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Hail the T: The History of T-Shirts
When you look in your closet do you have, hiding in there, a tee shirt. In most cases a heck of a lot more than one I would say. T-shirts are usually short sleeved, sometimes long sleeved made of thin cotton or cotton blend, no buttons, or collar and is slipped over the head. Because they are usually worn oversized, the sleeves on these T-shirts will cut off at the elbow, a litter higher, if not oversized. They are considered casual wear and are a great favorite to wear for relaxation around the home and knocking around in.
The T-shirt is such a common item to see and to wear that a lot of people don't think about it's history, but the truth is it has been around for a while. While there is no garment that we can point to as definitive first T-shirt, it can generally be understood that there was a very similar cotton garment that was found in England during the 1880's, though it was called an vest or an under-vest. It was a undergarment and meant protect a man's clothing from sweat. Today, it can be noted that there are many men who will wear a T-shirt as a piece of underwear, and largely for he same reason!
During World War II, American soldiers adopted the English under-vest due to the fact that their own garments were significantly thicker and less comfortable in the heat. A shirt of this type could be worn alone and leave a person feeling much cooler and with a much broader range of motion. It is guessed that it was around this time that the term "T-shirt" was coined, thanks to the distinctive shape of the garment, though other sources point to the origin of the name stemming from its name as a "training shirt."
The aftermath of the second World War saw the use of the T-shirt as a garment in its own right, rather than simply as a piece of underwear. In the 1948 election, both candidates came out with T-shirts printed with their campaign slogans; it was "Dew it for Dewey for Thomas E. Dewey, and "I Like Ike" for Dwight D. Eisenhower. Though we commonly see plenty of T-shirts with various slogans on them today, it was quite a shock for the people of the time. T-shirts had connotations of masculinity and ruggedness, and this was further enlarged upon in film performances. James Dean's Rebel Without A Cause showed up in a crisp white T-shirt, and Marlon Brando showed off his impressive physique in a T-shirt in The Wild One.
For some people, T-shirts are part of their essential wardrobe, while for others, it is a piece of underwear. Some people love to have T-shirts that show where they have been while other people prefer that their T-shirts are quite plain. No matter how you wear your T-shirt, you should remember that there are lots of cool T-shirts out there, and that you have plenty of choices to make when you are looking for one that will suit you!
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