Best David Bowie Sweatshirts for Every Fan

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Denis Loncaric

Denis is a full-time content writer and drummer. His love of rock music and his love of creating music go hand in hand. Luckily so does his writing talent as he writes for various sites about drumming and other topics. He's excited to share his knowledge about his favorite bands and rock musicians with you.

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I remember being so hyped when I saw “Dancing In The Street” for the first time. Even though I was still a kid, there was something about Bowie that made me think the whole world could be mine. Then, there was Mick Jagger. When those two were on the scene together, it was pure magic. I listen to David’s songs even today and can’t imagine going through the day without playing Blue Jean at least once.

Now, I prepared something special for all of you die-hard Bowie fans today. I compiled a list of Best David Bowie Sweatshirts that will make you feel better when hanging out with your friends or even when you hit some concerts again.

I need to tell you the selection was very tough, but because I am a huge fan and a keen lover of Bowie’s, I managed to create an ultimate list that will cover the needs of all of you out there. Check out my list of the Best David Bowie sweatshirts!

Bottom Line Up Front

From the list below, my favorite David Bowie Sweatshirt is David Bowie Lightweight Sweatshirt. This is because of the story behind it. Bowie said to Brian Duffy that he wanted a flash of lightning across his face, and Duffy and Pierre La Roche(a make-up artist) copied the bolt from a Panasonic rice cooker that was in the studio at the time.

My Top Picks Up Front:

1. David Bowie Lightweight Sweatshirt – My top pick because of the unique story that was behind the creation of Bowie’s signature lightning bolt. 
2. Rebel Rebel Bowie The Dark Side Lightweight Sweatshirt – Who Doesn’t like The Dark Lord? Somehow the link between those two is so obvious and needs no further clarification.
3. The Babe With The Power, David Bowie, Labyrinth Movie Pullover Sweatshirt – This one is inspired by the movie Labyrinth from 1986.
4. I Don’t Know Crew Neck Sweatshirt – Quote from the famous fiftieth birthday at Madison Square Garden.
5. The Realm of the Goblin King Pullover Sweatshirt – One more from the movie Labyrinth where Jareth (David Bowie) becomes a Goblin King and a ruler of the Labyrinth.
6. David Bowie Heroes Black Star sweatshirt – Blackstar is the name of Bowie’s final studio album, released worldwide in 2016.
7. Bowie Sweatshirt – Band Tee – 70s Music – Vintage Sweatshirt – The design behind this sweatshirt is linked to 70s music.
8. David Bowie Inspired Oh no, Love, You’re Not Alone Unisex Sweatshirt – Inspired by lyrics of David Bowie’s Rock n Roll Suicide song.
9. David Bowie White Logo Sweatshirt – I felt there needed to be some classic shirt on the list, so I decided to pick this one.
10. David Bowie – Live ’72 Sweatshirt – This one refers to the Live Santa Monica ’72 live album.

Tips/ Advice:

Buying a sweatshirt for yourself is easy because you know what you are looking for in the first place. But, trouble comes if you need to buy a gift for someone and are unsure which of the following designs would be the best.  If you buy this as a gift for someone, you can’t go wrong with David Bowie Inspired Oh no, Love, You’re Not Alone Unisex Sweatshirt because it is universal.

I am sure everyone will enjoy its design, and the theme of love itself suits everyone (except for haters.) Jokes aside, these shirts were inspired by Bowie’s songs, movies, albums, and personal life, and I believe everything is covered in this top 10 list.

Selection Criteria

I was following some general guidelines when selecting the sweatshirts, and those are:

• Uniqueness
• Easy to recognize
• Most popular moments/events/creations from the artist’s life

Below, I will go in-depth about why I choose these sweatshirts, the history behind them, and of course, the quality of the shirt itself.

Keep reading to choose the best sweatshirt for you!

David Bowie Lightweight Sweatshirt

If you read everything above, you already know this is my number one pick from this list, and that is because of the unique history behind it. Everybody knows, at least I hope so, how special of a character Bowie was. It isn’t a coincidence he came up with such a crazy idea as this one.

So how did the lightning become David’s signature? When Bowie was preparing for a performance as “Aladdin Sane” in 1973, he imagined his character to be something close to an “electric boy.” Pierre La Roche was his make-up artist at the time. 

When these two worked together to prepare for the movie, David asked La Roche to paint a flash of lightning on his face. Duffy, a photographer working with them at a time, spoke to La Roche about it, and they decided to make it happen. The rest is history.

The sweatshirt is built from a mix of cotton and polyester and is very soft, making it very comfortable to wear. The only thing I would say is missing is Bowie’s face because not all people will know this is his sign.

Specifications:

• Color: black, red, blue
• Song/Quote/Album/Symbol: Symbol

Pros:

• Iconic moment
• Comfortable to wear
• Simple but unique design

Cons:

• Bowie’s face is not featured 

Rebel Rebel Bowie The Dark Side Lightweight Sweatshirt

“Bowie, come to the Dark Side.” Maybe you think I am joking, but there are so many commonalities between these two characters, and I am sure if you watched Star Wars, you would see them. I like this shirt because of the unique design it has, and by that, I mean how the designer succeeded in combining Darth Vader’s head with Bowie’s lightning bolt signature.

It tells us they might be one person, and I am not surprised by that. They’re both such powerful figures! The shirt is black, and Bowie’s lightning bolt and the Dark Lord’s head are in the middle of the shirt. Overall, I like the design, except I would say some quote is missing below. Just an image in the middle makes it feel somewhat empty, and I would prefer to see something like a text that points out why these two are the same.

For example, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a text below: “Dark Lord approves of a Blackstar (name of a Bowie’s last album).”

Specifications:

• Color: black, red, blue
• Song/Quote/Album/Symbol: Symbol

Pros:

• Creative combining of characters and symbols
• Hidden message conveyed
• The color matches the theme

Cons:

• There is no text to point out the commonality between David and The Dark Lord

The Babe With The Power, David Bowie, Labyrinth Movie Pullover Sweatshirt 

You remind me of a babe. What babe? The babe with the power. I mean, 1986s Labyrinth was a classic, and if you didn’t watch it, you seriously need to consider if you are Bowie’s fan or not. Now, as far as the shirt goes, I like that the design is very simple. There is a quote in the middle, and it looks very clean.

The good thing about this shirt is anyone from women to men and kids can wear it. I believe if you are a man, this one can be a good gift to your girlfriend/wife or somebody you like.

It is made from cotton and polyester.  Now, I need to note something, and that is to all of the hoodie fans. If you like baggy hoodies, you need to go two sizes up with this sweatshirt. Otherwise, it won’t have the same baggy feeling.

There is only one thing I don’t like about this shirt: it is missing an image to fill the empty area around the quote.

Specifications:

• Color: black and white
• Song/Quote/Album/Symbol: Quote

Pros:

• Unique quote from the movie
• Clean design
• Unisex

Cons:

• Too much emptiness in between and around the quote

I Don’t Know Crew Neck Sweatshirt

This one has such a cool story behind it. Everything happened at Madison Square Garden when David had a concert. It was 8 January 1997, and it was his fiftieth birthday. The atmosphere was something special, and everyone was ecstatic.

Bowie received his cake on the stage and gave a speech about his gratification, and shared some of his views. At the end of the monologue, he thanks everybody for coming and says, “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.”

Now, as far as the shirt goes, it contains only three colors, black, white, and pink. However, the text is visible, easily read, and fits perfectly in the shirt’s middle. The sleeves look a little bit baggy, so if you like slim-fit clothes, you might consider not buying this one.

Specifications:

• Color: black, white, pink
• Song/Quote/Album/Symbol: Quote

Pros:

• Good mix of colors
• Special quote from his birthday
• Text is visible and easily read

Cons:

• Baggy sleeves

The Realm of the Goblin King Pullover Sweatshirt

One more from the movie Labyrinth where David Bowie plays Jareth, who would become a Goblin King and a ruler of the Labyrinth. We can see all kinds of images on the shirt. On the top is a Goblin King, and below is his beloved Sarah.

The shirt is to be separated from other picks for its unique, not-so-clean, and not-so-simple design. It looks more artistic in the sense the whole application consists of numerous different themes from the movie.  I would also add that it reminds me of old church pictures of the saints, where the yellow background behind Bowie would represent the rising Sun.

The combination of colors is very complex, and four colors mix perfectly to represent different themes from the movie. I would say the only downside of this shirt is that everyone can’t wear it. That is because its more artistic design would make it look weird to people who are less creative and open to new experiences.

Specifications:

• Color: yellow, red, blue, white
• Song/Quote/Album/Symbol: None

Pros:

• Beautiful artistic design
• A good representation of the movie by numerous different themes
• The perfect combination of colors

Cons:

• Not for everyone

David Bowie Heroes Black Star Sweatshirt

This one needed to make the list to honor the legend’s life and his last album, Blackstar, where Bowie left us to cry and worship him two days after its release. The shirt’s design is simple and contains two colors of your choice. There isn’t much to say except that I would personally only choose the shirt where the color of the star is black because that would represent the album the best.

Also, I think that it’s missing a quote, or at least the album’s name. The star sign could be misinterpreted as Captain American’s sign or some other similar image. Overall you need this one in your collection to honor the legend he was.

Specifications:

• Color: two of your choice
• Song/Quote/Album/Symbol: Album

Pros:

• Simple design
• Compatible colors
• About his last piece of work before he died

Cons:

• Any other color for the star sign except black doesn’t represent the album correctly
• Missing some quote, or at least the name of the album to clarify the star sign

Bowie Sweatshirt – Band Tee – 70s Music – Vintage Sweatshirt

Now, we have one more shirt with a more creative design. It represents the World Tour in 1972. The themes are very interesting, and the shirt looks very vintage. It contains an image and some text, representing a very nice combination.

I like to see both text and image because it often conveys the application’s message better than if they were separate. The design also reminds me of a strip-like image, and it looks very funny and serious simultaneously. The shirt is designed in four colors, yellow, red, black, and blue.

I would say that the design looks a bit edgy, which can be both good and bad. It depends on your personality, so the downside would be that this shirt wouldn’t feel the same to everyone.

Specifications:

• Color: yellow, red, black, blue
• Song/Quote/Album/Symbol: None

 Pros:

• Creative design
• Vintage looking
• Multiple combinations of colors

Cons:

• Only for specific personality

David Bowie Inspired Oh no, Love, You’re Not Alone Unisex Sweatshirt

I like this design because it combines his lightning bolt signature and his love for a woman. The theme of love and the eyes embedded in the bolt itself give a very romantic feel to this shirt. Also, the shirt radiates a sad feeling since the eyes of the woman are closed, and that is beautifully synced with the lyrics of the song “Oh no, Love, You’re Not Alone.”

The quote comes from Bowie’s song Rock n Roll Suicide, released in 1974. So far, this design has the best combination of themes, colors, and story behind it. The only downside is it is only for women.

Specifications:

• Color: grey, red, black, white, blue
• Song/Quote/Album/Symbol: Song

Pros:

• The perfect combination of image, text, and story behind it
• Good mix of colors
• Theme of love

Cons:

• Only for women

David Bowie White Logo Sweatshirt 

There have been many creative designs on this list, and we need a classic one now.  I believe this David Bowie White Logo sweatshirt is a great option for casual outfits since it is simple, clean, and can be combined with almost anything.

This shirt is easily combined with almost anything because it comes in only two colors, the colors you choose. The application consists of Bowie’s name and his lightning bolt signature below it.There isn’t much to say about it, except that both men and women can wear it. Customers also reported washing it on and on, but the design was still unaffected.

I guess the only downside would be that it is too simplistic, but that is up to the customer’s preference.

Specifications:

• Color: two colors of your choice
• Song/Quote/Album/Symbol: Symbol

Pros:

• Classic design
• Good combination of two colors of your choice
• Durable, well-built

Cons:

• Too simplistic

David Bowie – Live ’72 Sweatshirt

The last pick on my list is the shirt that covers a Santa Monica ’72 live album by David Bowie. It represents a great mix of text and image, resulting in a beautifully looking design and application. There are three shirt colors, but you can always change the background color. It comes in black, navy, dark heather, and royal blue.

It is made from a combination of cotton and polyester, and customers reported it was very comfortable. The only bad thing is some customers also reported that colors washed off after some time.

Specifications:

• Color: black, navy, dark heather, royal blue
• Song/Quote/Album/Symbol: Album

Pros:

• A great mix of themes
• Specific background colors
• Comfortable to wear

Cons:

• Colors wash off after some time

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