50/50:
A fabric blend of cotton and polyester. These are the best kinda shirts if you like shirts that thin over time. Modern 50/50 shirts are extremely hard to come by. It's important to note that not all vintage shirts are 50/50 blends. Some vintage was made with 100% cotton or other fabric blends.

Bootleg:
Generally in reference to t-shirts, this means the shirt was unlicensed. A lot of vintage band shirts were made or printed in small batches and sold at concerts. Bootleg can mean the t-shirt might be more valuable, even, as it wasn't mass produced.

Deadstock:
See "NOS" below.

Mounted collar:
See "Ringer Tee" below

NOS:
Meaning "new old stock", also commonly referred to as "deadstock". These are vintage items that are unused. Think of it as the unworn version of vintage overstock products. The small difference between NOS & deadstock is that in some instances, deadstock items can be found with wear from age or storage. 

OOAK:
"One of a kind"

Raglan:
A sleeve style most commonly seen on classic baseball t-shirts. This is a sleeve stitch line that goes from the underarm to the collar, as opposed to the top of the shoulder. Most vintage raglan sleeves feature a contrasting fabric color to the main fabric.

Ringer tee:
T-shirts or tank tops with collars/sleeve hems that are "mounted" onto the main fabric. Generally a thicker knit hem, often in a contrasting color to the main fabric.

Single-stitched:
A single stitch line on hems to make the edges not raw and fray (generally on t-shirts). Most new shirts (1990s to current) have double-stitched hems. This is a good telltale sign when determining if a piece is vintage or not, however not every vintage t-shirt is single stitched.

I emailed yesterday and still have yet to get a response from Backbite. What gives?

We are a small company, folks!
The 2 of us (Brit + Casey) run this business and both design and operate our site & social media, entirely on our own. We make our own graphics, and run our own donation charities/sales/promos on top individually hunting down killer vintage for hours upon hours, multiple days a week. Additionally, we spend time with our tailors, custom designing salvaged vintage, and a great deal of time is used for traveling so we can find all of the supplies & sources we need to do everything. We also work with multiple vendors to bring their designs and creations to our awesome customers. 

After all of that is done (it's never done) we personally package and ship each order that goes out. That's right, no employees! 
Not to mention, Casey has 6 dogs and 2 bearded dragons to take care of, while Brit has 2 dogs, a cat, and a snake.

Unfortunately, we are flooded with emails on a daily basis, but try our best to get to things in a timely manner. Give us a couple days, and if you don't receive a response after that time period, feel free to email us again, as we may have overlooked it. We truly appreciate your patience.

When will you have another *insert sold-out vintage tshirt* in stock?

Since our products are recycled, vintage or handmade, often we only have one of each item, as they are not mass produced. We may find similar pieces in the future, so keep your eyes peeled for new arrivals. 

Is it vintage?

By definition, vintage items are pre-owned goods that date back 20 years or later. Vintage is pre-worn/used and occasionally one of a kind. (Vintage Lesson 101: Since the industrial revolution is a real thing, we cannot guarantee that the item you see is the only one that was ever made. You might find it's brother or sister somewhere out there, but we strive to offer pieces you won't find just anywhere.) It goes without saying that most vintage items will not be in perfect condition and will almost always show visible wear. But that's why we love it, right?

Not everything you see here is vintage. If it isn't, it is either a handmade or recycled rare treasure that we found in a tucked away corner of Southern California. Should you ever want additional details about an item that is not written in the description, simply send us an email.

Vintage or recycled, we do guarantee that everything you see on Backbite is something we unanimously decided is special and completely rad. We never sell anything that we think "someone will buy;" instead, only the things we can see ourselves obsessing over a lifetime, rather than a season. 

How about sizing?

Each product description includes accurate measurements which are taken in inches. For those items with tags, we will also include the size listed on that label. However, a vintage size "Large" (for example) can be a completely different standard than what we might call a "Large" today. The moral of the story: go by the measurements and our ridiculously helpful "Best Fits" guide. 

Tender Loving Care?

Although you can normally wash materials like cotton, when it comes to vintage or used items, the fabric is likely to be much more delicate than brand new cotton (for example). We recommend that you dry clean most outerwear and anything leather based. Or, do like we do and give it a few dust beatings in the wind after wearing it for a week straight. 

Pre-Order? What? Why?

A tremendous amount of time is ambitiously spent hunting down the perfect old t-shirts and tank tops, for both customizing and renewing (Ex. Salvaged ribbed Cobra tank or Bad Vibes shorts). We do custom renewals, work around the clock, and we're undeniably picky with what we select. We've faced the reality that specified vintage doesn't ever just grow on trees, nor does it have the exact same amount of wear/size/color as the last, and let's be honest here...even for us, it ain't cheap.

So, we offer pre-ordering, or "custom made to order." Requests for even more specialized customizing are occasionally made, so we will often spend days searching all over southern California to make sure you guys get what you want and paid for. 

I ordered some small items (pins/patches/jewelry) along with my pre-order top, when can I expect to get those?

Generally, small items will be shipped with your pre-order once the pre-order is ready. We pay out of pocket for shipping, and the lowest price we will ever be charged for a single package is $6.80, with our standard priority shipping. Sending multiple packages can pretty costly! Often you will receive multiple packages for one order, though, but this is due to items in your order coming from multiple owners, with inventory stored in 4 separate places throughout SoCal.
(FYI: most all pins & patches as well as pre-order tees & tanks are from Casey's collection) 

If you live outside of the USA, you'll get your small items along with your pre-ordered items. International shipping is generally double, triple, or even sometimes quadruple the cost of domestic for even the smallest package. So, to avoid having to charge folks overseas even more for shipping, small items will likely be sent with your pre-ordered tops.

But I need my small items before my pre-order is supposed to ship...

There are 2 exceptions: Your small items are stored with another owner that won't be shipping out your pre-order tops anyway, so multiple shipments are inevitable.
OR
You can send an email request for earlier shipment to Casey here, and you're willing to receive an invoice for additional shipping costs. 

I noticed there is an old leather jacket with fur lining for sale, does that mean you support the fur industry?

NO. We sell strictly vintage fur items which are usually well over 20 years old. We believe that our company is all about recycling and not feeding into mass production and fast fashion that plagues today's society. We know that people may have conflicting views, so we understand if you choose not to agree with our stance on this issue, however we LOVE animals and would never buy and sell new fur. Always wear vintage- it helps the planet and animals!