A woman wearing a pink V-neck T-shirtT-shirt day inLeipzig,Germany
AT-shirt (also spelledtee shirt, ortee for short) is a style of fabricshirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as acrew neck, which lacks a collar. T-shirts are generally made of stretchy, light, and inexpensive fabric and are easy to clean. The T-shirt evolved fromundergarments used in the 19th century and, in the mid-20th century, transitioned from undergarments to general-use casual clothing.
T-shirts are typically made ofcotton textile in astockinette or jersey knit, which has a distinctivelypliable texture compared to shirts made of woven cloth. Some modern versions have a body made from a continuously knitted tube, produced on acircular knitting machine, such that the torso has no side seams. The manufacture of T-shirts has become highly automated and may include cutting fabric with alaser or awater jet.
T-shirts are inexpensive to produce and are often part offast fashion, leading to outsized sales of T-shirts compared to other attire.[1] For example, two billion T-shirts are sold worldwide each year,[2] and the average person in Sweden buys nine T-shirts a year.[3] Production processes vary but can be environmentally intensive and include the environmental impact caused by their materials, such as cotton, which uses large amounts of water and pesticides.[4][2][5]
Simple, T-shaped top garments have been a part of human clothing since ancient times; garments similar to the T-shirt worn earlier in history are generally calledtunics.
The modern T-shirt evolved fromundergarments used in the 19th century. First, the one-pieceunion suit underwear was cut into separate top and bottom garments, with the top long enough to tuck under the waistband of the bottoms. With and without buttons, they were adopted byminers andstevedores during the late 19th century as a convenient covering for hot environments.
In 1913, the U.S. Navy first issued them as undergarments.[6] These were acrew-necked, short-sleeved, white cotton undershirt to be worn under auniform. It became common for sailors and Marines in work parties, the early submarines, and tropical climates to remove their uniform jacket, thus wearing (and soiling) only the undershirt.[7] They soon became popular as a bottom layer of clothing for workers in various industries, including agriculture. The T-shirt was easily fitted, easily cleaned, and inexpensive; for these reasons, it became the shirt of choice for young boys. Boys' shirts were made in various colors and patterns. The wordT-shirt became part of American English by the 1920s, and appeared in theMerriam-Webster Dictionary.[6]
By theGreat Depression, the T-shirt was often the default garment to be worn when doing farm or ranch chores, as well as other times when modesty called for a torso covering but conditions called for lightweight fabrics.[7] FollowingWorld War II, it was worn by Navy men as undergarments; gradually, veterans could be seen wearing their uniform trousers with their T-shirts as casual clothing. The shirts became even more popular in the 1950s afterMarlon Brando wore one inA Streetcar Named Desire, and they finally achieved status as fashionable, stand-alone, outerwear garments.[8] Often boys wore them while doing chores and playing outside, eventually opening up the idea of wearing them as general-purpose casual clothing.
Printed T-shirts were in limited use by 1942 when anAir Corps Gunnery School T-shirt appeared on the cover ofLife magazine.[9] In the 1960s, printed T-shirts gained popularity for self-expression as well as for advertisements, protests, and souvenirs.
Current versions are available in many different designs and fabrics, and styles include crew-neck and V-neck shirts. T-shirts are among the most worn garments of clothing used today. T-shirts are especially popular with branding for companies or merchandise, as they are inexpensive to make and purchase.
Trends
A blue crew neck T-shirt
T-shirts were originally worn as undershirts, but are now worn frequently as the only piece ofclothing on the top half of the body, other than possibly abrassiere or, rarely, a waistcoat (vest). T-shirts have also become a medium for self-expression and advertising, with any imaginable combination of words, art and photographs on display.[10]
A T-shirt typically extends to the waist. Variants of the T-shirt, such as the V-neck, have been developed.Hip hop fashion calls fortall-T shirts which may extend down to the knees. A similar item is the T-shirt dress or T-dress, adress-length T-shirt that can be worn without pants.[11] Long T-shirts are also sometimes worn by women as nightgowns. A 1990s trend in women's clothing involved tight-fittingcropped T-shirts, called crop tops, short enough to reveal themidriff. Another less popular trend is wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt of a contrasting color over a long-sleeved T-shirt, which is known aslayering. Tight-fitting T-shirts are calledfitted,tailored orbaby doll T-shirts.
The rise of social media and video sharing sites led to the growth of tutorials on DIY T-shirt projects.[12] These videos typically provide instructions on how to modify an old shirt into a new, more fashionable form.
Expressive messages
Since the 1960s, T-shirts have flourished as a form of personalexpression.[10]Screen printed T-shirts have been a standard form ofmarketing for major American consumer products, such asCoca-Cola andMickey Mouse, since the 1970s. They have also been commonly used to commemorate an event or make a political or personal statement. Since the 1990s, it has become common practice for companies of all sizes to produce T-shirts with their corporate logos or messages as part of their overalladvertising campaigns. Since the late 1980s and especially the 1990s, T-shirts with prominent designer-name logos have become popular, especially with teenagers and young adults. These garments allow consumers to flaunt their taste for designer brands in an inexpensive way, in addition to being decorative. Examples of designer T-shirt branding includeCalvin Klein,FUBU,Ralph Lauren,American Apparel, andThe Gap. These examples also include representations of rock bands, among other obscure pop-culture references. Licensed T-shirts are also extremely popular. Movie and TV T-shirts can have images of the actors, logos, and funny quotations from the movie or TV show. Often, the most popular T-shirts are those that characters wore in the film itself (e.g., Bubba Gump fromForrest Gump and Vote For Pedro fromNapoleon Dynamite).
In the early 1980s, designerKatharine Hamnett pioneered outsize T-shirts with large-print slogans. The early first decade of the 21st century saw the renewed popularity of T-shirts with slogans and designs, with a strong inclination to humor and/or irony. The trend only increased later that decade, embraced by celebrities such asBritney Spears andParis Hilton, and reflected back on them, too ('Team Aniston'). The political and social statements that T-shirts often display have become, since the first decade of the 21st century, one of the reasons that they have so deeply permeated different levels of culture and society. These statements range from completely harmless one to statements or quotes that may be found to be offensive, shocking, or pornographic to some. Despite this, or perhaps due to it, companies likeT-Shirt Hell (a T-shirt store known for offensive and shocking messages) and various other organizations have caught on to the statement-making trend (whether offensive or otherwise), including chain and independent stores, websites, schools, clubs, and groups of all kinds, with some even incorporating said trends into their respective business models.
An early widespread T-shirt message that demonstrated their popularity among tourists was the humorous phrase "I went to _____ and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." (Examples include "My parents went to Las Vegas and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.")
T-shirt exchange is an activity where people trade the T-shirts that they are wearing.
In the early 1950s, several companies based inMiami, Florida started decorating T-shirts with different resort names and various characters. The first to do so on an extensive scale was Tropix Togs, founded by Sam Kantor. After meetingThe Walt Disney Company in a Miami airport in 1976, Kantor's company became the original licensee for Walt Disney characters including Mickey Mouse and Davy Crockett. The T-shirts were sold whenWalt Disney World first opened.
Later, other companies expanded into the T-shirtprinting business, including Sherry Manufacturing Company, also based in Miami. Founded in 1948 by owner Quentin H. Sandler, Sherry initially screen printed souvenir tourist scarves. It quickly evolved into one of the largest US screen printed resort and licensed apparel companies, and by 2018, was running automatic screen print presses and producing up to 20,000 T-shirts each day.
In the 1960s, the ringer T-shirt appeared and became a staple fashion for youth and rock-n-rollers. Ringer T-shirts are a solid-color shirt with bands of a second color around the collar and the lower edges of the sleeves, with or without an additional front decoration.
The 1960s also saw the emergence oftie-dyeing andscreen printing on the basic T-shirt, which became a medium for wearable art, commercialadvertising,souvenir messages, andprotest art messages. Psychedelic art poster designerWarren Dayton pioneered several political, protest, and pop-culture art pieces, printed large and in color on T-shirts featuring images of Cesar Chavez, political cartoons, and other cultural icons in an article in theLos Angeles Times magazine in late 1969 (ironically, the printing clothing company quickly cancelled the experimental line, fearing there would not be a market).
In the late 1960s, Richard Ellman, Robert Tree, Bill Kelly, andStanley Mouse set up the Monster Company in Mill Valley, California to produce fine art designs expressly for T-shirts. Their designs often featured emblems and motifs associated with theGrateful Dead andmarijuana culture.[14] Additionally, one of the most popular symbols to emerge from the political turmoil of the 1960s was the T-shirt bearing the face ofMarxist revolutionaryChe Guevara.[15]
Today, many notable and memorable T-shirts produced in the 1970s have become ensconced inpop culture. Examples include bright yellowhappy face,Rolling Stones "tongue and lips"[16] logo, andMilton Glaser's iconic "I ♥ N Y” designs. In the mid-1980s, the white T-shirt became fashionable after the actorDon Johnson wore it with an Armani suit in theMiami Vice series.[7]
V-Neck
A V-neck T-shirt has a V-shapedneckline, as opposed to the round neckline of the more common crew neck shirt (also called a U-neck). V-necks were introduced so that the neckline of the shirt does not show when worn beneath an outer shirt.[17][18][19]
Screen printing
A woman wearing a T-shirt with an architectural motif
The most common form of commercial T-shirt decoration isscreen printing, in which a design is separated into individual colors.Plastisol or water-basedinks are applied to the shirt through mesh screens partially coated with an emulsion, which limits the areas where ink is deposited. In most commercial T-shirt printing, a limited number ofspot colors (typically one to four) are used to print the design. To achieve a wider color spectrum with a limited number of colors, process printing (using onlycyan, magenta, yellow and black ink) or the simulated process (using only white, black, red, green, blue, and gold ink) is effective. Process printing is best suited for light-colored shirts[20] while the simulated process is best suited for dark-colored shirts.
The invention ofplastisol in 1959 provided a more durable and stretchable ink than water-based inks, allowing much greater variety in T-shirt designs. Very few companies continue to use water-based inks on their shirts; the majority prefer plastisol because it allows printing on varying colors without the need for color adjustment at the art level.
Specialty inks trend in and out of fashion and includeshimmer,puff,discharge, and chino-based[21] inks. A metallic foil can be heat pressed and stamped onto any plastisol ink. When combined with shimmer ink, metallics give a mirror-like effect wherever the previously screened plastisol ink was applied. Specialty inks are more expensive to purchase and screen, and tend to appear on boutique garments.
In the 1980s,thermochromatic dyes were used to produce T-shirts that changed color when subjected to heat;Global Hypercolour was one of the most popular youth brands to do so in the US and UK. One downside of color-change garments is that the dyes are easily damaged bywashing in warm water, and can also stain other clothes during washing.
Tie-dye originated in India, Japan and Africa as early as the sixth century.[22] Forms of tie-dye includeBandhani (the oldest known technique), used in Indian cultures, andShibori, primarily used in Japanese cultures. It was not until the 1960s that tie-dye was introduced to America during thehippie movement.[22]
Heat transfer vinyl (HTV)
Another form of T-shirt decoration isheat transfer vinyl, also called HTV. HTV is a polyurethane material that allows apparel designers to create unique layered designs using a specialized software program. Once the design is created, it is then cut through the material using a vinyl cutter (or Cut n Press) machine.
There are dozens of different colors available, as well as glitter, reflective, and now even unique patterns (such as mermaid skin) which come in rolls and sheets.
After the design is cut, there is a process called “weeding” whereby the areas that do not represent the design are picked away from the transfer sheet and removed so that the intended design remains. HTV is typically smooth to the touch and does not feel rubbery or stiff. The edges are typically clean-cut and produce high contrast.
Designers can also create multiple color designs, or multi-layered designs, using HTV. This process is done in the design software before the design is sent to the cutter for the different materials. A heat press is then used to apply pressure and heat to the vinyl so that the material permanently adheres to the garment. The temperature and pressure vary according to manufacturer specifications.
Dye-sublimation printing
Dye-sublimation printing is a widely used direct-to-garment digital printing technology using full-color artwork to transfer images to polyester and polymer-coated substrate based T-shirts. Dye sublimation (also commonly referred to as all-over printing) came into widespread use in the 21st century, enabling some previously impossible designs. The technology allows unlimited colors using large CMYK printers with special paper and ink, unlike screen printing which requires screens for each color of the design. All-over print T-shirts have solved the problem with color fading, and vibrancy is greater than most standard printing methods, but the process requires synthetic fabrics for the ink to take hold. The key feature of dye-sublimated clothing is that the design is not printed on top of the garment, but permanently dyed into the threads of the shirt, ensuring that it will never fade.
Dye sublimation is economically viable for small-quantity printing; the unit cost is similar for short or long production runs. Screen printing has higher setup costs, requiring large numbers to be produced to be cost-effective, and the unit cost is higher.
Sublimation uses heat and pressure tochange solid ink into a gas without first passing through aliquid phase. The design is first produced in a computerimage file format such as jpg, gif, png. It is then printed on a purpose-madecomputer printer (as of 2016[update], most commonly Epson or Ricoh brands)[citation needed] using large heat presses to vaporize the ink directly into the fabric. By mid-2012, the method had become widely used for T-shirts.
Other methods
Other methods of decorating shirts include using paints, markers, fabric transfer crayons, dyes and spray paint. Some techniques that can be used include sponging,stenciling,daubing,stamping,screen printing, bleaching, and many more.[23] Some new T-shirt creators have used designs with multiple advanced techniques, which includes using glow-in-the-dark inks, heat-sensitive fabrics, foil printing and all-over printing. Fashion designerRobert Geller created a T-shirt collection featuring oversized graphic T-shirts made from extremely soft jersey materials. DesignerAlexander Wang released variations of T-shirts from oversized scoop necks, tanks to striped, slouchy rayon jerseys.[24]Terence Koh T-shirts featured an upside down portrait with a real bullet hole in the head.[25]
^Steve Rhodes."CMYK Printing". ImpressionzPrinting.com.CMYK is a widely used technique to replicate full-color images on light colored backgrounds. The full-color process originated to accurately reproduce artwork on white paper.
^Huston, Lance."Subject: Re: chino ink??". ScreenPrinters.Net. Archived fromthe original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved13 January 2018.Chino is a special Rutland INK BASE mixing system.… While on the surface it looks similar to a reduced base, it does have a unique print quality to it that offers a waterbase feel, without the hassles of waterbase inks.
