Everything about T-shirt totally explained
A
T-shirt (or
tee shirt) is a
shirt, usually buttonless, collarless, and pocketless, with a round neck and short sleeves, that's pulled on over the head and covers most of a person's
torso. The sleeves of the T-shirt extend at least slightly over the shoulder but not completely over the elbow (in short-sleeve version). A shirt that's either longer or shorter than this ceases to be a T-shirt.
T-shirts are typically made of cotton or polyester fibers (or a mix of the two), knitted together in a
jersey stitch that gives a T-shirt its distinctive soft texture. T-shirts are often decorated with text and/or pictures, sometimes used to advertise.
T-shirt fashions include styles for men and women, and for all age groups, including baby, youth, and adult sizes.
History
In the 19th century, the idea of
underwear developed, which hadn't been common before. At some point near the turn of the century, the underwear shirt was developed; the
shirt was always a part of clothing since
ancient Egypt, though it slowly became more and more popular. Hence, there have been many
garments that resemble the T-shirt, though the general trend supported the possibility of less clothing, which cultural
modesty had forbidden until the 19th century. The origin of the T-shirt is obscure — claims reach at least from
California to
Britain, and from 1913 to 1948, and it was most likely a slow development during that time.
Most research mentions this possibility that 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 were sweating 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, called "crew neck".
The
Los Angeles Times claimed in 2006 that the Navy shirt as described in 1913's regulations state that the "light undershirt" was different from what is commonly worn today, with the Navy's version boasting an "elastic collarette on the neck opening" and other odd features.
On these grounds, there are claims that
Howard Jones asked
the underwear company "Jockey" in 1932 to develop a sweat absorbing shirt for the
USC Trojans football team, which they propose was the "modern T-Shirt".
The origin of the name is uncertain: many refer to the shape of the shirt as a "T", while it could also emphasize the use of the army as a "training shirt". The shape-based theory is supported by the existence of an
A-shirt in the 1930s USA, which was the usual undershirt later labeled the
tank top. It is also a possibility that the name "tee" comes from
amputee, a reference to the shortened length of the arms.
During
World War II 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, just like their former underwear. As a result, the public was frequently exposed to pictures of members of the armed forces wearing pants and a T-shirt. This became gradually more acceptable, as the cover of the July 13, 1942 issue of
Life magazine shows, which 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 New York Governor
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.
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 or an undershirt (
vest). T-shirts have also become a medium for self-expression and advertising, with any imaginable combination of words, art and even photographs on display.
In the early 1950s several companies based in Miami, Florida, started to decorate tee shirts with different resort names and various characters. The first company was Tropix Togs, under founder Sam Kantor, in Miami. They were the original licensee for Walt Disney characters that included Mickey Mouse and Davy Crockett. Later other companies expanded into the tee shirt printing business that included Sherry Manufacturing Company also based in Miami. Sherry started in 1948 by its owner and founder Quinton Sandler as a screen print scarf business and evolved into one of the largest screen printed resort and licensed apparel companies in the United States.
A T-shirt typically extends to the waist, although one
fashion is for "oversized" T-shirts that may extend down to the knees, namely in modern
hip hop fashion. 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 T-shirt", then putting a short sleeved T-shirt of a different color over the long sleeved shirt. This is known as "layering".
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-dyeing and
screen-printing on the basic T-shirt. In 1959,
plastisol, a more durable and stretchable ink, was invented, allowing much more variety in t-shirt designs.
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.
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. Very few companies continue to use water-based ink's on their shirts. One such company, founded in 1964 by Rick Ralston in Waikiki, Hawaii is Crazy Shirts
(External Link
). The majority of other companies that create shirts prefer to use plastisol due to the ability to print on varying colors without the need for color adjustment at the art level.
Specialty inks trend in and out of fashion and include; shimmer, puff, discharge and chino based inks. A metallic foil can be heat pressed and stamped onto any plastisol ink. When combined with shimmer ink, metallics give a mirror like effect wherever the previously screened plastisol ink was applied. Specialty inks are more expensive to purchase as well as screen and tend to appear on garments in boutiques.
Other methods of decoration used on T-shirts include
airbrush,
applique,
embroidery, impressing or embossing 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, or dye other clothes during washing.
At the turn of the century, designing custom t-shirts online became more popular. Web sites like
Zazzle.com and
CafePress.com and jadnet.com use digital printing to allow customers to design their own t-shirts online with no minimum orders and is now becoming a more mainstreem way of ordering school, team, music and political graphic t-shirts.
For larger custom t-shirt orders, most companies still turn to promotional product companies. Companies such as Arelco Promotional Group, http://www.arelco.com/, can offer a wide range of brands and styles that can be customized with your logo, anywhere you want it.
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. These examples also include representations of rock bands, among other obscure pop-culture references.
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 2000s saw the renewed popularity of T-shirts with slogans and designs with a strong inclination to the humorous and/or . 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 political and social statements that T-shirts often display have become, since the 2000s, one of the reasons that they've 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.
A popular phrase on the front of T-shirts demonstrating T-shirts popularity among tourists is the humorous phrase "I did
and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." Examples include "I went to Las Vegas and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." and "My parents went to San Francisco and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."
T-shirt exchange is an activity where people trade their tshirts they're wearing. Some designs specifically write on the shirt "trade with me"
Further Information
Get more info on 'T-shirt'.
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