By Tom Billy
The beloved T-shirt. It is one of the most versatile pieces of clothing ever made. So versatile, in fact, that T-shirts are worn all over the world. Most of us have at least a few in our wardrobes. Some have dozens. There is enough variety in the T-shirt world to satisfy anyone.
What is your preferred kind of T-shirt? What types of T-shirts do you wear most often, and when do you wear them? Studying global T-shirt use would be a fascinating study in anthropology, that’s for sure. At any rate, let us talk about some of the different kinds of T-shirts that consumers can choose from.
Plain White T-Shirts
The plain white T-shirt is the granddaddy of them all. Though no one knows the exact date, history seems to suggest that the T-shirts were first manufactured somewhere around the turn of the 20th century. They were marketed as undergarments for laborers.
Today, the plain white tee is as popular as ever. It is still worn by business executives, professionals, and politicians as an undergarment. If you are uber hip, you might wear a plain white tee when you feel like channelling your Marlon Brando or James Dean.
Plain Coloured T-Shirt
Not all plain T-shirts have to be white. In fact, they are not. You can find plain T-shirts in a variety of colours ranging from red to black and blue to green. The main draw here is that coloured T-shirts are considered more formal than plain white. You can easily wear one with a dinner jacket and a pair of dress slacks and get away with it.
Custom Printed T-Shirts
Perhaps the most popular type of T-shirt in this day and age is the custom printed T-shirt. Online sellers like Australia’s The Print Bar compete side-by-side with brick-and-mortar retailers for market share. All that competition gives consumers plenty of opportunities to purchase some truly unique shirts.
Custom T-shirt printing represents an opportunity to use your clothing as a sounding board. You can choose one of the manufacturer’s designs or design your own look from scratch. You choose the artwork and the text. You decide on colours, fonts, etc.
Long Sleeve T-Shirts
History suggests that the precursor to T-shirts were long sleeve undergarments that had been cut to make them cooler in hot weather. Whether that’s true or not, the earliest T-shirts were generally short-sleeve garments. That’s no longer the case. You can buy long sleeve T-shirts just as easily. They are made of the same breathable, flexible cotton fabric and tell-tale T-shirt weave.
Long sleeve T-shirts are a nice addition in cooler weather. You can rely on them to replace your short sleeve shirts in the autumn, then keep wearing them as undergarments to keep you warmer in the winter. For some people, the long-sleeve T-shirt is indispensable.
V-Neck T-Shirts
A less popular form of the classic tee is the V-neck. It is as its name suggests: a T-shirt with a V-shaped neck – as opposed to the classic crew neck. This type of T-shirt is usually worn as an undergarment. The V-neck allows the wearer to unbutton the top button of a collared shirt without revealing the tee underneath.
Some fashionistas say that the V-neck should never be worn by itself. It should always be covered by another shirt. You might not agree, but at least you now know the unwritten rule.
So, what is your preferred type of T-shirt? Do you like colours as opposed to plain white? Perhaps you are really into customisation. No worries. There is something out there for everyone.
