The Rebellious History of the Plain White Tee
By Jack Stanley
Like so many menswear icons, it all started with the military. MA-1 bombers were originally designed for pilots, field jackets were worn in both World Wars, and trench coats began life as all-purpose outerwear for soldiers. And so it is with the plain T-Shirt, first issued as underwear and then worn beneath military uniform shirts in the First World War. As dress requirements loosened, troops were permitted to wear their T-Shirts on their own, no longer hidden away under a buttoned-up layer. This decision began the move of the T-Shirt from undergarment to outsider icon, embraced by rebels across generations.
The first T-Shirts had been created at the start of the 20th century, and soon found a place in civilian attire. A new increase in paid time off led to more people playing sports as a popular pastime, and the relatively recent invention of a crisp cotton T-Shirt proved perfect leisure attire, m orn by sporting amateurs and professionals alike. For its first 50 years, the T-Shirt was relegated to an undergarment or a sports top, little more than functional wear for those on the go. After the Second World War, however, it all began to change. Having worn their T-Shirts around the base while on duty, many soldiers continued to wear them at home, eschewing the more formal dress conventions of the time. In the early 1950s it was still relatively shocking to see a T-Shirt worn out in public, but the shift was underway.
"In order to get his T-Shirt tight enough, Brando repeatedly washed and dried
each one, shrinking the tees a little bit more each time."
In a way, it can all be traced back to Marlon Brando. In 1951, the movie adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire was released with Brando playing Stanley Kowalski. The character wore a tight white T-Shirt and a pair of blue jeans, an all-American uniform that has endured for the last 75 years. In order to get his T-Shirt tight enough, Brando repeatedly washed and dried each one, shrinking the tees a little bit more each time. Almost as soon as the film was released, Brando’s skintight T-Shirt was a much discussed – and admired – fashion choice.
Away from the screen, the humble T-Shirt appeared in other worlds too. Boxer Sugar Ray Robinson could be seen in one preparing for his fights; Elvis Presley wore one when he was drafted into the military, and The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen, adopted one as his de-facto uniform.
When Springsteen released his album Born in the USA in 1984, the cover showed him with his back to camera, facing the stars and stripes. His outfit was the same all-American combination: a crisp white T-Shirt tucked into blue jeans. Other musicians too – including Madonna, Kurt Cobain – made the plain white T-Shirt a key part of their look.
Across generations and genres, the white T-Shirt had been adopted and repurposed. What was once a symbol of the everyday, a comfortable alternative originally worn as underwear, had become a starring character in films, music videos and even fashion shows. Part of the appeal of the plain white tee is its versatility, acting as a platform onto which anyone can project their beliefs. Maybe that’s through text or slogans, written directly onto the T-Shirt, like the anti-nuclear war message Katharine Hamnett used to surprise the British Prime Minister. Sometimes, though, it’s by saying nothing at all.
The white T-Shirts worn by cultural and sporting icons weren’t powerful because of what they said, but because of how they were worn. They showed a rejection of the rules, a break from polite society with its buttoned-up shirts, stiff blazers and tightly-wound ties. These shirts showed that their wearers were different, they were happy to do things their way rather than follow the rules laid out for them. What could be more rebellious than that?
At some point, the plain white T-Shirt began to lose its revolutionary, rebellious power. What was once a symbol of outsiders and subversion became a wardrobe staple, worn by almost everyone. Maybe that’s the natural life cycle of any object, after 50 years it assimilates into the mainstream, stripped of its associations and repackaged as an everyday staple - the building block of any wardrobe. In some ways, the white T-Shirt was returning to its original role. Its newfound ubiquity made it almost invisible, seen so frequently that it lost its shock factor and moved into the background, as if it were underwear once again.
Recently, there are signs that this humble item is reclaiming its rebellious role. When the first series of The Bear launched, viewers were immediately transfixed by the plain white T-Shirt worn by Jeremy Allen White’s Carmy Berzatto. Paired with his vintage denim collection and carefully curated tattoos, the T-Shirt became a breakout star from the show. A season later, Ayo Edebiri’s character Sydney was also spotted wearing a pristine, perfectly-fitting white T-Shirt. In both seasons, fans searched obsessively for the exact tee worn by the two characters.
"Perhaps inadvertently, the team behind The Bear have shown the power that the plain white T-Shirt still holds. After all these years and all the people who styled the tee in different ways, there’s still a lot of meaning in a simple, clean, white T-Shirt."
Perhaps inadvertently, the team behind The Bear have shown the power that the plain white T-Shirt still holds. After all these years and all the people who styled the tee in different ways, there’s still a lot of meaning in a simple, clean, white T-Shirt. For Carmy in The Bear, his T-Shirt put him in a lineage of American working class heroes and communicated that he was an outsider, committed to doing things his own way. Just as it had for Brando and the Boss before him.
Jack Stanley
Jack is a London based writer, editor and consultant formerly Senior Editor for Hypebeast. He co-founded SLOP, a magazine that highlight makers in food culture. Alongside writing for GQ, Esquire & Highsnobiety, he advises brands on storytelling, strategy & cultural insight.