A Short History of the T-shirts You Wear in Tampa FL

Everyone wears t-shirts, sometimes also called tee shirts, as casual daily wear. T-shirts have become so popular and so integrated into society that schools, organizations and companies use them as uniforms or promotional items, along with golf shirts and polo shirts. You can even buy custom wholesale T shirts with your choice of embroidery or printing. Embroidered shirts are more often used as company uniforms in Tampa FL.

But do you know how the t-shirt has evolved through history?

Records are not clear but the earliest reports of the appearance of garments very similar to today’s t-shirts was in the early 1900s as light cotton undershirts used by European soldiers in World War I. In the 1920s, the word “t-shirt” was actually entered in the English dictionary.

American soldiers took note of the comfortable undershirts of their European counterparts and by World War II the US Army and US Navy incorporated them as underwear beneath uniforms, too. They provided relief against scratchy woolen uniforms.

In 1948, the very first slogan t-shirt appeared for the election campaign of then New York governor Thomas E. Dewey. The t-shirt slogan was “Dew it with Dewey.”

In the early to mid 1950s Hollywood stars John Wayne, Marlon Brando and James Dean began wearing the t-shirt alone and not as an undershirt onscreen. In the film Rebel Without a Cause in 1955, James Dean established the wearing of the t-shirt as an outer shirt fashionable. This signaled the t-shirt rage among teenagers which eventually spread to all age groups.

Around the same time, it was actually in Miami, Florida where the first companies emerged selling t-shirts screen printed with names of resorts and characters from Walt Disney. This was done under license, of course.

In 1959, plastisol was invented. This ink was stretchable and more durable than previous inks used in printing t-shirts, further expanding the possibilities in t-shirt design. It was just in time for the rock-and-roll swinging 1960s when t-shirts practically became the item of clothing that young people lived in.

Specialty inks for t-shirts also appeared on the scene. There are inks that shimmer, are metallic, puff out or even change color with a change in temperature. Other ways of decorating the t-shirt also include embroidery, appliqué, airbrushing and iron on transfers. Heat transfers now include special printouts from laser printers using specialized toner. This way, practically any digital design can be printed on any t-shirt.

Indeed, digital printing on t-shirts or Direct to Garment (DTG) printing has become very popular, allowing the production of even just one t-shirt per design. New developments even allow printing of any design and color on dark t-shirts.

Not only has the t-shirt evolved in terms of decoration but also in its basic form, as well. Originally, the t-shirt, as the name implies, was a simple t-shaped garment with a round neck, short sleeves and no collar, pocket or buttons. This style still persists today but the term t-shirt now encompasses far more than this. There are v-neck versions, boat-neck versions and scoop neck versions. There are collared shirts with or without buttons. There are t-shirts with long sleeves or three-fourth sleeves. There are even sleeveless t-shirts classified as either muscle shirts or tank tops. The t-shirt length now also varies from the basic length between the waist and the hips to a much shorter cropped style or a much longer hip-hop style which reaches the knees. Not to mention the t-shirt dress popular among females.

Today, no one can call t-shirts as “lowly” pieces of clothing. They have found a legitimate place beside other types of functional fashion such as polo shirts and golf shirts. Whether you are wearing custom embroidered T shirts as uniforms or your own statement tee shirts, know that what you are wearing now in Tampa FL has a long history behind it.

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