The Humble Tee
Are we excluding the basis of all wardrobe starters?
WORDS: KELSEY REA
PHOTOGRAPHY: KELSEY REA
It’s 7am in the morning, you go to your
closet; there’s nothing to wear. It’s a
comparative issue among all generations. It’s a tale as old as time, “closet full of clothes,
nothing to wear”. But are we excluding the basis
of all wardrobe starters? The humble tee. The
potato of our vegetable garden; it’s reliable, the
go-to for basic outfits, and a foundation in
standard promotion.
While men have been manipulating its ease for
decades, research shows it’s the ladies that are
underutilising a basic tool for dressing. The
Carrie Bradshaw’s of the world may have an
extensive wardrobe selection to disregard the
proposal, however isn’t true style the ability to
dress well with minimal decisions? Isn’t that why we envy Parisian ladies? That, and their
slim figures of course…
For an item of clothing that was once worn as
an undergarment, the t-shirt has come an
extremely long way; commonly worn by men
in the navy as an undergarment over a century
ago. Many would not forget James Dean in the
1950s when he propelled the trend of t-shirts
in “Rebel Without a Cause”.
The Spring/Summer 14/15 parades evidently show a remarkable comparison to dressing with ease. With an advance in digital printing, it’s becoming more and more common for designers to incorporate a detailed print, on a basic tee. “The T-shirt is the perfect lightweight easy to clean garment that is unquestionably a blank canvas for creative expression,” says Dean Brough, senior fashion lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology and an academic who has long studied the history of men’s white shirts. “Australian lifestyles are reflected in their apparel and the tee is a classic representation of this simplicity, informality and effortlessness associated with Australia.” Consumers are now demanding a more casual lifestyle; with our busy lives, we don’t have time anymore to spend on the minute details.
The Spring/Summer 14/15 parades evidently show a remarkable comparison to dressing with ease. With an advance in digital printing, it’s becoming more and more common for designers to incorporate a detailed print, on a basic tee. “The T-shirt is the perfect lightweight easy to clean garment that is unquestionably a blank canvas for creative expression,” says Dean Brough, senior fashion lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology and an academic who has long studied the history of men’s white shirts. “Australian lifestyles are reflected in their apparel and the tee is a classic representation of this simplicity, informality and effortlessness associated with Australia.” Consumers are now demanding a more casual lifestyle; with our busy lives, we don’t have time anymore to spend on the minute details.
Marketers have long used the humble tee as a promotional tool. Using mass production and effective design aesthetics, businesses are able to manipulate a simple item of clothing, to portray an important advertising campaign. Andrew Davies, co-owner of The
Chess Club Collective provides a perfect
example. From a company that started as a
university society, Davies was able to expand
the idea and utilise the idea of a t-shirt to
provide to a niche market. Selling chess club
themed merchandise, Davies has been able to
tap into certain resources and design casual yet
visually aesthetic clothing; at forty bucks a
pop, he’s not doing so bad either. “Any Tom,
Dick and Harry can make T-shirts. By reaching out and collaborating with so many
local and international creatives, we certainly
differentiate ourselves from our competition”.
Freelance writer and blogger Mayowa Adeniyi has collaborated with the likes of Oscar Wylee and Lack of Color. From his previous experience in the industry, he believes consumers are more inclined to utilise the ease of a t-shirt garment due to its compelling odyssey into a casual lifestyle. “With the relaxed culture and weather of the Australian climate, our style is often reflected in our casual attire. I think people are inclined to be lazy, which might not always be a bad thing. T-shirts work well with a range of different styles, so I guess flexibility is the key.”
Freelance writer and blogger Mayowa Adeniyi has collaborated with the likes of Oscar Wylee and Lack of Color. From his previous experience in the industry, he believes consumers are more inclined to utilise the ease of a t-shirt garment due to its compelling odyssey into a casual lifestyle. “With the relaxed culture and weather of the Australian climate, our style is often reflected in our casual attire. I think people are inclined to be lazy, which might not always be a bad thing. T-shirts work well with a range of different styles, so I guess flexibility is the key.”
The precedence of the t-shirt has not only epitomised casual
dressing in today’s culture, but has created a
revolution in the fashion society, where the
wealthy once paid thousands of dollars for a
whale bone corset, they are now paying
thousands of dollars for a Givenchy tee. At the
end of the day, it’s just a basic cotton t-shirt,
but isn’t it so much more than that too? Paired
with a cute midi skirt and Manolo’s, the
humble tee is as reliable as your girlfriends
after a fight with your man, or a gin martini
after a bad day at work.
