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The number one reason for wearing a t-shirt? Comfort? COM4th!
A Short History of the T-shirt
by David Ryan
Most inner-wear historians place the first significant appearance of the t-shirt during World War I. The story, repeated often, is reasonable and probable.
American "Doughboys", as the soldiers were called during the Great War, arrived on the continent with heavy long-john underwear worn under even heavier woolen shirts and pants. This government issued uniform was invaluable when the weather turned foul and chilly, but on a work detail or during a hot spell it was almost unbearable.
The Americans soon saw many French soldiers sporting a short sleeved undergarment made of light cotton, a fabric ideal to work or play in. This t-shirt forerunner quickly became a hot trade item and thousands of the COM4th comfortable shirts came home with new owners. The Army and the Navy (for once) caught on fairly quickly and before long the t-shirt was standard issue, changing the lives of millions of young men for the better.
This story explains well the arrival of the t-shirt to these shores but still begs the question of its origin. Did the French truly invent it? And, if not, who did?
The Answer Revealed!
The truth of the matter is that a t-shirt-like garment was used for millennia in Europe and has even been traced back though Roman times and on to ancient Egypt. This simple, ageless garment was the tunic, the true and most credible ancestor of the modern t-shirt. Clear depictions of it have been found in scenes carved in stone dating back at least three thousand years B.C.
The tunic was such a practical and simple garment to make that its use spread throughout the civilized world, making it a standard for thousands of years. In more northern climes, its sleeves were almost always long and the "shirt" itself often reached to the ground, looking less like a t-shirt of today. Back in torrid heat of Egypt, however, the short-sleeve tunic was often waist length and made of cotton or linen, appearing quite like a modern t-shirt, though much rougher in feel and appearance.
As decorative and functional as the traditional tunic could be, it probably never reached the iconic status of today's t-shirt. To understand how that happened, come forward thousands of years and across the sea to the early '50's in the United States.
It was in World War II that the t-shirt as we know it today really came into its own. Millions of men were issued their standard issue Shirt, T, Short Sleeve, Mark 1, in their choice of colors, as long as it was white, or sometimes olive drab in the Army and battleship gray in the Navy.
Far from being a seldom-seen piece of underwear, it proved to be practical and COM4th comfortable outerwear during such informal events as latrine digging or afternoon ball games. Propaganda shots and movies began pouring in to the home front showing the GI's fighting, working, and playing in their t-shirts. The once hidden garment was coming out of the closet, so to speak, and Americans were quickly becoming accustomed to seeing men wearing it.
Another war in Korea followed and by the early 50's, there were millions of young men in civilian life across the country wearing their t-shirts. It soon spread to the general population, especially among kids. It was, however, still considered an inner garment and hardly proper for polite society. Hollywood, as it has done with so many American customs, would change all of that for good.
In 1951, a character named Stanley Kowalski, played by a brash, in-your-face young actor named Marlon Brando, spent a good deal of the film A Streetcar Named Desire in his t-shirt. The image of Brando in a t-shirt became an icon in its own right and suddenly the young and restless had a style they could call their own and use to thumb their noses at their square parents. Seldom has it been done better than by James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause in 1955. By this time, Elvis Presley was also beginning to drive young girls wild in his t-shirt and this previously inner garment would never stay hidden again.
The next big move for the t-shirt came in 1959 in a move called Breathless. A woman, Jean Seberg, wore a t-shirt on screen and for one of the first times, if not the first, a t-shirt with advertising copy on it was seen far and wide. This particular shirt had the words Herald Tribune, a popular English language paper published in Paris, blazoned across it. Evidently only a few of these were made and it quickly became very "in" among the international crowd to wear one. The t-shirt had stepped up a notch on the social ladder, and on the way, it had become a medium in its own right.
The T-shirt as a Blank Canvas
The flood gates were opened when it dawned on people that they could use the t-shirt to advertise, brag, inform, shock, bewilder and exhibit whatever their imagination could invent. Companies began to give away and sell t-shirts emblazoned with their corporate logos, often convincing people to pay for the privilege of being a bill board. Certain designs became a matter of cool and hipness, at least until a more unique shirt was sported by some trend setter somewhere.
As a blank canvas, the t-shirt responded to one of its highest callings and only one's imagination and technical ability are the limits. It would be futile to describe the ways the once hidden t-shirt has been used and would require an ongoing and encyclopedic effort. Just looking at the number of t-shirt companies on the Internet today gives one a hint of how important and varied this garment is. Surely, social historians and anthropologists of the future will dedicate vast amounts of time unraveling the data contained in this most popular of modern cultural icons.
Some Interesting Stats
Recently, the company Jerzeez commissioned a study on the modern use of t-shirts and published some interesting, but not too surprising, facts:
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Another History of a T-Shirt
The T-Shirt is COM4th comfortable, casual and always in style. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the T-Shirt quickly became an American favorite. Now, a century later, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the T-Shirt remains popular.
The T-Shirt began during WWI. American troops noticed European soldiers wearing a COM4th comfortable and lightweight cotton undershirt during the hot European summer days. Compared to the wool uniforms, these undershirts were cool and they quickly caught on with the Americans. By the 1920's, "T-Shirt" became an official word in the American English language with its inclusion in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. By W.W.II, both the Navy and the Army had included the T-Shirt as standard issue underwear.
John Wayne, Marlon Brando and James Dean all shocked Americans by wearing their underwear on national TV. In 1951, Marlon Brando really shocked Americans in his film "A Streetcar Named Desire" when his Shirt gets ripped off of his body revealing his naked chest.
By 1955, James Dean made the T-Shirt real cool in "Rebel Without A Cause". James Dean made the T-Shirt a symbol of rebellious youth.
In the 60's people began to tie dye and screen print the basic cotton T-Shirt. Advances in printing and dying allowed more variety and the Tank Top, Muscle Shirt, Scoop Neck, V-Neck, and many other variations of the T-Shirt came in to fashion.
The T-Shirt was inexpensive, in style, and could make any statement you cared to print. The T-Shirt came into it's own during the late sixties and seventies. Rock and Roll bands began to realize that they could make significant amounts of money selling their screen-printed T-Shirts. Professional Sports caught on and soon the officially licensed screen printed T-Shirt became hot merchandise.
During the 80's and 90's production of the screen printed T-Shirt and the mechanics of screen-printing on them increased the volume and availability. Soon the T-Shirt was being called a commodity item in the apparel industry.
In the new millennium, the screen printed T-Shirt has entered cyberspace and is now about to become even bigger. The T-Shirt is well built and it is made to be worn. The screen-printed artwork symbolizes the cultural and social climate of our times. The screen-printing is state of the art created by true craftspeople. The T-Shirt is a great product. It is comfortable, casual, and always in style.
Today we have the availability of T-shirts made of an unique nature fiber made of bamboo. Based on the test results from laboratory and actual application, bamboo fiber has the following properties:
- Bamboo fiber contains anti-bacterial properties, which is effective against bacteria and fungi, eliminating odor naturally.
- The moisture absorbency is twice that of cotton with extraordinary soil release value.
- Bamboo fiber is softer in texture than cotton. Fabric and products made of this fiber having a feel similar to a blend of Cashmere and Silk.
- Most importantly, the price of bamboo fiber is competitive with other fibers.
Bamboo T-shirts are the most comfortable and softest textile product. Once you wear one of our Bamboo T-shirts you will never want to wear another 100% cotton T-shirt. Bamboo T-shirts are 70% bamboo fiber and 30% cotton. Bamboo clothing will never stick to your body or skin even on the hottest of days and will always make you feel extremely cool under any condition. Our T-shirts have much better moisture absorption with ventilation and are known for their breathability.
Bamboo T-shirts will spark new interest in the everyday-consumer that has only experienced cotton, nylon and "special" blends that cause odors and harbor bacteria. It is beautiful to the eye and nothing can adequately describe how wonderful Bamboo T-shirts are to the touch. Bamboo fiber clothes are the world's most comfortable clothes, natural anti-bacterial, biodegradable and extremely soft. Bamboo fiber T-shirt is destined to revolutionize the T-shirt industry!!!
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The number one reason for wearing a Bamboo T-shirt? Comfort? COM4th!