are often decorated with text and/or pictures.
T-shirt fashions include styles for men and women, and for all age
groups, including baby, youth and adult sizes.
The idea of the T-shirt came to the United States during World War I
when US soldiers noticed the light cotton undershirts European soldiers
were using while the US soldiers sweated in their wool uniforms. Since
they were so much more comfortable they quickly became popular among
the Americans, and because of their design they got the name T-shirt.
Other experts credit the U.S. Navy's "light undershirt" from 1913,
described with "elastic collarette on the neck opening".
What became the modern T-shirt was developed in 1932 when officials
from the University of Southern California Trojans football team (often
credited to coach Howard Jones) asked Jockey International, Inc. to
develop an inexpensive undergarment to absorb sweat and prevent a
football player's shoulder pads from causing chafing. This resulted in the
invention of the crewneck (or crew-neck) T-shirt. The shirts proved so
popular that students started stealing them from the athletes and the
athletic department reacted by stenciling "Property of USC" on each shirt,
inadvertently making them even more popula.
During WWII the T-shirt had become standard issue underwear in both
the U.S. Army and the Navy. Although the T-shirt was formally
underwear, soldiers often used it without a shirt covering it while doing
heavy labor or while stationed in locations with a hot climate. As a result,
the public was frequently exposed to pictures of members of the armed
forces wearing pants and a T-shirt. As an example, the cover of the July
13, 1942 issue of Life magazine, features a picture of a soldier wearing a
T-shirt with the text "Air Corps Gunnery School".
After WWII the T-shirt started appearing without a shirt covering it in
civilian life. According to the New York Times, the 1948 presidential
campaign of Thomas E. Dewey produced a "Dew It for Dewey" T-shirt,
which was followed in 1952 by "I Like Ike" T-shirts in support of Dwight
D. Eisenhower. John Wayne, Marlon Brando and James Dean all wore
them on national TV. At first the public was shocked, but by 1955 it had
become acceptable. The T-shirt became cool when James Dean wore it in
the film Rebel Without a Cause.
The record, as listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, for Most T-
shirts worn was broken on October 12, 2006 by Matt McAllister a radio DJ
of 99.9 KTYD in Santa Barbara, California. He put on 121 t-shirts, sized
small to 10XL, on The Late Show with David Letterman, breaking his own
record of 120.
Trends
T-shirts were originally worn as undershirts. This still occurs, but T-shirts
are now also frequently worn as the only piece of clothing on the top half
of the body (other than possibly a bra). T-shirts have also become a
medium for self-expression and advertising, with any imaginable
combination of words, art and even photographs on display.
A T-shirt typically extends to the waist, although one fashion is for
"oversized" T-shirts, namely in modern hip hop fashion (a perfect
example of this can be clearly seen in the song, White Tee, by Dem
Franchize Boyz). A more recent trend in women's clothing involves tight-
fitting "cropped" T-shirts that are short enough to reveal the midriff.
Another popular trend is wearing a long sleeved shirt, then putting a
short sleeved shirt of a different color over the long sleeved shirt.
In the 1960s, the Ringer T-shirt appeared and became a staple fashion
for youth and rock-n-rollers. The decade also saw the emergence of tie-
dying and screen-printing on the basic T-shirt.
In the 1970s the Black concert T-shirt started to become a fashion trend
of rock music fans around the world.
Variants of the T-shirt, such as the tank top, A-shirt (with the nickname
"wife beater"), muscle shirt, scoop neck, V-neck etc. eventually came into
use.
The early 2000s used the internet to continue the modern phenomenon
of "personal branding". Companies such as Threadless and CafePress
make it easy for people to create their own designs, while creating online
communities of fellow T-shirt designers and consumers. These internet
based social networking companies build communities of people through
the design and distribution of t-shirts.
Decoration
The most common form of commercial t-shirt decoration is screen-
printing. In screen-printing, a design is separated into individual colors.
Plastisol or water based inks are applied to the shirt through mesh
screens which limits the areas where ink is deposited. In most commercial
t-shirt printing, the specific colors in the design are used. To achieve a
wider color spectrum with a limited number of colors, process printing
(using only cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink) or simulated process
(using only white, black, red, green, blue, and gold ink) is effective.
Process printing is best suited for light colored shirts. Simulated process
is best suited for dark colored shirts.
Other methods of decoration used on T-shirts include airbrush, applique,
embroidery, and the ironing on of either flock lettering, heat transfers, or
Dye Sublimation transfers. Laser printers are capable of printing on plain
paper using a special toner containing sublimation dyes which can then be
permanently heat-transferred to T-shirts.
In the 1980s, thermochromatic dyes were used to produce T-shirts that
changed colour when subjected to heat. This brand of T-shirt, Global
Hypercolour, was a common sight on the streets of the UK for a few
years, but has since mostly disappeared. These were very popular in the
United States as well in the late 80's among teens. A downside of color-
change garments is that the dyes can easily be damaged, especially by
washing in warm water.
Messages
Since the late 1980s and especially the 1990s, T-shirts with prominent
designer-name logos have been popular, especially with teenagers and
young adults. These garments allowed consumers to flaunt their taste in
designer brands in an inexpensive way, in addition to being decorative.
Examples of designer T-shirt branding include Calvin Klein, FUBU, Ralph
Lauren, and The Gap.
Screen printed T-shirts have been a standard form of product advertising
for major consumer products, such as Coca-cola and Mickey Mouse, since
the 1970s. However, since the 1990s, it has become common practice for
companies of all sizes to produce T-shirts with their corporate logos or
messages as part of their overall advertising campaigns.
The early 2000's saw the renewed popularity of T-shirts with slogans and
designs with a strong inclination to the humorous and/or ironic. The
trend has only increased later in this decade; embraced by celebrities,
such as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, and reflected back on them, too
('Team Aniston'). The story of the message tee embraces the modern
phenomenon of “personal branding” (indicating, in this case, the wearer’s
sense of humor), as well as a climate in which statements—political or
personal—are generally preferred to be catchy than true . Notable was
the popularity of political slogans and messages on T-shirts coinciding
with the presidential election.
The political and social statements that T-shirts often display have
become, since the 2000's, one of the reasons that they have so deeply
permeated different levels of culture and society. The statements also
may be found to be offensive, shocking or pornographic to some. Many
different organizations have caught on to the statement-making trend,
including chain and independent stores, websites, and schools.
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