The T-shirt March – From One Generation to the Next
The good old cotton t-shirt had a very humble beginning as part of people’s underwear. World War – I saw European soldiers wearing t-shirts under their uniform. The comfort of cotton t-shirts was recognized by the US Army and these ordinary looking undergarments soon became part of the soldiers’ uniform, and were supplied as standard uniform by World War II.
T-shirts were popularized in real terms by Hollywood movies “A Streetcar Named Desire”, and “Rebel Without a Cause”, where the protagonists Marlon Brando and James Dean contributed greatly to projecting the humble t-shirt as a fashion garment. T-shirts with denim jeans soon became a craze with the young generation in the 1950s.
The 1960s saw young people merging with many sub-cultures such as the Beatniks, Mods, Rockers and the Hippy movement. The tie-and-dye t-shirts from the Hippy era in the late 1960s soon became endearingly popular. This t-shirt came to represent the psychedelic colors of that era. The hyperactivity in the fashion scene during those times saw t-shirt styles like the ringer, v-neck, muscle and tank-t-shirt emerge. Soon t-shirts with slogans started appearing with the advent of the screen printing technology.
The t-shirt had marched on from the 1960s into the 1970s with rock music having a great influence over its design. Black t-shirts with logos of rock bands ACDC, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd were quite visible. Branded t-shirts too made their appearance with Adidas, Nike, Puma, Reebok and other large corporate houses making their presence felt. The blank t-shirt, all white, made an appearance as an ode to Marlon Brando and James Dean. Thereafter, Star War t-shirts could be seen everywhere, so smitten were the teens by the sci fi. Guys out of their teens preferred the disco variety catering to the “Saturday Night Fever” craze.
The mid 1980s saw the Japanese entering the t-shirt market with their own designs, while Armani had t-shirts being worn under suit jackets. The 1990s still had interest in the good old t-shirt going. Long sleeve Skater t-shirts had people interested in the apparel, while hyper-color heat-fading t-shirts were also popular. Hip Hop music saw the emergence of a new genre of music and along with it t-shirt wearing young people.
The humble-t-shirt will continue to have its say in the 21st century too. The younger generation has always adopted and embraced the cotton t-shirt, and its march from one generation to the next is assured, so long as humanity survives.
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