The great story of the white t-shirt From embarrassing underwear to cornerstone of the world's best wardrobes
The history of fashion, and even more the history of streetwear, is essentially composed of garments and materials that, born to perform humble practical functions, have become over time and through the increasingly iconic culture. What is opulent for a century, is ridiculous for the next century, just as what humble, offensive or embarrassing for the past can become normal for the future. The best example of this process, which sees the bass continually rise upwards and, in contrast, what at the top gradually disappear, is the white t-shirt, the most ubiquitous and universal garment of all, whose story begins in the moralistic world of post-Victorian underwear, then winding through wars and cinema screens until it landed on the musical stages of counterculture and finally, on the fashion catwalks. In short, the history of the white t-shirt follows the history of the same modern society: for every moment-milestone of the last century, a new meaning has been layered on it, making it the indispensable classic that is today.
Origins: from underwear to military uniform
In 1869 in New York was patented the union suit, a sort of overall suit that covered the entire body and that, being an economic and warm garment, was soon associated with the working class and consequently treated with a certain contempt. The next evolution was the bachelor suit of the Cooper Underwear Company, born in 1909, which implemented the division between top and bottom. The top later became known as hanley – a name taken from the Hanley Regatta, being the garment a favorite of athletes during their workouts.
In the late 2010s, finally, the two aesthetics mingled with the definitive combination of fashion, streetwear and hip-hop culture. Style and function became one, and hipsters no longer needed a V-neck to prove their originality just as hip-hop singers didn't need XXL outfits to witness their realness. The various styles found a synthesis and opened up to greater eclecticism: singers began to design clothes, collaborate with large fashion houses and accept women and LGBTQ minorities in their ranks - the world of cultural references expanded beyond measure but became an increasingly common ground. As a result, a synthesis soon came between a more high-end style and the disengaged daily style. Jerry Lorenzo and Kanye West, and their respective brands, are the perfect example of this trend that, over the next ten years, will almost certainly find its decisive symbol in the collaboration between Yeezy and Gap - that is, the moment when one of the leading exponents of contemporary hip-hop culture, Kanye West, will devote himself to the creation of a line of high democratic basics and open to all with in mind the vision of the birth of a new cross-party icon. Fashion.
