Blame it on the French that even their soldiers were chic. Where most were still wearing long johns underneath their uniforms (which proved to be unbearable under the scorching heat), the French failed to fry in their cool cotton numbers. Not that they should get all the credit. The genesis of the tee trails all the way to the Roman empire where the granddaddy of the tee, the tunic, ruled the fashion landscape all the way back to the BC years.
How the tee found its way from the cave carvings during the BCs to the racks of today’s B.C.B.G. stores is a classic example of how Hollywood really is the Willy Wonka of adult fantasies. Back to the French connection, in WWII the T-shirt, as we know it today, really came into its own. Millions of men were issued their standard issue Shirt, T, Short Sleeve, Mark 1, in their choice of colors, as long as it was white, or sometimes olive drab in the Army and battleship gray in the Navy.
From being plain underwear, the T-shirt proved to be satisfactory for casual wear as well. After all the wars and the tees torn and stained in the process, the garment found its way to the streets of ‘50s America. Since the G.I., who by this time exemplified the ultimate macho, proved to be quite sexy on one’s husband even when he was back to his old job of being a baker. Talk about a man in uniform! Hollywood furthered the iconic status of the plain white tee with James Dean and Marlon Brando giving the best performances of their lives in Rebel without a Cause and A Streetcar Named Desire respectively, in their tighty whities.
The logo tee found its way to the mainstream for the first time (and also its genderless style function) when Jean Seberg wore it on Godard’s Breathless with the logo of the Herald Tribune emblazoned on it. This was perhaps the first time a woman (and a hot one at that) lent street cred to the former undergarment. The tee became a must-have during its time and also the courtship between expression and fashion blossomed into an integral tool during the cultural revolution of the ‘60s.
Soon enough logo tees and statement tees were the rage among the hip. Its success was a result of a more casual and morally relaxed era ahead. The roles of men and women were blurred and rebellion became the militant movement against the precepts of a repressive yesterday.
From birth control to feminism to gay rights, thoughts were expressed on these stylish canvases. The lasting strength of the tee can be attributed to its versatility by virtue of its utter simplicity and accessibility. Done in its original cotton to the most luxurious cashmere, the tee finds its home in the most spartan of closets to the most opulent walk-ins. Do you know anyone who does not own one?
Anonymous, which is in the midst of its Trans period has introduced a plethora of tees for the modern urbanite. Whether it finds itself worn in bed with peanut butter smeared all over it or at the hottest members-only joint with equally haughty company, it has become the paladin of the fight club.
With witty slogans and inventive logos in it, just like it’s hippie forefathers in the ‘70s, T-shirts give you the chance to be heard or simply to be stylishly humorous. In Anonymouspeak, Trans means being free from conforming to trends. It is the freedom to experiment, liberation of anonymity and becoming an unconscious and truthful expression of today’s culture.
Anonymous has established itself as a breakthrough retail establishment for its anti-status symbol approach from the time it launched seven years ago. Everything from its ads to its packaging conveys a compelling, mysterious yet ironically straightforward appeal that took the spoon-fed consumer market by surprise (and mot to mention delight).
Today Anonymous moves from its clean, nondescript and cheekily clinical look to a more irreverent and dastardly effort to go against the mainstream definition of hip. This adventurous approach, envisioned by Tina and Ricco Ocampo, the royal couple of cool, is just another way of showing modern slickness coming from outside the box. Whereas they introduced the brand before as a non-label factory in a brand-saturated market, they now re-introduce Anonymous as the anti-bathetic tool for showing off your different sides. "Anonymous is about mobility and freedom from conforming to market trends. I like the Trans campaign because it is an honest exploration, resulting in an original expression of the brand and its place in the market today. We want to continue to connect with our market and keep them interested by constantly showing them something exciting, different and real," shares Anonymous’ big man Ricco Ocampo.
What’s getting everyone excited are the stylishly outspoken shirts that Anonymous offers which could be worn in any way the savant pleases. As black tie is now replaced by black shirts, these style mavericks may be sniffed at by conservative stick in the muds as unfortunate parvenus. However, in the eyes of a new world, the tee has only begun its plague of cool.