The modern T-shirt had humble beginnings. A union suit was a one-piece item of underwear, originally designed in the U.S. for women, made of red flannel, with long arms and legs, as an alternative to the restricting garments previously worn, patented as 'emancipation union under flannel' in 1868. It was still worn into the 20th Century, but was gradually becoming menswear, and replaced by two garments, long johns and the precursor of the T-shirt. Miners and stevedores wore T-shirts for their hot working conditions from the 19th century; they were issued by the US navy for wearing as an undergarment during the Spanish American war in 1898. It was soon popular as a bottom layer for many types of workers, including agricultural, particularly for young boys.
By the 1920s T-shirt was a term in the American/English dictionary. By the Great Depression it was the usual attire for farm work. After WW2 it was common to see veterans wearing t-shirts with uniform trousers, and after 'A Streetcar named Desire' 1951 starring Brando, and 'Rebel without a Cause' 1955 starring James Dean, they became a fashion item. Elvis and others added to their popularity.
In the early 1950s companies in Miami began to produce shirts with characters and resort names. Tropic Togs produced Disney characters.
In the sixties tie-dye and screen-printing became popular, with political messages, and pictures of Che Guevara, plus bands. In 1961 a surfboard maker, Floyd Smith, made possibly the first surfing T-shirt. Local surfers took him their white T-shirts for screen-printing.
Musicians also began using the T-shirt as a marketing tool, selling them at concerts with their images and slogans. (The very oldest slogan T-shirt said 'Dew it for Dewey', to promote Thomas Dewey's bid to become president in the fifties -one is exhibited at the Smithsonian Institute.) The ringer T-shirt appeared in the sixties, with a different colour collar, popular among rock and roll fans, most frequently a black collar on a white T.
In the eighties white t-shirts became popular after Don Johnson wore his under an Armani suit in Miami Vice; designer-name logos were used as part of advertising campaigns.
Today over 300million surfing T-shirts are produced around the globe.
T-shirts are ubiquitous, worn by almost everyone, almost everywhere.
Recently, Susan A. Barnett photographed people in T- shirts - from rear view - in a project called 'Not in Your Face'. On her web site-she says
'Each one of these people reveal a part of themselves that advertises
their hopes, ideals, likes, dislikes, political views, and personal
mantras.
By photographing from the back I attempt to challenge the
time-honored tradition of the portrait being of the face and test
whether body type, dress and demeanor can tell us just as much as a
facial expression might.'
http://notinyourface.com/about.html
So what's written on your T shirts?
In December, Matthew Bourne celebrates 25 years of his company, the New Adventures, with Perrault's Sleeping Beauty, decribed as the gothic romance of a young girl who sleeps for a hundred years then awakes to the modern world. It's the third of his Tchaikovsky ballets, the first being his Nutcracker! in1992, the second his most famous , 'Swan Lake', with the all male corps de ballet. The original Sleeping Beauty was choreographed by Marius Petipa in 1890; this is the year Bourne begins with for Aurora's christening. Bourne has used three of his regular collaborators, including the award-winning Les Brotherston (set and costumes).
