Who invented the T-Shirt?

[Kramodlog]

Well, not Mr. T. Seems it was aimed at lazy slobs

It is fascinating how it has becomed a venue to advertize yourself or your personal views.

Edit: No fashion prefix!?

 

[Bullgrit]

Seems it was aimed at lazy slobs.

Well, not really. They were "aimed at men with no wives and no sewing skills."

I wear a t-shirt every day, (though not necessarily a t-shirt of my own design), even though I have a wife and I have darning skills. In fact, when a button needs to be sewn back onto some piece of clothing, my wife comes to me.

I'm not exaggerating when I say I wear a t-shirt every day -- I literally do wear t-shirt and jeans every day. I find t-shirts the most comfortable shirts, (I hate collars and buttons), and I don't worry about messing up jeans and sneakers like I'd have to be careful in slacks and leather shoes. This even though I work strictly in an office environment, (I'm a writer), with AC and carpet.

It is fascinating how it has becomed a venue to advertize yourself or your personal views.

How vain!

Well, it's a neat and easy way to show your sense of humor, to identify your cultural place/niche, and to break the ice in public. When I go somewhere family oriented, I like to wear a dad t-shirt. When I go somewhere gaming related, I like to wear a gamer t-shirt. I'm a strong introvert who has a hard time starting conversations with strangers, but wearing a sloganed t-shirt gives strangers a way of speaking to me first and opening a conversation in a comfortable way. (I'm not anti-social, just shy.)

Bullgrit

 

[Bullgrit]

I am fascinated by how we have supersized our society. A large T-shirt in 1970 seems really small now. Everybody was skinny, and shirts were tight back then. The garment industry has changed the sizes almost every 10 years. The shirts are wider and longer now.

Shirt sizes vary a great deal between brands. Now, some brand differences are because of the culture of the customer -- some styles are intentionally designed to be long and baggy, where others are intentionally designed to be short and tight. A medium in one won't have the same dimensions as a medium in the other -- by intentional design because of different style.

Some people want a particular shirt because they like it individually, but they want it to fit like a shirt of a different style, so they have to know to choose a different size than what the shirt was designed for. For example, if a particular shirt fits you as a medium, but you want to wear it for exercising, you may want a small so it fits tighter and doesn't flow around and get in the way. (A shirt specifically designed for exercise may already be sized medium to fit a medium person with its purpose in mind.) Or maybe you want to wear it with loose, baggy jeans, so you want a large to it matches the pants style. (A shirt specifically designed for baggy style may already be sized medium to fit a medium purpose.)

But then, there is also some vast differences between brands that serve the same customer base. This gets frustrating. For instance, I found some "performance" shirts that varied a ridiculous amount -- a medium was loose, a large was tight. Same shirt style, but the brands didn't agree on a sizing.

As for the "we have supersized our society" comment, I dislike using the "supersize" term. I think it's too much. But I will say that of the t-shirts I've sold, large and x-large are definitely the most common sizes. Personally, I wear medium comfortably, but I don't mind a shirt to be form fitting on me. Some people, possibly even with my body size, just feel more comfortable with a little extra room in their t-shirts.

Bullgrit

 

[Umbran]

They claim that the thing originated from long johns of the 19th century.

But, if you look farther back, centuries back, like, into the Dark Ages, you see T-shirts. The modern r-ecreator would refer to them as a "T-tunic". Take fabric, fold it over. Cut a hole at the fold for a neck (kind of like you were making a poncho. Now, just sew a line up the side of the body and out along the arm. Voila! T-tunic. Worn by peasants across Europe for centuries!

 

[Dioltach]

And who looked at them and thought, "Yep, that's a T shape"?

 

[PigKnight]

I mostly wear T-shirts, but I have a few button downs. Button downs feel classier. Dunno why.

P.S. Would a homebrew 3.5 Warlock/Martial adept gish prestige class go in the Houserules, Homebrew and Conversion library or under 3.5 D&D discussion? When I looked in the HHCL it looks like monsters and mechanics and I don't want to be "that guy".

 

[Bloodstone Press]

It is fascinating to me how much people will spend on them. A $40 t-shirt? WTF??

 

[Kramodlog]

Not everyone will accept to set foot in a Wal-Mart. /shudders