Billy Beer 1977 Vintage Women’s T-Shirt

The story of Billy Beer is a wild one. When the media descended on Plains, GA, during the ’76 presidential campaigns, journalists were looking for some background on Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter, but instead, they found something much, much better – his hard-drinking little brother, Billy. The press quickly fell in love with the bespectacled, beer-chugging younger Carter as his Southern-fried buffoon character and over-the-top friendliness provided the perfect counterpoint to his brother’s earnest demeanor, and his wit kept the press stocked with sound bites like, “I got a red neck, white socks, and Blue Ribbon beer.” A failing brewery by the name of Falls City saw a rising star in Billy, and in 1977 the company approached America’s favorite drunk about forming a partnership. Never one to turn down a free beer or an easy buck, Billy agreed to got to market with his own brand of beer. Each can of Billy Beer bore Billy’s signature and the promise, “I had this beer brewed just for me. It’s the best beer I’ve ever tasted. And I’ve tasted a lot.” That ended up being marketing spin, as Billy had a habit of attending promotional events for his beer and parroting the company line about how delicious he thought it was, only to later get tanked and admit to reporters that he still drank Pabst Blue Ribbon at home. Needless to say, the beer wasn’t around very long and less than one year later it was no longer being brewed, and Reynolds Metals bought 9 million unfilled Billy Beer cans and melted them down to reclaim the aluminum.

Like all our designs, this one is treated with our signature ‘relic-ing’ process which includes our own secret recipe of hand-painted chipping, cracking, fading, and just the right touch of yellowing to ensure that it looks the part of a true vintage imprint.** We lay these works of art down on premium Next Level 3900 Premium Women’s tees, aka ‘the boyfriend tee, one of the softest, best-wearing women’s t-shirts available today. We utilize state of the art direct to garment (DTG) printing which allows us to create a vintage effect that simply can’t be accomplished with other printing methods. In short, these shirts are everything you’ve dreamed of and more – it feels soft and lightweight with just the right amount of stretch making it both comfortable and flattering while the feminine fit and shorter sleeves add a special touch to this classic missy cut tee.

Not sure what size is your best fit? We recommend taking one of your current t-shirts, laying it flat and measuring it. The measurements in the chart below are taken with the shirt laying on a flat surface. To get the length, measure from the high shoulder point down to the bottom of the shirt. To get the width, measure approximately 1-inch below the armhole, across the chest, from seam to seam. The Next Level 3900 is a fitted women’s t-shirt, so if you are looking for a roomier fit, we suggest going up a size or with the unisex Bella + Canvas 3001 we print our men’s t-shirts on as they are the same super soft ring-spun cotton that feels like an old favorite. While our tees are all made using premium, pre-shrunk, ring-spun cotton, there can be some shrinkage depending on your personal wash and dry cycles. With that said, if you’re on the fence, we always suggest going up a size.

All sizes are provided in inches!

*Heather colors are 90% ring-spun cotton and 10% poly. **Due to the nature of the printing process and different sizes of shirts offered, imprint position and scale may vary slightly from the product images, but we do our best to be as accurate as possible.