Have you ever wondered how the T-shirt became such an iconic staple in American fashion and culture? Originally designed as an undergarment, the T-shirt has grown into the most ubiquitous item in apparel—and the most powerful.

Read the story of the simple apparel that will change the fashion world, build its own industry in apparel decorating, and change the way messages are shared forever.

Origin of T-shirts

T-shirts as all know them today are an apparel staple. Simple clothing is so deeply ingrained in global culture that it’s easy to forget that, in terms of age, the T-shirt is quite young.

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T-shirts originated in the late 19th century, when workers cut their jumpsuits in half to keep them cool in the warmer months of the year.

The first manufactured T-shirts were invented in 1898 between the Mexican-American War and 1913 when the US Navy began issuing them as standard undershirts.

Nevertheless, it took until 1920 for the actual term “t-shirt” to be included in the English lexicon, attributed to F. Scott Fitzgerald was cited as the first person to publish the term in his novel This Side of Paradise.

Sets for New England were provided with six suits of summer underwear, six suits of winter underwear, a sweater or T-shirt, a winter overcoat, a jersey, etc.’ in early September," Fitzgerald writes “School land.”

Brando, Dean, and Rebellion

Despite the fact that the t-shirt was invented in the early twentieth century, it was rarely seen worn as anything other than an undershirt. Post-World War II, it was not uncommon to see veterans wearing a t-shirt tucked into their trousers, but t-shirts were almost exclusively worn underneath “proper” clothes.

Then came James Dean and Marlon Brando.

Marlon Brando famously wore a white t-shirt as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire in 1950, only to be followed by James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause in 1955. The popularity of the t-shirt as a standalone outerwear garment skyrocketed as a result of these two founding fathers.

Not only was the t-shirt becoming acceptable as an outer garment, but it was also associated with a rebellious movement.

Because T-shirts were actually undergarments, it was considered rebellious. “It was a tough political statement,” says Dennis Nothdruft, curator of the T-shirt: Cult — Culture — Subversion exhibition, which debuted last year at the Textile Museum and Fashion in London.