History of the T Shirt and Rock T Shirts
Posted By admin on September 15, 2011
Have
you ever thought twice before wearing a comfortable T shirt? The T shirt is so ubiquitous we don’t give it much thought. Here is a brief history of the T shirt, which eventually led to emergence of the really cool rock T shirts.
According to many western historians, it was the United States Navy who first thought of creating a kind of shirt that was comfortable at sea and was easy to put on and take off. Comfortable lightweight cotton shirts were worn as undershirts, and navy personnel liked them more than the usual wool uniform. Some historians credit the British Royal Navy in World War I and French Army as the first users of a Tee.
In 1913, the US Navy issued crew-necked, short-sleeved, white T shirts for the first time. In the 1920s, the American English Dictionary listed “T shirt” as an official English word. In the 1930s, the comfortable cotton shirt entered the garments market and was commercialized by US retailers such as Hanes, Fruit of the Loom and Sears, Roebucks & Co., although it didn’t really catch on.
During World War II, every American soldier wore a T shirt, but more for comfort than fashion. Their cotton undergarments allowed them to move freely and with ease while carrying heavy equipment. After the war, Navy and military personnel went home and that was when the T shirt really caught on. The oldest T shirt displayed in the Smithsonian Museum is a 1948 shirt used during Thomas Dewey’s presidential campaign.
In the 1950s, Hollywood came into the picture. Marlon Brando in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ (1951) and James Dean in ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ (1955) made wearing a T shirt look cool and revolutionary. Elvis in T shirt didn’t hurt, either.
Then came the crazy and colorful decade of the 60s. In the late 1960s, Screen-printing made T shirt designing easy and doable by everyone. Almost everyone was now wearing a Tee, and it was in this decade when the humble T shirt really took off as a serious fashion accessory.
Before the 1970s, the T shirt took on a number of variations such as the V-neck, tank top, scoop neck, and muscle shirt. It was also during this time that the shirt became a colorful mobile platform for staging a protest. ‘Flower power’ took hold of the United States, and extremely colorful, psychedelic shirts hit the stores, along with tons of rock band merchandise.
Rock bands began selling rock T-shirts and concert T-shirts in the 1970s. Rock images, band names, rock icons, musical instruments, abstract designs, slogans, punk rock memorabilia and rock star portraits on T shirts made big money as they were sold during sold-out concerts. The rock industry and music industry revolutionized the T shirt, T shirt designs and merchandizing.
In addition to rock T shirts, surfing T shirts also made big waves. In 1961, a certain Floyd Smith, a surfboard maker in California, screen printed his cool and colorful company logo for free on his customers’ white shirts. Soon the designs included cool logos and slogans, which transformed this shirt trend into a culture that is highlighted by a free-spirited surfing lifestyle.
Today, practically everyone in this planet has worn a T shirt, and no doubt everyone has been wowed by the colorful often-wild rock T shirts. Love it or hate it, the rock T shirt has certainly had quite a history leading to it. These shirts are now among the most popular garments in the world.
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