Owsley "Bear" Stanley cut the first one as a stencil in 1969 — a circle split by a thirteen-point lightning bolt, red on one side, blue on the other — so the crew could find the Dead's road cases in a stack of everybody else's gear. He showed it to artist Bob Thomas and floated the idea that the words "Grateful Dead" might sit under the circle in lettering that read as a skull from a distance. Thomas went up to the loft and came back down with the mark the whole world knows.
Nobody called it Steal Your Face for years. The name drifted over from the line in "He's Gone" — steal your face right off your head — and locked in when the 1976 live album shipped with the skull on the cover. Heads have said both ever since. That's why both live here.
Every stealie piece in the Grateful Dead x Relix collection: tees, long sleeves, hoodies, crewnecks and caps. Officially licensed, from the magazine that has covered this band since 1974.
Shop by piece: T-Shirts, Hats, Long Sleeve T-Shirts.
The bolt has a collection of its own if you want it without the skull. The Dancing Bears came off the same Bob Thomas drawing table, and the roses go back further still. Everything at once lives in Grateful Dead x Relix.