two new businesses open this summer

/news/2005/jul/01/newbusinesses/

Bookstores battle back-to-school theft

Bookstores on and off campus are finding ways to decrease the amount ...

/news/2007/aug/27/Bookstores/

In the life of: A sex store ...

Living vicariously through others is okay with us.

/news/2010/nov/18/life-sex-store-manager/

Antique stores stock unique goods

Shopping is always part of a new school year and students seek ...

/news/2006/aug/14/ofth_antiques/

Health Tip

Use Mineral makeup as an easy-to-apply, organic alternative to chemical makeup.

/news/2007/mar/01/health_health_tip/

Local stores prepare for Halo 3 release

The wait is over for fans of the popular Halo video game ...

/news/2007/sep/26/local_stores_prepare_halo_3_release/

KU Final Four T-shirts to be donated ...

Businesses that pre-ordered KU Final Four T-shirts are now forced to donate ...

/news/2011/apr/06/ku-final-four-t-shirts-be-donated-or-destroyed/

Shopping vintage

A guide to buying fashion from another era.

/news/2010/apr/15/shopping-vintage/

Stay and play

If you’re staying in Lawrence, fall in step on Mass

/news/2007/oct/04/stay_and_play/

Mission possible: cheap, great

/news/2005/mar/16/features_apartments_decorate/

Students find online textbooks a hard sell

/news/2005/aug/29/onlinebooks/

Green it!

Digital books

/news/2009/jan/15/green_it/

Reuse it

Completely free closet organizers

/news/2008/feb/21/reuse_it/

Stretching the rules of fashion

Play

/news/2010/sep/02/stretching-rules-fashion/

Auction benefits animal shelter

A live and silent auction benefitting the Lawrence Humane Society features a ...

/news/2007/sep/28/auction_benefits_animal_shelter/

City considers bar zone near campus

Neighbors protest possibility of bars on Crescent Road.

/news/2010/mar/25/city-considers/

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Sign in to comment

Or login with:

OpenID