The white T-shirt is probably the most iconic fashion item ever invented. But the truth is, the white T-shirt hasn’t always been the fashion phenomenon we’ve come to know it as.
Read more ---> The white T-shirt at MoMA in New York!
To gain a deeper understanding of the origins of the white T-shirt, we need to go far back in history. In fact, we have to go all the way back to the early Middle Ages, when the T-shirt was initially worn as underwear. At that time, T-shirts were available in many different materials, including wool, linen and silk. Depending on one’s place in the social hierarchy, one could buy a T-shirt that suited one’s budget and social status.
Fast-forwarding to the 20th century, companies such as the Cooper Underwear Company (also known as Jockey), Hanes and Fruit of the Loom made a brilliant discovery. They stepped in and made a small alteration to what was then known as the Union Suit. The genius of separating the two parts was that, all of a sudden, you could wear the separate pieces on different occasions.
The Union Suit can best be described as a onesie – that is, a top and bottom fastened together as a single garment.
In 1901, Hanes began manufacturing T-shirts from cotton, which they supplied to the US Marine Corps. The Marine Corps found the T-shirts extremely useful, which paved the way for the white T-shirt to be commercialised and sold to the general public.
Looking back over the last 70 years, there is no doubt that the white T-shirt has truly been of great significance and has, in a sense, formed the very foundation of T-shirts across countries and cultures. With a wealth of different takes on exciting styles and designs, it’s absolutely certain that we haven’t seen the last variation of the classic T-shirt. To take a good example, very few people would have predicted that ripped T-shirts – which originated in the punk culture of the late 1980s – would become as popular as we’ve seen in recent years. This just goes to show that the T-shirt is one of those items that’s unlikely ever to go out of fashion, and we’re rather chuffed about that here at TEESHOPPEN.
We hope you’ve learnt a bit more about the classic white T-shirt. Whether you’re looking for a white T-shirt or a variation on it, you’ll of course find a huge selection to choose from.
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