A Brief and Incomplete Timeline of T-Shirt History

1913 The First T-Shirt Models

White cotton, crewneck T-shirts became regulation underwear for the U.S. Navy. Two decades later, at the University of Southern California, football players don similar shirts to prevent chafing from heavy shoulder pads. The tees became so fashionable that students start pilfering them for casual wear. In response, the school began stenciling "Property of USC" on its T-shirts as a crime-prevention tactic, not a statement of pride.

1951 An Undershirt Named Desire

Hollywood rebel Marlon Brando exudes animal magnetism in A Streetcar Named Desire when he wears a thin, white T-shirt. Teens dig the look, and by year's end, T-shirt sales total $180 million. But for Brando, the style is only a means to an end. A graduate of The Actors' Studio, he'd learned to use his body to show his character's inner turmoil. The T-shirt is only a thin veil, meant to cover not only his rippling physique, but also his character's bestial urges.

1969 Tie-Dyed Shirts Become Groovy

For decades, the only people using Rit dye were old women who wanted to color their drapes and linens. But in the mid-60s, advertising whiz Don Price markets the dye to hippies, who use it to tie-dye their tees. But Price's real stroke of genius comes in 1969, when he produces hundreds of the shirts and gives them away to performers at Woodstock. The multicolored tops are quickly adopted as part of the counterculture uniform.

1977 I ♥ NY

Throughout the 1970s, New York City gains a reputation as a tourists' nightmare -dirty, decadent, and crime-ridden. To revitalize the city's image, the Commerce Department hires designer Milton Glaser to fashion an eye-catching logo for the city. Over lunch one day, Glaser sketches "I ♥ NY" on a napkin. The logo spearheads a resurgence in New York tourism and becomes the most imitated T-shirt design in history. Glaser claims that the shirt's appeal comes from decoding the symbols: "You feel smart when you figure it out."

1984 Frankie Learns to Talk

BBC Radio bans song "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, claiming the lyrics are too explicitly sexual. Naturally, sales of the single skyrocket, and the song goes to No. 1. To flaunt the band's triumph over censorship, record label owner Paul Morley puts the song's words in big capital letters on T-shirts.

The "FRANKIE SAYS RELAX" tee turn millions of music fans into human billboards. Soon, Frankie knock-offs are everywhere. Although the band's popularity quickly dies, the T-shirt lives on, appearing on the torso of everyone from Jennifer Anniston to Homer Simpson.


The article by Bill DeMain is reprinted from Scatterbrained section of the January-February 2011 issue of mental_floss magazine. Subscribe today to get it delivered to you!


Newest 5
Newest 5 Comments

Whatever the original shirt actually said, "Frankie says" is more grammatically correct. The band is still a singular, no matter how many people are in the band. Just change it to "Journey says" or "Foreigner say."
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
"bestial urges".

If it's "Frankie say" and not "Frankie says", why isn't it "Frankie Go To Hollywood"?

All the t-shirts I ever saw were "Frankie says".
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
FrankieFan beat me to it: the shirt should always say "Frankie Say...", not "Frankie Says...". even though it looks grammatically incorrect at first glance, it's not, because in this case the shirt is referring to Frankie as a band, not an individual person. it makes more sense if you think of it saying "The [Band Members] Say Relax".
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Commenting is closed.

Check out Twaggies' very funny clip:

Om Nom - Twaggies by Twaggies
Email This Post to a Friend
"A Brief and Incomplete Timeline of T-Shirt History"

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.


Success! Your email has been sent!

close window