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It is the Banana Republic Shirt. Literally.

March 28, 2020 By Robyn Adams In BR Logo Gear, Unisex No Comments

Always one of the most affordable and popular items in the catalog, it was easy to throw one in with any order. The style (as evidenced by eBay listings) is classic “Henley” but they called it “The Banana Republic shirt” at the time. It was simply their Yukon Shirt in off-white with a logo on the left breast.

The Banana Republic shirt dates back pretty far, it was always in the catalog (check the catalog thumbnails at the bottom of this post). Note the tags in the photo examples above. One is obviously a late model with the Travel and Safari logo, while the other retains the manufacturers “Healthknit” shirt. I think this example may be from the earliest catalogs before the Stars and Bananas tag, but there’s no way to know for sure.

A late model “Banana Republic Shirt”. No Stars and Bananas tag.

The earliest example, from the 1982 Gift Catalog

The last appearance in Spring 1988

Tags: Banana Republic Shirt

About The Author

Robyn Adams

Robyn’s fascination with Banana Republic began in 1984 when her Alaskan adventurer father began buying their clothing and giving her their catalogs. She loved the clothes, and as an artist, she was drawn to the illustrations. Robyn went on to study illustration at an art college in Banana Republic’s hometown of San Francisco, CA, and she worked for years as a background artist for animation. She is now based in Oakland, CA and works as a graphic designer and illustrator. She has been collecting and archiving at Abandoned Republic since 2011.