subject: When Did The T-shirt Really Take Over The Fashion World [print this page] The advent of the cultural acceptance of the T-shirt as torso covering is fairly current in the huge historical context of Western society, but still this has rapidly become a staple in every designers' pieces as well as the closets of the fashion onward, not to mention fashion illiterate. The T-shirt achieved popularity in the early 1950s, specifically with the depiction of signature moody men on movies such as, James Dean donning that white undershirt below his leather jacket in Rebel Without A Cause, or Marlon Brando wearing a white wife beater in the end of A Streetcar Named Desire.
The use of the T-shirt alone, unaccompanied by over shirt or jacket, was a straight reaction against the collared shirts of the white collar middle classes in the 1950s, that represented economic oppression and social invalidation of the blue collar working classes, which had to wear jumpsuits to work. But, you better believe that each jumpsuit hid beneath its cloth an undershirt, which usually would be exposed in times of climatic necessity or on work breaks.
The custom of the T-shirt became more of a statement when the counterculture revolution of the 1960s added to the lexicon the tie-dye and iconographic T-shirts. Individuals could express how they felt about society through their selection in shirt, and the rest of society became bit by bit more receptive. In the 70s, they could wear famous pictures, like the "smiley face" and the "I heart New York" shirts. These shirts placed into the minds of society that it's possible to wear a shirt, show one's personal ideology, and belong to a faction all at one time. These fashions of the 70s only increased to take on the cultural identity of the T-shirt in the 80s. "Frankie says relax" is seen on the shirts of both men and women. Clever text, fads (such as thermochromatic -heat sensitive color changing- T-shirts), and market branding of T-shirts with the logos of manufacturers or designers made the T-shirt a visual social statement, unmasking socio-economic status as well as enthusiasm in pop culture.
If someone had a lame T-shirt, either they could not afford a better one, or didn't care. This develop into the present status of the witty text shirt, stating some clever 'original' thoughts like "Sorry ladies, the shirt is staying on", political commentary such as caricatures of politicians, or a juxtaposition of text and image creating a pun, like "Pez-bians" featured over the graphic of two female pez dispensers kissing. The level of popularity of these shirts has dropped over the past decade, and now shirts designed by visual artists and silk screened onto T-shirts for sale by means of independent distributors are the new fad.
To wear a statement on your shirt is one thing, but to wear a multi-colored, exclusive, artistic vision on your clothes, the payment of which goes to support the artists to make more shirts, is a more socially creditable and aesthetically pleasurable outcome. The T-shirt isn't just a way of covering. There are some cotton T-shirts, for instance the one by designer Balmain, that's worth $1625 dollars. Be it to work in the garden or to go to the MTV Music Video Awards, the T-shirt is more than a must have. It's a part of our cultural heritage.
