In the 'before' photo, a man averts his eyes from the camera as if embarrassed he has lost all the buttons on his undershirt and has safety-pinned its flaps together. With and without buttons, they were adopted by miners and stevedores during the late 19th century as a convenient covering for hot environments.Īs slip-on garments without buttons, the earliest T-shirt dates back to sometime between the 1898 Spanish–American War and 1904, when the Cooper Underwear Company ran a magazine ad announcing a new product for bachelors. First, the one-piece union suit underwear was cut into separate top and bottom garments, with the top long enough to tuck under the waistband of the bottoms. The modern T-shirt evolved from undergarments used in the 19th century.

Simple, T-shaped top garments have been a part of human clothing since ancient times garments similar to the T-shirt worn earlier in history are generally called tunics. Production processes vary but can be environmentally intensive, and include the environmental impact caused by their materials, such as cotton which is both pesticide and water intensive. For example, two billion T-shirts are sold per year in the United States, or the average person from Sweden buys nine T-shirts a year. T-shirts are inexpensive to produce and are often part of fast fashion, leading to outsized sales of T-shirts compared to other attire. The manufacture of T-shirts has become highly automated and may include cutting fabric with a laser or a water jet. Some modern versions have a body made from a continuously knitted tube, produced on a circular knitting machine, such that the torso has no side seams. They are typically made of cotton textile in a stockinette or jersey knit, which has a distinctively pliable texture compared to shirts made of woven cloth.

The T-shirt evolved from undergarments used in the 19th century and, in the mid-20th century, transitioned from undergarment to general-use casual clothing.

T-shirts are generally made of a stretchy, light, and inexpensive fabric and are easy to clean. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a crew neck, which lacks a collar. A T-shirt, or tee shirt, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves.

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