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Styles are constantly changing. Fashions come and go. But few have had the
popularity or permanence of the T-shirt and tuxedo. Both of the these well-known
American garments share a history of French influence and American daring.
The story of the tuxedo goes back to the summer of 1886, in Tuxedo Park,
New York. A Frenchman named Pierre Lorillard was living in the small town. He
was heir to the Lorillard tobacco fortune and an important New York blueblood, a
person of high distinction. Pierre had been invited as always to the Autumn
Ball. However, he was tired of wearing the accepted formal attire of a coat with
tails. He wanted something more informal. So he asked a tailor to make him
several jackets in black without tails. They were modeled after the red riding
jackets worn by the British for fox hunting.
On the night of the ball, Lorillard was too timid to wear one of his
tailless dinner jackets. But his young friends were more bold. They all put on
the jackets and went to the ball. Needless to say, everyone was talking. Some
people were shocked by their outfits. Others, however, were quite interested.
They say how much easier it was to pass the evening in a coat without tails.
No doubt, if the tailless coat had been worn by anyone other than a
Lorillard, it would never have appeared again. But as Lorillard had so much
influence, tailors started copying the informal jackets. After a while, they
became standard evening attire. The tuxedo got its name, of course, from the
town on which it was born. The name Tuxedo came from the native Americans. The
Algonquians who had inhabited the area called it P’tauk-Seet, meaning “wolf” .
The colonists changed it to “Tucksito.” By 1800,when Pierre Lorillard’s
grandfather arrived in the area, it had already been changed to Tuxedo. In spite
of the original meaning of the word, however, good manners are always expected
while wearing one.
T-shirts made their entrance much later than tuxedos. But they too took a
bit of courage to wear. Once again, the French had a role in the story. It seems
the French kept their soldiers cool during World War I by giving them cotton
knit undershirts. Meanwhile the Americans were hot and scratchy in their wool
underwear. By World War II, the Navy and Army had learned a lesson from the
French. The cotton shirt in a T shape became part of the uniform for all
soldiers and sailors. After the war, T-shirts came home with the soldiers. By
then, all the men were wearing them. But they remained out of sight, as
underwear should in polite society.
But Hollywood and rebellious young men know no rules. In 1951, actor Mralon
Brando wore a T-shirt in the movie A Streetcar Named Desire. Everyone talked
about it, and the T-shirt became a sort of trademark for him. Then in the
mid-1950s, the young James Dean performed in Rebel Without a Cause.
He wrote a T-shirt too. Then Elvis Presley hit the screen in his T-shirt.
It was too much for young people to ignore. Every boy in town wanted to look
like James Dean and Elvis Presley. White T-shirts and baggy pants became the
“cool”, or stylish, thing to wear.
The 1960s and another generation of rebellious youth arrived. T-shirts and
blues worn by both males and females were their special fashion style. They dyed
T-shirts different colors and put pictures and words on them. T-shirts would
never be the same again.
Today, the T-shirt has made its way to every corner of the world. They’re
worn by infants, teenagers, and senior citizens. They tell others what we like,
where we’ve been, the things we’ve done, and races we’ve worn, or new and fancy.
They can be old and worn with skirts, pants, and shorts. And something that
would have surprised even Lorillard is that T-shirts are even worn with
tuxedos.
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:39:00