Portage la Prairie, MB –

His hair has thinned, the mullet is gone and now Ian Patterson is letting go of the concert shirts that have help him hang on to his glory days of the 1980’s.

With a closet containing hundreds of rock n roll t-shirts from the 80’s and early 90’s Patterson hopes he can make a difference while putting his heavy metal ways behind him.

“I usually wear one rock shirt a day,” Patterson shared.  “I love the feeling I get when I remember the way it was back in the day.  The anthem rock, hair metal, and classic rock it was all so good back in the 80’s.”

Patterson notes Def Leppard, Van Halen, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Helix, Kiss, AC/DC and Lee Aaron as some of his favourites.

“It was all about the tunes back then,” Patterson said.  “I usually bought three or four of each kind of concert shirt and I went to every concert I could.  I wash them all inside out in cold water and hang dry them.  They are in great condition but it is time I moved on,” the fifty-year-old Patterson said.

His mother-in-law nagged him for years to get rid of the t-shirts and wear more “grown up” clothes.  It was her suggestion to make quilts from the shirts that got Patterson thinking.

“I normally don’t listen to her but when she said the local MCC ladies could make a bunch of quilts from my shirts I fell in love with the idea,” Patterson offered.

“I’ll have them make a quilt for me from all my favourite shirts and the other quilts will be auctioned off to raise money for the homeless,” Patterson explained.

Local MCC Thrift Shop quilting experts estimate approximately twenty quilts can be made from the shirts and raise over $10,000.00 at auction.

“Nostalgia, especially from the 80’s, generate a lot of interest,” MCC spokesperson Karen Harms said.  “There is a large number of people in their late forties, early fifties looking to grasp at things from their youth.  The big hair is gone and nobody makes heavy metal anymore so these quilts will be a big hit.”

Patterson agrees the rock shirts pack a nostalgic punch.  “The first thing I’ll do is put on Def Leppard’s Pyromania, then grab my quilt and curl up underneath it and remember that night in 1983 when I saw them at the old Winnipeg Arena.”

The MCC Thrift Store’s quilters will start work immediately and hope to have the rock n roll quilts ready for the holiday season.

Notice to readers/disclaimer – click here to read more about the fictional and satirical intent of this story and website.  Well I guess the intent is satirical but it is fictional.  Yes, the 80’s existed, as did heavy metal and tour shirts from the era but the characters mentioned in the story are imaginary as is their desire to live in the past.  Please read and share with this in mind.

Photo credit:  Jonathan Haynes