The T-shirt Evolution

The T-shirt Evolution



With every procreation movie stars hit worn them. Rock stars hit shredded them. And celebrities hit empty them. Paris anyone? The t-shirt has been the call essential for over 70 eld and probably added 70 eld and more. So how did it get here and what does the future hold?

Origins - Call to Arms in Short Sleeves

The t-shirts humble beginnings crapper be traced backwards to the primeval 1930's. WWI European soldiers entrenched in dirt wore the t-shirt as an undergarment. The advantages of the light cotton underclothing were quickly adoptive by the US military. By WWII the US Army and Navy had supplied the t-shirt as standard issue. T-shirts at the time were still considered underclothing and not worn casually.

1950's - Cult Movie Bad Boys

With the support of a sudation Brando in the 1951 film \"A Streetcar Named Desire\", and after a contemplative James histrion in \"Rebel without a Cause\" the t-shirt had touched to mainstream youngness culture. By the time Elvis had gyrated, the teenage rebellion seed was planted and along with denim jeans the t-shirt had embellish the hot call statement.

1960's - From Beatniks to Vietnam

The 60's were substantially known for social upheavals and semipolitical events. Many subcultures developed from Beatniks, Mods, Rockers to yet Hippy's. During the primeval 60's The Beatles had unnoticed the t-shirt opting for their trademark suits. But by the late 60's the haze of the Hippy procreation had created the bond dyed t-shirt. Dunked in several buckets of colourful dyes it became a symbol of the psychedelic era and possibly one of the poorest call crimes of the century. Other t-shirt styles were dropped including the ringer, muscle, v-neck and tank t-shirts. The invention of screen printing saw social and semipolitical slogans spoken on clothing especially for the anti war sentiments of Vietnam.

1970's - Your Disco Needs You

Rock emerged fighting to modification the Hippy's with their possess sandals. The black t-shirt was today standard supply with printed logos of stadium rock Supergroups much as Led Zeppelin, ACDC and Pink Floyd. In the course of the mid 70's Surf clothing started appearing. Niche aquatics brands much as Lightning Bolt, Billabong, Rip Curl and Quiksilver would after embellish big corporations. Athletic giants Adidas, Puma, Reebok and Nike also gained prominence with their branded printed tees, shoes and apparel. The decennium was also known for it's some artist t-shirt motto's including the Smiley face, \"Sh*t Happens\" and \"I love NY\" which would see a revitalisation after 911. Fonzie in the TV sitcom Happy Days paid respect to Brando and histrion 20 eld before by reintroducing the blank white tee. In 1977 the Star Wars phenomenon had exploded. Star Wars t-shirts were everywhere for the tween. But for the twenty something's there was of course Disco. With movies like Sat Night Fever and Thank God it's weekday the increasing garment and dripless t-shirts became the customary 70's silhouette.

1980's - Fashion beep beep

The impact of music had an extreme effect on call in the 80's. The New Romantic movement in the primeval 80's had passed on the simple tee, opting for a more extravagant look. Remember Flock of Seagulls? On the opposite spectrum the Punk movement was in full flight with black ripped up tees, Doc Marten boots, piercing and lots and lots of hair gel.

By the mid 80's the Japanese call impact had caught on. Designers Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake had reinvented the t-shirt to a super oversized kimono call cut. Katherine Hamnett in 1984 took it even boost with the notable \"Choose Life\" indicant which was direct embraced by Wham! in their video \"Wake Me Up Before you Go Go\". Not daylong after Frankie said \"Relax\" and The Smiths said \"Meat is Murder\" regurgitating the semipolitical t-shirt.

From the oversized nog stemmed the woman's \"t-shirt dress\" which developed into argonon and day glow colours.

Springsteen brought the jeans and a t-shirt backwards to basics with pronounceable up masculine sleeves during his Born in the USA phase. For the MTV procreation Armani took the t-shirt to high call wearing the nog underneath a suit jacket. Of course the suit jacket sleeves were pronounceable up ala Crocket and Tubbs Miami Vice call (parodied exceptionally in that Friends episode).

1990's - Come As You Are

Surf tees saw a rebirth pioneered by new brands Stussy and Mossimo. Also adoptive by Skaters daylong sleeve t-shirts became ever more popular. The Hypercolor t-shirt cult where the fabric denaturized colouration with modify was very popular. Entertainingly if the wearer worked up a sweat big unsightly patches of colouration change would occur around the armpits.

Again the impact of music came backwards into play. Hip Hop proved it wasn't a form adopting at first Adidas as a brand. Later various Rap specific brands emerged much as Sean John and Phat Farm. Dance, Trance and DJing gained prominence and tighter and sleeveless t-shirts worn with baggy underpants embellish the mode. Grunge anti-fashion also took the nog in added direction with a dark worn appearance.

21st Century Brand Child

According to branding experts Al and Laura Ries in the book \"The Origin of Brands\", as a product collection evolves the collection then diverges boost into more categories. Like a tree some branches may whither and expire while others module boost grow and diverge again. This is probably prizewinning explained with the invention of the TV. The TV has diverged from the humble B&W television to some other categories. We today hit CRT, Plasma, LCD, HDTV, Rear Projection, portable and widescreen.

There is no uncertainty that divergence has strained the t-shirt. The shape of the t-shirt itself has diverged to anywhere from tight, regular, enarthrosis jumping loose to baby tee. With the advent of the Internet we've seen a boom in smaller t-shirt adjudge startups. Now there are so some categories we are nearly overwhelmed for choice. Some
t-shirt/apparel categories are:

Skate Brands: Hurley International, Globe, Element, Volcom, World

Surf Brands: Billabong, Mambo, Rip Curl, Rusty Quiksilver which has diverged to girl surf collection Roxy.

Snowboard Brands: Burton, Salomon

Hip Hop Brands: Sean John, Ecko, G-Unit, Phat Farm.

American Retro Classic Brands: Dickies, Von Dutch, Harley Davidson.

Martial Arts Brands: Drunken Munky and various Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris logos.

Funny t-shirts: Vote for Pedro. Jesus is my homeboy, White Castle.

Internet Brands: T-shirt Hell, Café Press, Threadless.

Sport Brands: Puma, Nike, Adidas, Reebok.

American Basic Brands: Hanes, American Apparel, Fruit of the Loom and GAP.

High call Brands: Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci, Armani, Ralph Lauren, theologist Klein.

The Future

So which collection branches module whither and expire and which module survive to the next decade? Would you rather countenance like Eminem, buffoon Slater or Tony Hawks? And what is a t-shirt anyhow? Is it a simple clothing design with a black screen printed graphics featuring a hobby, sport, adornment or wealthiness that you may identify with? Or is it a product branded, marketed and direct accumulation produced for your particular demographic? Either way T-shirts hit embellish a billion note industry.

What next for the today not so humble tee? We're sight 21st century fibres like Gortex, Merino wool and Lycra blends existence used. As for logos some ontogeny trends seem to be the Video Game t-shirts, Internet t-shirts and Poker t-shirts. Will these be the next surf or skate brands? Quite possibly. Will others develop out of our favourite past times? Could there even be a Sudoku brand, a MySpace brand, Porn brand, or an iPod sort of t-shirts? Perhaps design your possess the new black? One abstract is certain; story has shown us that there module be even more diversification farther into the next decades. The power of the t-shirt has never been greater. Awesome!