Home | Beauty | Fashion | Clothing
The conception and birth of the t-shirt was a normal occurrence. Nothing complicated. It might have passed off into the history of fashion without a walk down any of the world's long ramps had not some subsequent events taken place. But its evolution, though short like is arm is quite an interesting one. For it started on its journey to fame as a humble underwear. It was only in the early twentieth century that the idea of wearing an under cloth germinated, and in 1901, the P.H. Hanes Knitting Company began the manufacture of men's underwear and this apparel came into existence as an piece of underclothing hidden away under a stratum of other dresses. But its prominence is due to the issue of a piece of underwear that had no collar, with short sleeves that looked extraordinarily like a "T" (hence the name of "t-shirt") to the sailors of the US Navy going to the World War I theater. It was also the WWI that brought it out into the open when footage of news of the war showed the soldiers clad only in this piece of cloth, to overcome the hot and humid European type of weather. But as always its popularity was really established by Hollywood when it depicted it as a piece of clothing on its own rights. By the 1950s, the popularity of the t-shirt had skyrocketed when it was worn on the silver screen by Marlon Brando in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951) and then by James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955). As more and more icons of the film industry began sporting it as a dress on its own rights the image of the t-shirt grew in stature. From then on its development was extraordinary. It had to be worn. There was no discrimination between the sexes nor was it restricted to a certain age. It was considered to be cool - literally and figuratively. It became a national phenomenon and when it became a political tool for propaganda it reached its heyday. For a fact, the Smithsonian Institute boasts ownership of the oldest printed t-shirt on record, a shirt used during the then Governor of New York, Thomas E. Dewey's 1948 presidential campaign with the phrase "Dew-IT with Dewey" on it. From then on its growth was phenomenal. Everybody was wearing one. It was something cool - literally and figuratively. Its history even has a political edge to it and the Smithsonian Institute boasts ownership of the oldest printed T-Shirt on record, imprinted with the phrase "Dew-IT with Dewey" from New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey's 1948 presidential campaign. Everything under the sun - Jokes, one-liners, graphic messages; just name it and they all would have at one time or another appeared on the simple, low-priced piece of dress shaped like a "T". The development of printing technology boosted its popularity and it became more and more graphical. Everything under the sun - Jokes, one-liners, graphic messages; just name it and they all would have at one time or another appeared on the simple, low-priced piece of dress shaped like a "T". The development of printing technology boosted its popularity and it became more and more graphical. What one wears speaks volumes of wearer; this is a well known saying but the humble t-shirt manages to say a lot more that the others. You just can't beat a t-shirt.
Article Source: http://www.search4allinfo.com
Kathy Austin is a writer for an online gallery, Red Bubble. Red Bubble sells high-quality t-shirts, funny t-shirts , framed prints, mounted prints and more.
Please Rate this Article
5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
RSS Latest News Find summer camp jobs on MySummerCamps.com