COLLECTIONS / 
History's Mystery
While we were deep into the recording sessions for what would become HYSTERIA, as the album SLOWLY snailed along, people would say “bloody hell, is your record not done yet?” The album took so long to make everyone kept hounding us. We got the same question over and over. And over. "WHEN???" We would say “Don’t Ask”, “Not Yet”, “We Don’t Know”. These “word shirts” appeared and there were only a few of them made, very rare to find one these days. They were just for us, friends of the band and such. We would wear them around and when people asked, we would just point to the shirts. It was our united front as a band. And there ya have it, the real story.
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Black "Don't Ask" Shirt
Basically, the Unobtanium of all rock t-shirts! This is one in the Andie Airfix-designed band-only series. They were made in June / July of 1985 during the recording of Hysteria, close to its completion, noting the recording sessions in Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin. This ORIGINAL was Steve Clark's own personal shirt. So yeah. This is amazing. Don't get too close. Maybe don't even look at it. Pretend we never showed it to you. Courtesy of the Lorelei Shellist Private Collection.
COLLECTIONS /
History's Mystery
While we were deep into the recording sessions for what would become HYSTERIA, as the album SLOWLY snailed along, people would say “bloody hell, is your record not done yet?” The album took so long to make everyone kept hounding us. We got the same question over and over. And over. "WHEN???" We would say “Don’t Ask”, “Not Yet”, “We Don’t Know”. These “word shirts” appeared and there were only a few of them made, very rare to find one these days. They were just for us, friends of the band and such. We would wear them around and when people asked, we would just point to the shirts. It was our united front as a band. And there ya have it, the real story.
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Black Not Yet T-shirt
Steve Clark's personal, ultra rare, inner-circle-only, Andie Airfix-designed, Def Leppard font black t-shirt, made sometime between early 85 to mid 87 to answer those pesky and persistent questions about Hysteria's release. The answer was of course, "NOT YET." For emphasis, the back reads, "Listen! If it was finished, you would have heard it!" An incredible piece of rock history, as well as an emphatic show of Leppard solidarity. Courtesy of the Lorelei Shellist Private Collection
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Def Leppard Yes T-Shirt
"Yes" confirms the wearer of this shirt, who would undoubtedly be either one of the Lepps or someone very close to them. This shirt was created sometime in 86/87. From the collection of Def Leppard.
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Consumers Abroad
This rarest of rare, inner-circle only, Andie Airfix designed grey t-shirt was a bit of f-f-fooling from the band and their manager early 1984. From the collection of Def Leppard.
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Don't Ask (Again)
Perfection takes time. The time Def Leppard took to record Hysteria prompted what would become a series of shirts containing messages meant to answer the same old questions about the band's recording timeline. This "Don't Ask (Again)" art mock up by Andie Airfix using the classic Def Leppard font would later be printed on tees for the band and close associates. Courtesy of the AndieAirfix.com collection.
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We Don't Know Matted Mockup
This Andie Airfix original mock-up was made for Def Leppard's infamous inner-circle-only printed message tees. This version never got printed. What better way to answer/not answer the same old question of "When is your next album?" This early draft for the front of a t-shirt reads simply, "We Don't Know". Sometimes a phrase is worth a thousand words. Courtesy of the AndieAirfix.com collection.
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We Don't Know Mockup
This Andie Airfix original mock-up was made for Def Leppard's infamous inner-circle-only printed message tees. What better way to answer/not answer the same old question of "When is the next album?" This early draft for the front of a t-shirt reads, "We Don't Know" and "If They Record It". This mock up never made it to print, but luckily Def Leppard's albums all made it to pressing. Courtesy of the AndieAirfix.com collection.
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If They Record It Mockup
A rare Andie Airfix original mock-up made for Def Leppard's infamous inner-circle-only printed message tees. What better way to answer/not answer the same old question of "When is your next album?" This early draft for the front of a t-shirt reads, "If They Record It". This version never got printed, but thank goodness the album got pressed. Courtesy of the AndieAirfix.com collection.
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It Will Be Released Art Flat
An Andie Airfix original artwork so rare, it never got printed! This early draft for the back of a t-shirt reads, "It will be released - We just don't know when (Def Leppard 1988-??) " From the collection of Def Leppard.
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Release Date Art Flat
An Andie Airfix original artwork so rare, it never got printed! In a continuation of the cheeky Hysteria "Don't Ask" series of shirts, this particular design was drafted as an option for the answer to the Adrenalize timeline. It reads "Release Date - Def Leppard's 5th album? 1990 1991? This decade??" From the collection of Def Leppard.
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Listen, The Band Doesn't Even Know Art Flat
An Andie Airfix original artwork so rare, it never got printed! This mock-up was made for Def Leppard's infamous inner-circle-only printed message tees. What better way to answer/not answer the same old question of "When is your next album?" This early draft for the back of a t-shirt reads, "Listen, the band doesn't even know (when they are going to start to record...much less finish it.) Def Leppard for the 90's?" From the collection of Def Leppard.