Arguably the most popular article of clothing in the modern day, T-shirts have expanded to include various styles, designs, and cuts while crossing cultural and socioeconomic boundaries. The T-shirt has modest beginnings that stem from workers who modified their long johns into two pieces so that they could be worn in warmer weather. The top half was modified by the Cooper Underwear Company in 1904, and the “bachelor undershirt” was created.^[10] The bachelor undershirt was a simple pullover shirt with no buttons or safety pins and thus did not require any sewing know-how to own and maintain. Shortly after this, the US Navy adopted the undershirt as a part of the uniform, as they were employing many young bachelors who knew little to nothing about sewing. The Army also adopted the undershirt after seeing its success in the Navy.

The first known mention of the T-shirt was in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel This Side of Paradise as something the main character takes with him to school. As we have seen with other items of clothing, sports stepped in to advance the design of the T-shirt. The University of South Carolina made a request to Jockey International Inc. in 1932 to create a T-shirt for their football players to wear under their padding. Thus, the crew-neck was born.

Up until this point, T-shirts were popular as an undergarment, but it wasn’t until soldiers in World War II returned home and began wearing them casually that the popularity of the T-shirt as outerwear began to take root. Marlon Brando’s portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire furthered the popularity of the garment. Companies and businesses were not far behind in realizing the economic potential of placing their logos and designs on these shirts, as well. Nowadays, modern T-shirts serve as easily wearable, fundamental articles of clothing with enough variation in their designs to make them as unique as each person who pulls one over their head.