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T-Shirts:
The T-shirt is one of the beacons of American casual fashion.
Popularized by U.S. Navy sailors during the first two world wars,
the T-shirt has become an essential element of the American
wardrobe.
In 1913, the U.S. Navy issued short-sleeved, white cotton crewneck
undershirts to sailors. Sailors returning from World War I (1914–18)
had grown to prefer the T-shirt to the woolen undershirt that had
been the most typical undergarment since 1880. The popularity of the
garment grew. By World War II (1939–45), twelve million men were
wearing the shirts. News photographs and newsreels showed sailors
and soldiers working in only pants and T-shirts. Underwear was
exposed to the public for the first time. America had become quite
used to the display of American muscle under a thin layer of white
T-shirt by war's end.
Although the military persuaded America to embrace the T-shirt as an
essential element of a man's wardrobe, films turned the T-shirt into
an American cultural phenomenon. In 1951, the sculpted muscles of
Marlon Brando (1924–) bulged under his T-shirt in A Streetcar Named
Desire; his character Stanley Kowalski's powerful masculinity was
reflected in Brando's physique and perfectly displayed under his
T-shirt. In 1955, James Dean (see entry under 1950s—Film and Theater
in volume 3) brought a youthful, anti-establishment attitude to the
T-shirt in Rebel Without a Cause. This anti-establishment theme
continued into the 1960s with Peter Fonda (1939–) in Easy Rider
(1966). The sexual and rebellious characters that actors portrayed
in films translated into the behavior of American youths. T-shirts
became associated with youthful, American attitudes.
Women made T-shirts their own symbol of youth and rebellion during
the sexual revolution (see entry under 1960s—The Way We Lived in
volume 4) of the 1960s and 1970s. The teasingly revealing anatomy of
a T-shirt–clad Jacqueline Bisset (1944–) in The Deep (1977) is
perhaps the best illustration of women's adoption of the T-shirt.
Since the 1970s, young braless women have lined up in wet T-shirts
in bars across the country to display their own sexuality.
Soon T-shirts displayed attitudes in type. Although some T-shirts
carried printed messages before the 1960s, in the 1970s T-shirts
became personal billboards for individual expression. Anything from
"Have a Nice Day" to swear words could be found on T-shirts. By the
beginning of the twenty-first century, T-shirts were a staple
garment of Americans and many others around the world. Offered in a
variety of colors, styles, and with unlimited messages, the T-shirt
can still be seen adorning young and old alike. |
