Ernst Home Centers 1979 Vintage Women’s T-Shirt

Ernst Home Centers, Inc. was a chain of home improvement retail stores founded in Seattle, Washington, United States. Ernst was started in 1893 by Seattle brothers Charles and Fred Ernst and in 1960 became a division of Pay ‘n Save, one of the largest retail companies in the Northwest. After a 1984 takeover of Pay ‘n Save, Ernst was sold off and went public in 1994. Following several highly publicized lawsuits and a failed attempt to open larger stores, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996 and liquidated in early 1997. At the company’s peak, it operated 95 stores in 12 western U.S. states. This design is based on Ernst’s 1970’s logo which was in place until their first rebranding in 1980 which took on a decidedly more 80s look, but was way less cool.

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.

*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.