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 he T-shirt is one of the beacons of American casual fashion. Popularized by U.S. Navy sailors during the first two world wars, the T-shirt has become an essential element of the American wardrobe.
In 1913, the U.S. Navy issued short-sleeved, white cotton crewneck undershirts to sailors. Sailors returning from World War I (1914–18) had grown to prefer the T-shirt to the woolen undershirt that had been the most typical undergarment since 1880. The popularity of the garment grew. By World War II (1939–45), twelve million men were wearing the shirts. News photographs and newsreels showed sailors and soldiers working in only pants and T-shirts. Underwear was exposed to the public for the first time. America had become quite used to the display of American muscle under a thin layer of white T-shirt by war's end.
Although the military persuaded America to embrace the T-shirt as an essential element of a man's wardrobe, films turned the T-shirt into an American cultural phenomenon. In 1951, the sculpted muscles of Marlon Brando (1924–) bulged under his T-shirt in A Streetcar Named Desire; his character Stanley Kowalski's powerful masculinity was reflected in Brando's physique and perfectly displayed under his T-shirt. In 1955, James Dean brought a youthful, anti-establishment attitude to the T-shirt in Rebel Without a Cause. This anti-establishment theme continued into the 1960s with Peter Fonda (1939–) in Easy Rider (1966). The sexual and rebellious characters that actors portrayed in films translated into the behavior of American youths. T-shirts became associated with youthful, American attitudes.
Women made T-shirts their own symbol of youth and rebellion during the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. The teasingly revealing anatomy of a T-shirt–clad Jacqueline Bisset (1944–) in The Deep (1977) is perhaps the best illustration of women's adoption of the T-shirt. Since the 1970s, young braless women have lined up in wet T-shirts in bars across the country to display their own sexuality.
Soon T-shirts displayed attitudes in type. Although some T-shirts carried printed messages before the 1960s, in the 1970s T-shirts became personal billboards for individual expression. Anything from "Have a Nice Day" to swear words could be found on T-shirts. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, T-shirts were a staple garment of Americans and many others around the world. Offered in a variety of colors, styles, and with unlimited messages, the T-shirt can still be seen adorning young and old alike.
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