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The t shirt design as we now know it was created in America, but originated in Europe. American soldiers in WWI were issued with heavy wool undergarments for their uniforms which were cumbersome and stifling and did not compare favourably with the European issue light cotton undershirts. After the war this style exploded in popularity in the United States and were called ‘t shirts’ because of their design, with the term officially entering the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary in the 1920‘s.
The modern ‘crew neck’ style t-shirt was invented in 1932, when the University of Southern California Trojans football team tasked the apparel company Jockey International Inc. to create a cheap form of clothing to be worn as an undergarment which would readily absorb sweat. The shirts were an immediate success and became so fashionable that students resorted to stealing them from the locker room. This led to the university branding the shirts ‘Property of USC’ in an effort to discourage theft, but this only proved to make the t shirts more exclusive and desirable.
The t shirt became a garment in its own right in the 1940’s, where it finally eschewed the notion that it could only be used as an undergarment. By World War II the US Army gave each soldier a t shirt as part of their standard issue field packs. These were originally intended to be used as underwear, and were formally described as such, but the troops were often pictured wearing their tees without a shirt covering them while completing heavy labour or when stationed in hot tropical climates.
Wearing a t shirt by itself did not become fashinable until the 1950’s, when popular actors such as James Dean and Marlon Brando wore them in their films ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ respectively. Shortly beforehand t shirts had their first slogans printed on them (the oldest printed shirt is on display at The Smithsonian Institute and bears the phrase ‘Dew it for Dewey’, promoting Thomas Dewey‘s bid to become President). By the late 50’s slogans and emblems were very popular, and it was not long before the traditional plain white made way to a variety of colours.
The ‘ringer’ style tee (where the collar is a different colour to the rest of the t shirt) was not invented until the 1960’s. This style was popularised by those who followed the rock and roll sub-culture and entered the mainstream shortly thereafter. The most common colour combination was a plain white t shirt with a black collar.
Since that time the t-shirt has changed little, the tees we wear today can be directly linked to those worn by soldiers 70 years ago. This is a testament to the inherent popularity of the comfort, style and robustness of the basic t shirt and, above all, its versatility.
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