What we wear usually has its antecedents in sport or underwear, and sometimes, like the tee shirt, both.
The tee shirt that is, with his denim, the urban hipster's standard garb began as a gym shirt for athletic wear in the 1930s, and morphed its way under the dress shirt a few years later. Somewhat separately, knitted sport shirts with collars started the outerwear portion of the trend, with the polo being the father of the breed. Polo and undershirt combined into the current collarless outerwear incarnation, a trend so recent that Esquire's 1973 Encyclopedia of 20th Century Men's Fashions does not so much as mention them, and yet clothing industry sources report that tee shirts are currently by far the most popular clothing item sold in the West.
There are tee shirts and there are tee shirts of course. At one end of the spectrum is the white knitted version intended to be worn as underwear, and that is where it tends to stay. The outerwear tee shirt is anything but white, with black by far the most popular. And though a collared polo is considerably more appropriate for wear to a Beverly Hills cocktail lounge, characters such as Mr. Duchovny set a mass market precedent for the uncollared version on Californication, his made for Showtime series.
With the continued decline in Victorian influences and the spread of temperature controlled environments, our descendents' dress will be probably be reduced to body paint, tattoos and some version of the Brazilian tapa-sexo, that strip of cloth that covers the genitalia on an otherwise nude dancer. That is something none of us will see for ourselves, but as a society we have already dispensed with coats and jackets, and the dress shirt is on its way to oblivion. The tee shirt leaves us with no further layers that can be removed.
Photo: Californication
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14 comments:
When will these tapa-sexos be offered in A Suitable Webstore?
They are bundled with the body paint kit.
I'm moving to a yurt on the Mongolian tundra the second I see body paint replace a t-shirt.
GO MULDER!
Will, I love the way that you wrote today's post. I can't bring myself to go anywhere presentable without a collar, even if it's a polo. I also have a hard time going out, even to a somewhat casual dinner, with jeans and a blazer. Should I get over that and accept the dress shirts and jeans thing? It doesn't seem right to me, but I'm not sure what the right alternative is, when you know that everyone else will be in jeans and a tshirt.
I find the trend appalling. I wear a tee shirt and jeans a lot when it's moderately cool, changing to shorts when it warms up. But I only do that 1) around the house and garden 2) to the nursery or hardware/lumber yard or 3) to a woodworking class. Otherwise, if I'm out in public my minimum for temperatures below 85 is a polo shirt and light coat/slacks. Above 85, I'm afraid, it's aloha shirt time. I don't do heat well.
If body paint, etc. ever happens, let's hope the gym replaces the haberdashery.
Imagine body paint and a tapo-sexo at your local discount store.
At times I read of the decline of the shirt and tie, in other places I read of a resurgence in interest in classic dress. With the coming of tough economic times, they say, comes an interest in classic style. When I look around I must say the latter looks more true - or at least I try to convince myself it is!
Jim,
You should dress both to make others comfortable and to make yourself comfortable (within limits to both). The first part is otherwise known as "consideration."
If you feel uncomfortable dressed as Mr. Duchovny does here, then your discomfort will probably be conveyed, at least subconsciously, to your companions. I'd say it's better to wear a collared shirt, jacket, and chinos and be comfortable in your own clothes than to wear something that will make you feel self-conscious.
Besides, if everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you jump, too? ;-)
Ughhh!
I would have to be in the depths of depression to be seen in public dressed like Duchovny.
Remember when Hollywood actors set the standards for sartorial savoir faire?
May be to late to add comment, but I can't let go.
Mr. D's body language says it all; "I look like a doofus, don't I ?"
correction:
"too late"
Jim, I suggest you don't accept it. Horatio is right, don't jump. Why following other people's sartorial errors?
Long live dressing like a civilised gentleman!
It has begun!!
The Guardian - Spray-on T-shirt: 15 minutes and it's ready. "A fashion designer and scientists at Imperial College today demonstrated their revolutionary spray-on clothing technology"
http://gu.com/p/2jmbt
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