Shirts & T-Shirts

A T-shirt (or tee shirt) is a shirt, usually buttonless, collarless, and pocketless, with a round neck and short sleeves, that is pulled on over the head and covers most of a person's torso. more...

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The sleeves of the T-shirt extend at least slightly over the shoulder but not completely over the elbow. A shirt that is either longer or shorter than this ceases to be a T-shirt, at least in the classic sense.

T-shirts are manufactured by the textile industry. They are typically made of cotton or polyester fibers (or a mix of the two), knitted together in a jersey stitch that gives a T-shirt its distinctive soft texture. T-shirts are often decorated with text and/or pictures.

T-shirt fashions include styles for men and women, and for all age groups, including baby, youth and adult sizes.

History

The idea of the T-shirt came to the United States during World War I when US soldiers noticed the light cotton undershirts European soldiers were using while the US soldiers sweated in their wool uniforms. Since they were so much more comfortable they quickly became popular among the Americans, and because of their design they got the name T-shirt. Other experts credit the U.S. Navy's "light undershirt" from 1913, described with "elastic collarette on the neck opening".

What became the modern T-shirt was developed in 1932 when officials from the University of Southern California Trojans football team (often credited to coach Howard Jones) asked Jockey International, Inc. to develop an inexpensive undergarment to absorb sweat and prevent a football player's shoulder pads from causing chafing. This resulted in the invention of the crewneck (or crew-neck) T-shirt. The shirts proved so popular that students started stealing them from the athletes and the athletic department reacted by stenciling "Property of USC" on each shirt, inadvertently making them even more popular.

During WWII the T-shirt had become standard issue underwear in both the U.S. Army and the Navy. Although the T-shirt was formally underwear, soldiers often used it without a shirt covering it while doing heavy labor or while stationed in locations with a hot climate. As a result, the public was frequently exposed to pictures of members of the armed forces wearing pants and a T-shirt. As an example, the cover of the July 13, 1942 issue of Life magazine, features a picture of a soldier wearing a T-shirt with the text "Air Corps Gunnery School").

After WWII the T-shirt started appearing without a shirt covering it in civilian life. According to the New York Times, the 1948 presidential campaign of Thomas E. Dewey produced a "Dew It for Dewey" T-shirt, which was followed in 1952 by "I Like Ike" T-shirts in support of Dwight D. Eisenhower. John Wayne, Marlon Brando and James Dean all wore them on national TV. At first the public was shocked, but by 1955 it had become acceptable.

Read more at Wikipedia.org