The fabulous destiny of the Undershirt

If underwear in general has existed since Antiquity, linen or cotton undershirts appeared in Europe in the Middle Ages, with the main mission of protecting the skin from unpleasant friction due to the back of the clothes. costumes. Men wear them with long johns, women with petticoats. Also serving as thermal insulation and a bacteriological barrier, they are quickly becoming popular. In cotton, silk, flannel, wool..., the Long Sleeve Undershirt spans the ages in various forms: shirt, full jumpsuit or delightful footless romper, low-cut Henley with buttoned collar... Inseparable from the cowboy in the early morning , before he puts on his stetson and his two colts on his belt, like Charles Bronson or Steve McQueen, of England and his rowing races, hairy men like boaters... the Undershirt is at the end of the 19th century a second skin that we no longer take off and which even goes so far, in a burst of generosity, as to free women from their corsets. In 1904, and to definitively gain the company of single men, who did not know the thread and the needle, the Henley abandoned its buttons to become the Undershirt that we know today which, crew neck, s 'put on over the head.

From technological advances to the search for convenience, the Undershirt sometimes shrinks its Long Sleeves or removes them to become a Tank Top. It continues to fulfill the functions of an underwear: keeping warm and preventing sweat from leaving clothing. But it is still unthinkable to wear it alone.In the 1920s, the US Navy included it in the equipment of its soldiers who, delighted to no longer have to deal with woolen underwear, made it a classic in their equipment. The Undershirt has everything good: light, easy to wash and put on. When the G.I Americans showed him the country during the Second World War, Europe adopted him without batting an eyelid. It becomes in turn the symbol of a military past, then of protest when it comes to wearing it alone and no longer as underwear. Widely democratized in the 50s and 60s by muses of all nations, the Long Sleeve or Short Sleeve Undershirt was soon worn without a shirt, then readily delivered political messages (Make love Not War) or belonging to a group social, sporting, cultural, musical. The time of the tribes was born and the Maillot de Corps was proclaimed the official standard bearer. With him, we display our identity, our clan, our tastes and our colors.

The Undershirt is an Undergarment that the liberation of bodies, thought and fashion has brought out of the shadows. Its recent trajectory in full light makes it an essential piece of our wardrobe. Logoed or blank, constantly reinventing its cuts and printing processes, with a round or V neck, loose or close-fitting, for men and women, today it is on all backpacks, on all trips, every day, of all ages, of all styles. Without beating around the bush, the Undershirt has chosen its destiny: that of a timeless, functional, iconic, universal garment.