T is not only my favorite 20th letter of the alphabet, but it’s also what you’re wearing right now.
In Utica, New York, 1868 was 186-GREAT because of the invention of the ever so stylish Union Suit, initially targeted towards women at the end of the Victorian Dress Reform because you know, women like clothes they can actually breathe in.
This unshakeable powerhouse of cotton quickly caught on with men as well — probably for the ultra-convenient, well, "Crap Flap".
Getting the jump on the invention of sliced bread, these union suits were sliced in two and worn by dockworkers and miners to stray off the heat.
In the early 20th century, the U.S. Navy adopted the super advanced technological innovation of a short sleeve.
In hotter environments, such as the submarine, the tropics, or the tropical submarine, people frequently removed their uniform jackets, bringing the T-shirt out of its cocoon.
In 1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, This Side of Paradise, was the first recorded instance of the word “T shirt”.
In the 1930s, the T-Shirt saddled up for ranch and farm work.
Although it had started to gain traction, it wasn’t until the 1950s that the silver screen featured the T-Shirt — when Marlon Brando rocked the outfit in A Streetcar Named Desire, followed by James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause.
This conga-line of the stars’ spotlight caused an upswing of popularity, rocketing the T-Shirt to the triumphant realm of globally fashionable!
And once fashionable, it became a canvas — no, it became the canvas — for self-expression in the 1960s and onward until today.
Did your favorite thing of the day just become majestic photos of birds?
The latest and greatest shirts have such little turn around time!
From your friends at Royal Apparel.