Marlon Brando Made White T-Shirt Famous

The short sleeved T-shirt was thought to be a garment worn by wrestlers exclusively, until Marlon Brando.

What can you wear for a relaxed day in the park, Sunday shopping, a lecture at the University? The answer is: a T-shirt! Girls, ladies, women, boys, men – everybody wears them!

We owe a big thanks to actor Marlon Brando for this, who introduced the T-shirt to the world of fashion, while it was previously believed to be a garment for wrestlers exclusively, Moda.hr writes.

The cult 1951 film “A Streetcar Named Desire” features young Brando wearing a slim-fit white T-shirt. The short sleeved T-shirt was then sold in American department stores as a “normal” garment and soon became the uniform of teenagers across America and Europe along with jeans and a leather jacket.

Such a youth dress code at the time marked rebellion against old values. They expressed their protest by discarding the clothes of the older generations. To wear a short-sleeved T-shirt meant to send out a social message.

Today, half a century later, a T-shirt is a mandatory part of any wardrobe. Apart from printed signs and messages, T-shirts are covered in designers` names, jokes or even insults.