The Makings of the T-Shirt

The Makings of the T-Shirt
For men and women to power dress these days, they need to ditch their suits and grab a cool, cotton, casual T-shirt. T-shirts are now what padded shoulders and pinstriped suits were in the eighties and nineties- they tell your boss and colleagues ‘you mean business.’ It’s largely thanks to the billionaire co-founder of the social networking site, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, that the humble T-shirt has come to its present prominence as a garment to wear to work. The man responsible for connecting over 500 million people across the world through social networking is usually seen wearing worn out jeans, T-shirts and a hoodie or fleece. Wearing a casual T-shirt in the 21st century implies you are a potential successful entrepreneur similar perhaps to Zuckerberg in the film Social Networking.

These days the bosses are wearing cool T-shirts and comfortable trainers to work while those still donning a shirt and tie look stodgy. They look like relics in the workplace who need to be replaced with the energetic fresh blood who is inevitably wearing a T-shirt.

It is true the T-shirt has been through many different eras when it varied in popularity, yet it always seemed to play a part but it is the first time it is now being associated with successful business rather ‘young, cheap and cheerful,’ as some might put it.

It was after World War II that it became common to see men wearing T-shirts as veterans wore their uniform trousers with their T-shirts as casual clothing. They became even more popular in the 1950s after Marlon Brando wore one in the film, A Streetcar Named Desire, which is when T-shirts achieved their status as fashionable, tops. In the 1960s T-shirts were a staple fashion item for the youth and rock ‘n’ rollers, in the 1970s they were ensconced in pop culture, and in the mid-1980s the white T-shirt became fashionable after the actor Don Johnson wore it with an Armani suit in Miami Vice.

Some of the most popular symbols marking an event such as a protest or event like a pop concert emerge printed on the cotton T-shirt. Designers are only to away of this as some designer ranges in T-shirts have been sold like hot cakes. With summer just around the corner sales in T-shirts which are ideal summer attire, are expected to rise, as people need not just one or two in their wardrobe but a selection to stay cool and fresh throughout the week. Young designers trying to establish a ‘name’ for themselves are creating new designs on T-shirts which they hope will appeal to a mass audience this summer. The race for the T-shirt design, which could epitomize this summer, is already underway – young designers don’t miss out on the race get your creative juices working.

Many personalized T-shirts advertising businesses or organizations such as leisure centers, physiotherapists and building companies are minimalist, words discretely attached to one side of the T-shirt. While a more recent approach is a company design emblazoned across the entire front. People become human billboards when they set out in a T-shirt with their company slogan all over it.

Even high street shops sell T-shirts with the name of their chain publicized on it for passer-by to see. T-shirts are ideal to send out; because they are light parcel2go.com is cheap.

Charities have found much success in designing T-shirts advertising their cause. Some charities have even sold T-shirts with their name on, in the high street while others leave them for fundraisers to wear during special event such as sponsored runs or walks.

Commemorative T-shirts can be Priceless

You might think T-shirts which advertise you’ve been to a certain place or done a certain event, are a bit naff but they can serve a similar purpose to a photograph. In the future when you come across them folded up neatly in a draw, they can trigger happy memories of the past. They may mark a once in a life time visit to a remote far off place and if they are a celebration of a sporting event, they’re proof as you get older that you were once capable of it - then, they might not have cost a great deal at the time to but they will be priceless to you.

This is a guest post by Imogen Reed from LineGray. If you would like to sponsor a post get in touch..