The evolution of t-shirts

It was thanks to the cinema and the music how t-shirts became a main item amongst youngsters' fashion. Marlon Brando and James Dean introduced this trend back in the sixties, with a defiant, rebel and aggressive attitude which clashed with formalities of the age.
The t-shirt itself was considered until the earliest '20s an underwear piece of clothing, and if worn outside only could mean belonging to the working class. The 'Beatnick' movement was one of the first cultural groups to adopt the t-shirt as a symbol of their bohemian ideology, before it became a flagship for the youth in the late '40s, by the time a new music wave was becoming mainstream.
In the 50s, rock'n'roll radically changed the mindset of the young generations, who by using t-shirts expressed their position against the sobriety of their parents. Tees were initially very simple in designs and colours, mainly white plain tight short-sleeved ones.
This fashion trend bloomed in the '60s along with pop music, which heavily influenced styles, designs and colours. It was back in the '60s when logos, sketches and messages were introduced, mainly funny or subversive.
As time passed by, t-shirts gained in popularity becoming a youth identifier, what is more, even amongst youngsters, t-shirts were identifier elements within determined styles. Psycodelia brought in loud colours and other characteristics which would represent the free-love and flower power movements.
In the '70s, t-shirts were no longer just another piece of clothing, through them people could transmit ideas, ideologies, points of view, preferences and even to commercialize some brands and ultimately bands and tastes.
In the end, indifferently of shapes, colours, designs, t-shirts became an esthetic choice, part of the new generation and a way to describe the zeitgeist and to make a point in time.

SugarBullets, the house of Amplified band t-shirts