The Story Of Your T-Shirt: From Farm To Shop

The simple cotton t-shirt has a surprisingly complex history and manufacturing process. The t-shirt has gone from being an undergarment for labourers to a stand-alone outerwear garment, and its journey from cotton field to clothing shop is a global one. The t-shirt's ubiquity and versatility make it a powerful garment with mass appeal, and its manufacture involves many processes and human beings.

T-shirts were originally worn as undergarments

In 1913, the U.S. Navy began issuing them as standard undershirts to be worn under uniforms. They were crew-necked, short-sleeved, and white, and it soon became common for sailors and marines to remove their uniform jackets, leaving them in just their undershirts. During and after World War II, it became common to see veterans wearing T-shirts tucked into their trousers as undergarments. They were also worn by Navy men as undershirts and, slowly, it became common to see veterans wearing their T-shirts with their uniform trousers as casual clothing.

By the 1920s, the word "T-shirt" had entered the dictionary, thanks to F. Scott Fitzgerald, who used it in his novel, "This Side of Paradise". However, despite their growing popularity, T-shirts were still rarely worn as anything other than undershirts.

The US Navy popularised the T-shirt

The T-shirt as we know it today can trace its origins back to the late 19th century, when labourers would cut their jumpsuits in half to keep cool in the warmer months. The first manufactured T-shirt was invented between the Spanish-American War in 1898 and 1913, when the U.S. Navy began issuing them as standard undershirts. These were crew-necked, short-sleeved, white cotton undershirts to be worn under a uniform.

The T-shirt soon became popular as a bottom layer of clothing for workers in various industries, including agriculture. It was easily fitted, easily cleaned, and inexpensive. For these reasons, it became the shirt of choice for young boys, and by the 1920s, the word "T-shirt" had been inducted into the English dictionary, thanks to F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was the first person to publish the word in his novel, "This Side of Paradise".

During World War II, it was common for Navy men to wear T-shirts as undergarments, and it slowly became the norm for veterans to wear their uniform trousers with T-shirts as casual clothing. The T-shirt's popularity as a stand-alone outerwear garment skyrocketed in the 1950s, thanks to Hollywood icons Marlon Brando and James Dean. Brando famously wore a white T-shirt in "A Streetcar Named Desire", and Dean wore one in "Rebel Without a Cause".

The T-shirt was now not only acceptable as an outer garment but was also being associated with a movement of rebellion, as it was originally designed as an undergarment.

T-shirts became fashionable outerwear in the 1950s

The T-shirt's new status as outerwear was also associated with a movement of rebellion. Curator Dennis Nothdruft, of the exhibition T-shirt: Cult — Culture — Subversion, said: "It was rebellious, because T-shirts were actually undergarments … It was a tough political statement."

The post-war economic boom and the development of mass production techniques also helped to make fashion trends affordable for everyone. The T-shirt, being easily fitted, easily cleaned, and inexpensive, was the perfect garment to benefit from these conditions.

In the early 1950s, several companies based in Miami, Florida, started to decorate T-shirts with different resort names and various characters. The first company was Tropix Togs, which was the original licensee for Walt Disney characters. People began to realise the profit that was to be made in graphic T-shirts, and in the 1960s, innovations to the print field, including the birth of screen printing, would help turn the T-shirt industry into what it is today.

Printed T-shirts gained popularity in the 1960s

The 1960s saw the emergence of tie-dyeing and screen-printing on the basic T-shirt. Printed T-shirts gained popularity in the 1960s for self-expression, advertisements, protests, and souvenirs. This was also when the ringer T-shirt was introduced, which became a staple fashion for youth and rock-n-rollers. The ringer T-shirt is a solid-colour shirt with bands of a second colour around the collar and the lower edges of the sleeves, with or without an additional front decoration.

The T-shirt became a medium for wearable art, commercial advertising, souvenir messages, and protest art messages. Psychedelic art poster designer Warren Dayton pioneered several political, protest, and pop-culture art printed large and in colour on T-shirts. In the late 1960s, Richard Ellman, Robert Tree, Bill Kelly, and Stanley Mouse set up the Monster Company in Mill Valley, California, to produce fine art designs expressly for T-shirts. Monster T-shirts often featured emblems and motifs associated with the Grateful Dead and marijuana culture.

Additionally, one of the most popular symbols to emerge from the political turmoil of the 1960s was the T-shirt bearing the face of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara. The printed T-shirt is a global icon of pop culture and the foundation of the decorated apparel industry.

T-shirts are now a tool for self-expression and advertising

T-shirts have become a powerful tool for self-expression and advertising. Since their creation in 1920, T-shirts have evolved into a two-billion-dollar market. They are now available in a variety of colours, patterns, and styles, such as the standard crew and V-neck, as well as tank tops and scoop necks.

The T-shirt's journey from cotton field to clothing shop is a complex global process. The cotton is typically grown in the US or India, but the manufacturing process is often scattered across the globe, taking advantage of lower labour and material costs in developing countries. This means that the "Made In..." label on a T-shirt may only reveal one of the many places that the garment passed through.

The T-shirt's evolution from undergarment to outerwear in the mid-20th century helped pave the way for its role as a medium for self-expression and advertising. Printed T-shirts became popular in the 1960s for self-expression, advertisements, protests, and souvenirs. The punk movement of the 1970s further solidified the T-shirt as a messaging platform, with rock band logos and anti-war protests.

Today, T-shirts are used to display one's interests, tastes, and affiliations, as well as political slogans, humour, art, sports, and famous people and places. They are also a popular and inexpensive way for companies to promote their products and events. The T-shirt's versatility, durability, and mass appeal make it an effective tool for conveying a wide range of messages, from rebellious to joyful.

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