in May We Wear Purple Fibromyalgia Awareness Shirt

Underclothes, Under ConstructionWhat is a t-shirt? Slick advertising aside, the modern tee has been begging to be born since the late 19th century. Our entire history could be summed up on our war on wears, or, underwear. Our 19th century workforce got the bright idea of cutting their once-piece jumpsuits in half to keep cooler in warmer months. We just hope that cutting-edge idea didn’t come out of their paychecks. And meanwhile, we literally labored under the union suit. You may not know it by name, but surely you know the stereotypically red one-piece undergarment, most prominently featuring its, er, rear flap accidentally undone. Usually, though, the union suit was white and worn by both men and women. Patented in 1868 as “emancipation union under flannel”—more advertising genius—this was supposed to be cool and comfortable. But those blasted buttons again! Without much ado, the union suit got a major makeover, as the undergarment was cut into separate top and bottom pieces. Most importantly? These pieces started appearing, gasp, without buttons. Without buttons, the earliest t-shirt dates to somewhere between the 1898 Spanish-American War and 1913, as the U.S. Navy began standard issuing them. Welcome to the crew-neck, short-sleeve white cotton t-shirt we now know. Slip-on garments without the hassle of buttons, a fabric that stretched over the head to snap back into shape once on. Sounds simple, right? Except how did the still-then underwear become the outerwear we now know?

in May We Wear Purple Fibromyalgia Awareness Shirt

Cooper Underwear Company ran a magazine ad in 1904 to promote the now-staple product, a “bachelor undershirt.”The before photo featured some poor sap with his busted shirt held together with a safety-pin. Boy, does he look ashamed, as he should. The after photo features our hero, looking quite the cat’s meow, wearing his snazzy new undershirt. The ad’s catchy phrase? “No safety pins—no buttons—no needle—no thread.” Or, we guess it could read, “No moms—no wives—no prospects—no sewing skills.”Hey, before we reignite a war of the sexes, when’s the last time any of us have resewn a button? Ugh, no way! With its stretchy neckband and fabric that retained its shape, the bachelor undershirt was a hit. It came in “Balgriggan” and “Fast Black.” Catchy, whoever coined those colors, right? Old-time advertising really wrote itself back then.But was Cooper Underwear Company the father of our modern t-shirt? Not so Fast Black there, pal.