The arrival of the cultural indulgence of the T-shirt as upper body covering is fairly current in the huge historical context of Western society, but still this has swiftly become a staple in every designers' product lines in addition to the closets of the fashion forward, not to mention fashion illiterate. The T-shirt achieved popularity in the early 1950s, specifically with the portrayal of renowned moody men on movies which include, James Dean donning that white undershirt below his leather jacket in Rebel Without A Cause, or Marlon Brando dressed in a white wife beater in the end of A Streetcar Named Desire.
The utilization of the T-shirt alone, unaccompanied by over shirt or jacket, was a straight response against the collared shirts of the white collar middle classes in the 1950s, who depicted economic oppression and social invalidation of the blue collar working classes, which would have to wear jumpsuits to work. But, you better believe that each jumpsuit hid beneath its cloth an undershirt, that would be revealed in times of climatic necessity or on work gaps.
The custom of the T-shirt became more of a declaration when the counterculture revolution of the 1960s added to the lexicon the tie-dye and iconographic T-shirts. Individuals were able to express how they felt about society with their choice of shirt, and the rest of society became bit by bit more receptive. In the 70s, they could don popular pictures, along the lines of the "smiley face" and the "I heart New York" shirts. These shirts put into the minds of society that it could be possible to wear a shirt, convey one's personal ideology, and belong to a circle all at one time. These trends of the 70s simply grew to take on the cultural identity of the T-shirt in the 80s. "Frankie says relax" could be noticed on the shirts of both men and women. Inventive text, gimmicks (which include thermochromatic -heat sensitive color changing- T-shirts), and business branding of T-shirts with the logos of manufacturers or designers made the T-shirt a visual social statement, exposing socio-economic status and enthusiasm in pop culture.
If someone had a lame T-shirt, either they couldn't afford a better one, or didn't care. This lead into the present status of the quick-witted text shirt, stating some clever 'unique' thoughts like "Sorry ladies, the shirt is staying on", political commentary like caricatures of politicians, or a juxtaposition of text and image creating a pun, like "Pez-bians" featured over the picture of two female pez dispensers kissing. The reputation of these shirts has dropped throughout the past decade, and now shirts designed by visual artists and silk screened onto T-shirts for sale by means of independent distributors are the new fad.
To wear a statement on your shirt is one thing, but to wear a multi-colored, exclusive, artistic vision on your clothes, the payment of which goes to support the artists to make more shirts, is a more socially responsible and aesthetically pleasurable outcome. The T-shirt isn't just a means of covering. There are some cotton T-shirts, for instance the one by designer Balmain, that's worth $1625 dollars. Be it to work in the garden or to go to the MTV Music Video Awards, the T-shirt is more than a must have. It's a part of our cultural heritage.
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