Rag Trade Sisters : The Long and Short of the T-Shirt

Sometimes you don't even notice what a person is wearing.

Since the warm weather is finally giving way to Fall, I thought it might be fun to take one last glance at the clothing of summer. Namely, the t-shirt. I have actually been thinking a lot lately about how universal the t-shirt is, and how almost everyone wears t-shirts nowadays. So I thought it would be interesting to look into it's origins and figure out how it all started.

Not surprisingly, the t-shirt stemmed from men's undergarments. Apparently in the late 1800's men started cutting off their one piece underwear into two pieces. The comfort and ease of the undershirt quickly gained attention and around the turn of the century the US navy began issuing them to all sailors. The t-shirt, or "skivvy," as an under shirt soon became popular for many different workers in various industries as it was easily fitted, easily cleaned and inexpensive. By the 1920's it was widely accepted as an undershirt and also acceptable for young boys to wear.

I can see why this was such a huge promoter of the t-shirt. Wowza!

Another iconic t-shirt wearer.

It wasn't till after WWII that it became common for men to wear t-shirts with trousers out in public. But it took Marlon Brando to make it popular (1951 Streetcar Named Desire). The 60's promoted the printed t-shirt including the tie-die and branding t-shirts. Though it was still not fully assimilated into everyday wear, that was the beginning of the t-shirt movement and it's been all downhill from there.

Jean Seberg in Breathless, 1960

I'll take one of each

Could Sally Field have been any cuter?

It seems to me that it wasn't until the 80's that t-shirts were acceptable as every-single-day attire. I know there was a big push in the concert t-shirt world, and many high-end designers started playing around with the possibilities that a t-shirt presented. As much as I have many favorite t-shirts and I wear them almost daily, there is a certain part of me that is saddened to see the easiest, most basic article of clothing be the most accepted. It makes total sense, yet some part of me wishes that there was more to life than simple and easy every day fashion.

Abba in all of their 70's glory!!!

So much enjoyment from one little advert.

Madonna did a lot to further the fashion of t-shirts, most notably: the cropped and mesh varieties. Thanks a lot Madonna!

We mustn't forget the pastel beauties of the 80's!

This is one of the first t-shirts I thought of when I was thinking of this post. Wham baby!

This was my first t-shirt love. I stole it from my older sister who had actually gone to the concert. I wore it religiously for many years, much to my Mother's dismay. She always complained that I had "men on my bosom."