Start With the Wash Tag
The wash tag is where most fakes fall apart. Manufacturers changed the layout, wording and material of these tags almost every season, and counterfeiters rarely get the details right for a specific year.
Look at what languages are printed, where the item was made, and how the care symbols are drawn. An Adidas shirt from 1994 has a very different tag to one from 1998. If a seller shows you the front of a shirt but never the tag, ask for it. A genuine seller will have no problem providing that photo.
Check the Crest
On originals from the 80s and 90s, club crests were usually embroidered directly into the fabric, or applied as a woven patch with dense, even stitching. Turn the shirt inside out: the back of a real embroidered crest looks neat and structured.
Fakes often use printed crests, or embroidery that is loose, uneven, or slightly the wrong shade. Colours are a common giveaway. Compare the crest against photos of the shirt actually being worn in that season, not against modern versions of the badge.
Feel the Fabric
Vintage football shirts were made from heavier, coarser polyester than modern ones. A shirt from 1990 does not feel like a shirt from 2020. If something claims to be thirty years old but feels light, smooth and modern, be careful.
Mesh panels, ventilation holes and knitted collars all changed over the years. These construction details are expensive to replicate accurately, so fakes tend to simplify them.
Sponsor Prints Age
Original sponsor prints from that era were applied with heat transfer and they crack, fade and lift over time. That ageing is a good sign, not a flaw. A thirty year old shirt with a perfectly crisp, glossy sponsor print deserves a second look.
Equally, check the font. Sponsors updated their logos over the years, and a shirt carrying a logo version that did not exist in that season is a clear red flag.
Trust the Seller, Not Just the Shirt
The most reliable protection is buying from someone who knows what they are selling. A serious seller photographs the tags, describes flaws honestly, and can tell you exactly why they believe a shirt is genuine.
At Shirt Société every shirt is checked by hand before it is listed. We photograph the tags, mention every flaw, and state clearly when something is a reissue rather than an original.