A brief history of the slogan T-shirt

By Liv Auckland

You probably have a drawer full of T-shirts. They’re comfy, easy to style, cheap and ubiquitous. But the T-shirt is anything but basic. For 70 years, they’ve been worn as a tool for self-expression, rebellion and protest. And in 2025, the slogan T-shirt is as powerful as it has ever been.

Previously worn as an undergarment, the T-shirt became outerwear after the second world war. Snugly dressed