The Classic
| “ | I have just dug through the dirty half of those bags, more than ten or twenty of them. Then, in a bag of damp ones, I found the shirt. | ” |
| Chris on the shirt, nonchalantly revealing Barb has hoarded twenty bags of old clothing | ||
The Classic is a red and blue rugby shirt formerly worn by Chris from at least before 20 December 2004 to when he became a Tomgirl, and it was seemingly lost in 2014 to the Destruction of Chris's House.
It had survived at the bottom of a soaked and grimy garbage bag full of clothing. Prompted by the Financhu Crisis, Chris went searching for it in April 2017, hoping to sell it to a fan.
History
The earliest known instance of Chris wearing the Classic is in the All I Want For Christmas Is a Pretty Girlfriend clip, filmed on 20 December 2004. The shirt made many more appearances between 2005 and 2009 - Chris wore it on 25 February 2007 during Christian Weston Chandler's FUTURE MESSAGE, the first video he uploaded to YouTube.
The shirt made its last appearance of the classic Chris era on 23 November 2009, when he filmed CWC Personal Sonichu Presentation. On 10 January 2014, 14 Branchland Court was gutted by a fire - the shirt was thought lost by both Chris and his fans until April 2017, when it was found in a bag of laundry that was still damp from the water used to put the fire out.
Offered for sale
| Actually, that shirt was Not totally lost in that fire; to my recollection, it was in a mountain pile of laundry in the laundry room. So, more accurately, it was in one of the black bags down here. I have just dug through the dirty half of those bags, more than ten or twenty of them. Then, in a bag of damp ones, I found the shirt. I took a photo; part of the selling amount will go to better restoring the shirt; I am personally putting it through a page or two in my washer and dryer. Only after sale of the relic, I will be able to afford having it restored to its glory, and I will frame it and add a personal Certificate of Authenticity, before shipping it. Thank you. |
Inspired by the successful sale of the Sonic Totem relic for $1,500 two weeks before, he listed the shirt on eBay for $12,000 minimum, then recorded Live Game Stream - C-Log 04192017 - The Shirt to promote it, donning the shirt for the first time in years (having last worn it in 2009's CWC Personal Sonichu Presentation). Three days later, the auction ended at $25,100. The winning bidder did not pay.
Humorously, Chris fails to realize that $25,100 is a gross overestimate of how much money would be required to repair a piece of clothing, even those affected by water damage.
Restoration effort
| “ | Could any of you haters sew any better? The hole was large; I sewed as good as possible, then I reinforced the latter with the patch covers. If anything, this not only keeps it as iconic, but marks it as another masterpiece from myself, making it worth more. | ” |
| Chris, 29 April 2017, on his effort to restore the shirt. | ||
Chris began an effort to restore the shirt on 29 April 2017. The shirt had sustained large tears during its time buried in the hoard. He attempted to commission a professional tailor to repair it; however, the tailor turned down the job as being too difficult[1]. Undeterred, Chris set out to fix it himself.
He recorded It's a start..., a 22-minute video of him sewing up one of the holes on the shirt.
A commentator noted the issues with his project[2]:
- Incorrect type of needle
- Patches which are incompatible with the shirt
- Not taking measures to prevent frays or shrinkage
- Not applying the patching to the inside of the shirt
After "a few hours" of work, Chris declared his effort a "masterpiece" and said The Classic is "worth more" because of it[3]. At the time of that statement, he believed he had already made a sale on it for $25,100.
Sources
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