The first T-shirts

The T-shirt started life as underwear! In the Second World War, American soldiers had undershirts made of wool under their uniforms. When the soldiers came to Europe, they discovered cotton undershirts. In 1945, they took these shirts home to the USA. This inspired American companies to make cotton T-shirsts..

REBELS IN T-SHIRTS
In the 1950s, two rebellious film stars, Marlon Brando and James Dean, and Elvis Presley the singer, were the first to wear white T-shirts without a shirt. People said it was shocking, but teenagers thought it was cool. So the white T-shirt became a symbol of rebellion!

WHO FIRST DECORATED T-SHIRTS?
In the 1950s, companies in Florida, USA, started to decorate T-shirts. Then, in the 1960s, T-shirts had slogans and political messages on them. The first character to appear on a T-shirt was Mickey Mouse... and he is back in fashion today!

ROCK'N'ROLL T-SHIRTS
In the 1960s, hippies began wearing colored and tie-dye T-shirts, and in the 1970s heavy metal fans introduced black ones. Punks had another style: ripped T-shirts with safety pins. In the 1990s, rappers preferred baggy T-shirts. Today, it's cool to have T-shirts. Today, it's cool to have T-shirts of your favorite rock stars like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.

GOOD PUBLICITY
T-shirts are the perfect place to advertise their brand names. Shops like Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike Gap or Hollister all have cool T-shirts with their logos. You can also "advertise" your opinions on your T-shirt: you can say which candidate you prefer in an election or tell everybody that you love New York!

TODAY'S T-SHIRTS

Today the T-shirt is still popular. There are classic, sporty T-shirts and T-shirts with logos. But this year's fashion is animal and tribal prints, UK and US flags and peace and love symbols. Whatever T-shirt you choose, you'll look cool!