A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt, or tee for short) is a style of fabric

shirt A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist). Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. ...

named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are generally made of stretchy, light, and inexpensive fabric and are easy to clean. The T-shirt evolved from

undergarment Underwear, underclothing, or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled ...

s used in the 19th century and, in the mid-20th century, transitioned from undergarments to general-use casual clothing. T-shirts are typically made of

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

textile in a stockinette or jersey knit, which has a distinctively pliable texture compared to shirts made of woven cloth. Some modern versions have a body made from a continuously knitted tube, produced on a circular knitting machine, such that the torso has no side seams. The manufacture of T-shirts has become highly automated and may include cutting fabric with a

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

or a water jet. T-shirts are inexpensive to produce and are often part of

fast fashion Fast fashion is the business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and High fashion, high-fashion designs, mass production, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail quickly while demand is at its highest. The term ''fast ...

, leading to outsized sales of T-shirts compared to other attire. For example, two billion T-shirts are sold worldwide each year, and the average person in Sweden buys nine T-shirts a year. Production processes vary but can be environmentally intensive and include the environmental impact caused by their materials, such as cotton, which uses large amounts of water and pesticides.

History

Simple, T-shaped top garments have been a part of human clothing since ancient times; garments similar to the T-shirt worn earlier in history are generally called

tunic A tunic is a garment for the torso, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles. It might have arm-sleeves, either short or full-length. Most forms have no fastenings. The name deri ...

s. The modern T-shirt evolved from

s used in the 19th century. First, the one-piece ''

union suit A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear, most often associated with menswear in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. History Created in Utica, New York, United States, it originated as women's wear during the 19th-century United S ...

'' underwear was cut into separate top and bottom garments, with the top long enough to tuck under the waistband of the bottoms. With and without buttons, they were adopted by

miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

and stevedores during the late 19th century as a convenient covering for hot environments. In 1913, the U.S. Navy first issued them as undergarments. These were a crew-necked, short-sleeved, white cotton undershirt to be worn under a

uniform A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency serv ...

. It became common for sailors and Marines in work parties, the early submarines, and tropical climates to remove their uniform jacket, thus wearing (and soiling) only the undershirt.{{cite book , last=Harris , first=Alice , year=1996 , title=The White T , publisher=HarperCollins.{{page needed , date=May 2025 They soon became popular as a bottom layer of clothing for workers in various industries, including agriculture. The T-shirt was easily fitted, easily cleaned, and inexpensive; for these reasons, it became the shirt of choice for young boys. Boys' shirts were made in various colors and patterns. The word ''T-shirt'' became part of American English by the 1920s, and appeared in the ''

Merriam-Webster Dictionary ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the US English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by Noah Webster (1758–1843), a US lexicographer, as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...

''. By the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, the T-shirt was often the default garment to be worn when doing farm or ranch chores, as well as other times when modesty called for a torso covering but conditions called for lightweight fabrics.{{page needed , date=May 2025 Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was worn by Navy men as undergarments; gradually, veterans could be seen wearing their uniform trousers with their T-shirts as casual clothing. The shirts became even more popular in the 1950s after

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''

wore one in ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

'', and they finally achieved status as fashionable, stand-alone, outerwear garments. Often boys wore them while doing chores and playing outside, eventually opening up the idea of wearing them as general-purpose casual clothing. Printed T-shirts were in limited use by 1942 when an Air Corps Gunnery School T-shirt appeared on the cover of ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine. In the 1960s, printed T-shirts gained popularity for self-expression as well as for advertisements, protests, and souvenirs. Current versions are available in many different designs and fabrics, and styles include crew-neck and V-neck shirts. T-shirts are among the most worn garments of clothing used today. T-shirts are especially popular with branding for companies or merchandise, as they are inexpensive to make and purchase.

Trends

T-shirts were originally worn as undershirts, but are now worn frequently as the only piece of

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

on the top half of the body, other than possibly a brassiere or, rarely, a waistcoat ( vest). T-shirts have also become a medium for self-expression and advertising, with any imaginable combination of words, art and photographs on display.

Sally Larsen Sally Larsen (born 1954) is an American artist and photographer. Early life Larsen was born in 1954 in of mixed Apache and Aleut people, Aleut descent. Career Larsen exhibits photographs, videos and paintings in San Francisco, New York City, Lo ...

with Neeli Cherkovski, ''Japlish'', Pomegranate Art Books, San Francisco, 1993, {{ISBN, 1-56640-454-1 A T-shirt typically extends to the waist. Variants of the T-shirt, such as the V-neck, have been developed. Hip hop fashion calls for ''tall-T'' shirts which may extend down to the knees. A similar item is the T-shirt dress or T-dress, a dress-length T-shirt that can be worn without pants. Long T-shirts are also sometimes worn by women as nightgowns. A 1990s trend in women's clothing involved tight-fitting cropped T-shirts, called crop tops, short enough to reveal the

midriff In fashion, the midriff is the human abdomen. The midriff is exposed when wearing a crop top or some forms of swimwear or underwear. Etymology "Midriff" is a very old term in the English language, coming into use before 1000 AD. In Old Engl ...

. Another less popular trend is wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt of a contrasting color over a long-sleeved T-shirt, which is known as ''layering''. Tight-fitting T-shirts are called ''fitted'', ''tailored'' or ''baby doll'' T-shirts. The rise of social media and video sharing sites led to the growth of tutorials on DIY T-shirt projects. These videos typically provide instructions on how to modify an old shirt into a new, more fashionable form.

Expressive messages

Since the 1960s, T-shirts have flourished as a form of personal expression. Screen printed T-shirts have been a standard form of

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

for major American consumer products, such as

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

and

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

, since the 1970s. They have also been commonly used to commemorate an event or make a political or personal statement. Since the 1990s, it has become common practice for companies of all sizes to produce T-shirts with their corporate logos or messages as part of their overall

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

campaigns. Since the late 1980s and especially the 1990s, T-shirts with prominent designer-name logos have become popular, especially with teenagers and young adults. These garments allow consumers to flaunt their taste for designer brands in an inexpensive way, in addition to being decorative. Examples of designer T-shirt branding include

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...

, FUBU, Ralph Lauren, American Apparel, and The Gap. These examples also include representations of rock bands, among other obscure pop-culture references. Licensed T-shirts are also extremely popular. Movie and TV T-shirts can have images of the actors, logos, and funny quotations from the movie or TV show. Often, the most popular T-shirts are those that characters wore in the film itself (e.g., Bubba Gump from ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. An adaptation of the Forrest Gump (novel), 1986 novel by Winston Groom, the screenplay of the film is written by Eric Roth. It stars Tom Hanks in the title rol ...

'' and Vote For Pedro from ''

Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American Independent film, independent Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt (producer), Chris Wyatt and Sean C. Covel (producer), Sean Covel, written by Jared and J ...

''). In the early 1980s, designer Katharine Hamnett pioneered outsize T-shirts with large-print slogans. The early first decade of the 21st century saw the renewed popularity of T-shirts with slogans and designs, with a strong inclination to humor and/or irony. The trend only increased later that decade, embraced by celebrities such as

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

and

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, and socialite. Hilton was born in New York City and raised there partially; shuttling between Los Angeles and New York City; she is a great-grandda ...

, and reflected back on them, too ('Team Aniston'). The political and social statements that T-shirts often display have become, since the first decade of the 21st century, one of the reasons that they have so deeply permeated different levels of culture and society. These statements range from completely harmless one to statements or quotes that may be found to be offensive, shocking, or pornographic to some. Despite this, or perhaps due to it, companies like T-Shirt Hell (a T-shirt store known for offensive and shocking messages) and various other organizations have caught on to the statement-making trend (whether offensive or otherwise), including chain and independent stores, websites, schools, clubs, and groups of all kinds, with some even incorporating said trends into their respective business models. An early widespread T-shirt message that demonstrated their popularity among tourists was the humorous phrase "I went to _____ and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." (Examples include "My parents went to Las Vegas and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.") T-shirt exchange is an activity where people trade the T-shirts that they are wearing. Artists like Bill Beckley, Glen Baldridge and Peter Klashorst use T-shirts in their work. Models such as

Victoria Beckham Victoria Caroline, Lady Beckham (; born 17 April 1974) is an English fashion designer, singer, and television personality. She rose to prominence in the 1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Posh Spic ...

and Gisele Bündchen wore T-shirts through the 2000s. Paris Fashion Week 2014 featured a grunge style T-shirt.

Decoration

In the early 1950s, several companies based in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

started decorating T-shirts with different resort names and various characters. The first to do so on an extensive scale was Tropix Togs, founded by Sam Kantor. After meeting

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

in a Miami airport in 1976, Kantor's company became the original licensee for Walt Disney characters including Mickey Mouse and Davy Crockett. The T-shirts were sold when

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

first opened. Later, other companies expanded into the T-shirt

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

business, including Sherry Manufacturing Company, also based in Miami. Founded in 1948 by owner Quentin H. Sandler, Sherry initially screen printed souvenir tourist scarves. It quickly evolved into one of the largest US screen printed resort and licensed apparel companies, and by 2018, was running automatic screen print presses and producing up to 20,000 T-shirts each day. In the 1960s, the ringer T-shirt appeared and became a staple fashion for youth and rock-n-rollers. Ringer T-shirts are a solid-color shirt with bands of a second color around the collar and the lower edges of the sleeves, with or without an additional front decoration. The 1960s also saw the emergence of

tie-dye Tie-dye is a term used to describe a number of resist dyeing techniques and the resulting dyed products of these processes. The process of tie-dye typically consists of folding, twisting, pleating, or crumpling fabric or a garment, before binding ...

ing and

screen printing Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen in a "flood stroke ...

on the basic T-shirt, which became a medium for wearable art, commercial

souvenir A souvenir ( French for 'a remembrance or memory'), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and trans ...

messages, and protest art messages. Psychedelic art poster designer Warren Dayton pioneered several political, protest, and pop-culture art pieces, printed large and in color on T-shirts featuring images of Cesar Chavez, political cartoons, and other cultural icons in an article in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' magazine in late 1969 (ironically, the printing clothing company quickly cancelled the experimental line, fearing there would not be a market). In the late 1960s, Richard Ellman, Robert Tree, Bill Kelly, and

Stanley Mouse Stanley George Miller (born October 10, 1940), better known as Mouse or Stanley Mouse, is an American artist who is notable for his 1960s psychedelic rock concert poster designs and album covers for the Grateful Dead, Journey, and other bands. ...

set up the Monster Company in Mill Valley, California to produce fine art designs expressly for T-shirts. Their designs often featured emblems and motifs associated with the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

and

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

culture. Additionally, one of the most popular symbols to emerge from the political turmoil of the 1960s was the T-shirt bearing the face of

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

revolutionary

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

. Today, many notable and memorable T-shirts produced in the 1970s have become ensconced in

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

. Examples include bright yellow happy face,

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

"tongue and lips" logo, and Milton Glaser's iconic " I ♥ N Y” designs. In the mid-1980s, the white T-shirt became fashionable after the actor

Don Johnson Don Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor and singer-songwriter. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series '' Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Emm ...

wore it with an Armani suit in the ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...

'' series.

V-neck

A V-neck T-shirt has a V-shaped

neckline The neckline is the top edge or edges of a clothing, garment that surrounds the neck, especially from the front view. Neckline also refers to the overall visual line between all the layers of clothing and the neck and Shoulder, shoulders of a per ...

, as opposed to the round neckline of the more common crew neck shirt (also called a U-neck). V-necks were introduced so that the neckline of the shirt does not show when worn beneath an outer shirt.{{cite dictionary, title=Crew neck, dictionary=Merriam-Webster Online, url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crew+neck, access-date=2 August 2010{{cite web, last=Kirby, first=Michael B., date=Spring 2008, title=90th IDPG History of the T-shirt During WW2, url=http://www.90thidpg.us/Equipment/Articles/Tshirts/index.html, access-date=2 August 2010, publisher=90th Infantry Division Preservation Group

Screen printing

The most common form of commercial T-shirt decoration is

, in which a design is separated into individual colors. Plastisol or water-based inks are applied to the shirt through mesh screens partially coated with an emulsion, which limits the areas where ink is deposited. In most commercial T-shirt printing, a limited number of

spot color In offset printing, a spot color or solid color is any color generated by an ink (pure or mixed) that is printed using a ''single run'', whereas a process color is produced by printing a series of dots of different colors. The widespread offset- ...

s (typically one to four) are used to print the design. To achieve a wider color spectrum with a limited number of colors, process printing (using only cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink) or the simulated process (using only white, black, red, green, blue, and gold ink) is effective. Process printing is best suited for light-colored shirts while the simulated process is best suited for dark-colored shirts. The invention of plastisol in 1959 provided a more durable and stretchable ink than water-based inks, allowing much greater variety in T-shirt designs. Very few companies continue to use water-based inks on their shirts; the majority prefer plastisol because it allows printing on varying colors without the need for color adjustment at the art level. Specialty inks trend in and out of fashion and include shimmer, puff, discharge, and chino-based inks. A metallic foil can be heat pressed and stamped onto any plastisol ink. When combined with shimmer ink, metallics give a mirror-like effect wherever the previously screened plastisol ink was applied. Specialty inks are more expensive to purchase and screen, and tend to appear on boutique garments. Other methods of T-shirt decoration

airbrushing An airbrush is a small, Pneumatics, air-operated tool that Atomizer nozzle, atomizes and sprays various media, most often paint, but also ink, dye, and make-up. Spray painting developed from the airbrush and is considered to employ a type of ...

appliqué Appliqué is ornamental needlework in which pieces or patches of fabric in different shapes and patterns are sewn or stuck onto a larger piece to form a picture or pattern. It is commonly used as decoration, especially on garments. The technique ...

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

, impressing or embossing, and the

ironing Ironing is the use of an iron (appliance), iron, usually heated, to remove wrinkles and unwanted creases from fabric. The heating is commonly done to a temperature of , depending on the fabric. Ironing works by loosening the bonds between the lon ...

on of either flock lettering, heat transfers, or dye-sublimation transfers. Laser printers, using special toners containing sublimation dyes, can print designs on plain paper which can then be permanently heat-transferred to T-shirts. In the 1980s, thermochromatic dyes were used to produce T-shirts that changed color when subjected to heat; Global Hypercolour was one of the most popular youth brands to do so in the US and UK. One downside of color-change garments is that the dyes are easily damaged by

washing Washing is a method of cleaning, usually with water and soap or detergent. Regularly washing and then rinsing both body and clothing is an essential part of good hygiene and health. Often people use soaps and detergents to assist in the emulsific ...

in warm water, and can also stain other clothes during washing.

Tie-dye

Tie-dye Tie-dye is a term used to describe a number of resist dyeing techniques and the resulting dyed products of these processes. The process of tie-dye typically consists of folding, twisting, pleating, or crumpling fabric or a garment, before binding ...

originated in India, Japan and Africa as early as the sixth century.{{cite web , title=Peace, Love and Tie-Dye , url=http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring09/blake_e/history.html , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://archive.today/20130927022337/http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring09/blake_e/history.html , archive-date=2013-09-27 , access-date=31 October 2017 , website=Iml.jou.ufl.edu Forms of tie-dye include Bandhani (the oldest known technique), used in Indian cultures, and Shibori, primarily used in Japanese cultures. It was not until the 1960s that tie-dye was introduced to America during the

hippie movement The hippie subculture (also known as the flower people) began its development as a teenager and youth movement in the United States from the mid-1960s to early 1970s and then developed around the world. Its origins may be traced to European soc ...

Heat transfer vinyl (HTV)

Another form of T-shirt decoration is heat transfer vinyl, also called HTV. HTV is a polyurethane material that allows apparel designers to create unique layered designs using a specialized software program. Once the design is created, it is then cut through the material using a vinyl cutter (or Cut n Press) machine. There are dozens of different colors available, as well as glitter, reflective, and now even unique patterns (such as mermaid skin) which come in rolls and sheets. After the design is cut, there is a process called “weeding” whereby the areas that do not represent the design are picked away from the transfer sheet and removed so that the intended design remains. HTV is typically smooth to the touch and does not feel rubbery or stiff. The edges are typically clean-cut and produce high contrast. Designers can also create multiple color designs, or multi-layered designs, using HTV. This process is done in the design software before the design is sent to the cutter for the different materials. A heat press is then used to apply pressure and heat to the vinyl so that the material permanently adheres to the garment. The temperature and pressure vary according to manufacturer specifications.

Dye-sublimation printing

Dye-sublimation printing is a widely used direct-to-garment digital printing technology using full-color artwork to transfer images to polyester and polymer-coated substrate based T-shirts. Dye sublimation (also commonly referred to as all-over printing) came into widespread use in the 21st century, enabling some previously impossible designs. The technology allows unlimited colors using large CMYK printers with special paper and ink, unlike screen printing which requires screens for each color of the design. All-over print T-shirts have solved the problem with color fading, and vibrancy is greater than most standard printing methods, but the process requires synthetic fabrics for the ink to take hold. The key feature of dye-sublimated clothing is that the design is not printed on top of the garment, but permanently dyed into the threads of the shirt, ensuring that it will never fade. Dye sublimation is economically viable for small-quantity printing; the unit cost is similar for short or long production runs. Screen printing has higher setup costs, requiring large numbers to be produced to be cost-effective, and the unit cost is higher. Sublimation uses heat and pressure to change solid ink into a gas without first passing through a

liquid Liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. Liquids adapt to the shape of their container and are nearly incompressible, maintaining their volume even under pressure. The density of a liquid is usually close to th ...

phase. The design is first produced in a computer

image file format An image file format is a file format for a digital image. There are many formats that can be used, such as JPEG, PNG, and GIF. Most formats up until 2022 were for storing 2D images, not 3D ones. The data stored in an image file format may be co ...

such as jpg, gif, png. It is then printed on a purpose-made

computer printer A printer is a peripheral machine which makes a durable representation of graphics or text, usually on paper. While most output is human-readable, bar code printers are an example of an expanded use for printers. Different types of printer ...

({{As of, 2016, lc=y, most commonly Epson or Ricoh brands){{citation needed, date=February 2021 using large heat presses to vaporize the ink directly into the fabric. By mid-2012, the method had become widely used for T-shirts.

Other methods

Other methods of decorating shirts include using paints, markers, fabric transfer crayons, dyes and spray paint. Some techniques that can be used include sponging, stenciling, daubing, stamping,

, bleaching, and many more. Some new T-shirt creators have used designs with multiple advanced techniques, which includes using glow-in-the-dark inks, heat-sensitive fabrics, foil printing and all-over printing. Fashion designer Robert Geller created a T-shirt collection featuring oversized graphic T-shirts made from extremely soft jersey materials. Designer Alexander Wang released variations of T-shirts from oversized scoop necks, tanks to striped, slouchy rayon jerseys. Terence Koh T-shirts featured an upside down portrait with a real bullet hole in the head.{{Cite news, url=http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/terence-koh-t-shirt-collection, title=Bullet Hole Tees: Terence Koh's Capsule T-Shirt Collection for Opening Ceremony, website=TrendHunter.com, access-date=2017-05-23

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

* {{Wiktionary-inline * {{Commons category-inline, T-shirts {{Clothing {{Men's undergarments {{Authority control 20th-century fashion 21st-century fashion American fashion Canadian fashion Casual wear History of clothing (Western fashion) Tops (clothing) Western wear