The t-shirt bearing printed design and message is a relatively recent addition to our modern wardrobe. Tee’s have been around since the 19th century but back then were considered to be garments worn under a shirt.  I guess that appearing publicly in a t-shirt then would be like today, if you showed up at your local supermarket wearing only your Calvin Klein briefs. It just wasn’t done.

In the 1950’s, Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski wearing his signature t-shirt in A Streetcar Named Desire, changed all that and overnight the humble tee came of age.  Within a few years Walt Disney had figured out a way to monetize this new fashion trend  and began selling Mickey Mouse t-shirts at his first Disneyland theme park in southern California. Brilliant marketing. You paid the Disney Corporation a couple of bucks to take home and wear a t-shirt with a picture of the familiar rodent and Disney received twice that amount in free advertising. 

Today’s annual t-shirt market in the US alone is  worth nearly eleven billion dollars.  Whatever message you want to convey to the world, no matter how clever or corny, obscene or irreverent or just plain poor taste, it can be found emblazoned on a t-shirt in a wide variety of sizes  (small, medium, large, extra-large and obese.)

Over the years, whenever I am out with my camera and see someone on the streets wearing a t-shirt with an interesting or unusual message, I have added it to my inventory. Here are a few examples.