Now a timeless piece of clothing for anyone’s wardrobe, the printed t-shirt has come a long way since the beginning. Derived from the shape of the garment’s outline, the word t-shirt didn’t even make it into the dictionary until the 1920s. Originally worn only as an undergarment, the t-shirts we know and love today evolved from its use in the 19th century by miners and stevedores, who found it as a convenient covering for hot environments.
Fact: In 1939, the motion picture debut of The Wizard of Oz saw the first ever promotional printed t-shirt.
Although we all frequently wear t-shirts as the only piece of clothing on our upper bodies today, this only became popular 30-years on from its entrance into the dictionary, when famous American actor Marlon Brando was seen wearing a custom made t-shirt as a standalone, outerwear garment in the 1951 film, A Streetcar Named Desire. Along with some other appearances in t-shirts from influential people like James Dean and even Elvis Presley, wearing a t-shirt on its own suddenly became cool and rebellious.
Fact: Over 2 billion t-shirts are sold every year around the world.
Around the same time of the t-shirt becoming a symbol of rebel youth, some companies based in Miami, Florida began to decorate their t-shirts with characters and resort names. The very first is a company called Tropix Togs, who had the original licence for printing Walt Disney characters. In particular, the Mickey Mouse t-shirt was popularised quickly, with thanks to its appearance in the 1983 film, ‘The Outsiders’. This helped even more to bring the printed t-shirt into mainstream culture.
With so many designs available for printing onto a t-shirt, let your creativity flow and bring your ideas to life with My Garment Factory. Look out for part 2 of our blog, as we continue to explore how the printed t-shirt became so popular.
