As I sit here writing this post, I’m wearing a T-shirt (purchased at Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump in Canada) and shorts. My favorite summer outfit. When the days grow shorter and the temperatures become cooler, my uniform changes to a T-shirt and jeans. I love T-shirts.
T-shirts have existed for a long time, although the exact origins remain a little murky. There are two schools of thought about the birth of the T-shirt. According to Ask Jeeves, the men who worked on docks in Maryland during the 1600s unloaded lots of tea. They wore simply designed shirts, known as tea shirts, and this was later shortened to T-shirt.
Another school of thought says T-shirts originated in England. The sailors in the Navy wore singlets (tank tops), which offended the royal family. They didn’t like seeing bare shoulders and arm pits, so someone designed a shirt to correct the problem. The T-shirt was born.
I’ve also read that US soldiers during the Second World War wore T-shirts beneath their shirts. They took to wearing them without the overshirt and the idea caught on.
According to Wikipedia, T-shirts became extra popular after Marlon Brandon wore one in the movie A Streetcar Named Desire. More recently, actor Don Johnson made them a fashion item when he wore a T-shirt beneath an Armani suit in Miami Vice.
Whatever the origin of T-shirts, I’m glad of their invention! Not only are they comfortable and easy to wash, but they say a lot about their owners.
What do mine say about me, you ask?
They say I like animals.
I enjoy sports and like to make fun of Australian teams. LOL
I enjoy the odd glass of wine.
I have a life philosophy.
And that I adore travel.
Eve Fawkner, the heroine in my new release, CAT BURGLAR IN TRAINING spends a lot of time wearing designer dresses because she attends lots of society balls. When she’s not dressed to the nines, she chooses to wear form-fitting black that allows her to blend with the shadows. She needs to sneak while she’s in cat burglar mode!
Here’s the blurb:
Eve Fawkner had no intention of following in her father’s footsteps. But when the thugs harassing him to repay his gambling debts threaten her young daughter, Eve is forced to assume the role of London’s most notorious cat burglar, The Shadow. The plan is simple: pull off a couple of heists, pay back the goons and go into permanent retirement. But things get messy during her first job when Eve witnesses a murder, stumbles across a clue that sheds some light on her past and, worst of all, falls for a cop.
Inspector Kahu Williams would be the perfect man, if Eve were looking, and if there wasn’t the little matter of their career conflict. The man is seriously hot—and hot on the trail of a murderer. A trail that keeps leading him back to Eve…
Check out Cat Burglar in Training
Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand with her husband and a rambunctious puppy. You can learn more about Shelley and her books at her website and blog. You might also find her lurking on Twitter or Facebook.
Do you like/wear T-shirts? What do your T-shirts say about you? Do you have any favorite T-shirt slogans?
Tags: author, cat burglar, Cat Burglar in Training, interests, jewels, mystery, romance, Shelley Munro, T-shirts, travel, wine
I <3 πink! on a pink tee (I love pink, geekstyle)
I LOVE your t-shirts! Especially, the sports one. LOL!
I have one favorite t-shirt that I no longer wear in order to preserve it for posterity.
It reads (in tiny letters):
Bitch
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
I think it describes me pretty well.
Congrats on the Cat Burglar book!
I especially love t-shirts with sayings that make me laugh. Beach towns in the US have tons of souvenir shops where I like to stand and read them for fun. I’m not brave enough to wear some of them.
Cayti – I like pink too.
Hi Maria, and thank you. LOL I could do with one of those T-shirts some days.
Brinda, hubby and I saw some good slogans when we were in Thailand. I’d never have worn them but we did take photos. I’ll try and hunt down a photo and post it at my blog. Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Shelley!
Congrats on the release! I’m a huge T-shirt lover. I love my comfy clothes. None of mine are anywhere near as cute as yours though. I need to expand my horizons.
I don’t wear a lot of tshirts with writing on them – the ones I seem to find are too boxy / baggy for my liking. I adore yours though
My T-shirts say that I eat like a toddler, IE, they all have stains on them! I swear, it’s because they’re so old and my kids did it when THEY were toddlers! Never mind the stains on the T-shirts purchased since then…
I love T-Shirts. I also love buying my husband T-Shirts with naughty slogans on them. He retaliated with my favourite slogan ever on a shirt for me.
It says:
AMNESIA used to be my favourite word, until I forgot it!
Hi Dee,
I’m definitely all about comfort. I love my T-shirts.
Thanks for stopping by.
Jenyfer – you must be shopping in the wrong places. There are heaps of the fitted women’s styles with cool slogans.
LOL Jody. Mine sometimes say that about me too!
Ilona,
LOL I like it. I’m reading Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones at present. She has some cool T-shirt slogans at the start of each chapter.
One was… What would MacGuyver do?
The slogans all fit with the chapters. I wish I’d had the idea!
I have tees in a wide variety of colors (except pink and purple–ugh!), both long and short sleeve, suitable for wearing to work. Which means the majority of mine have no slogan or images. Those few that do are for local sports teams.
Hey! What’s wrong with pink and purple? Some of my favorite colors:)
My nephew has a huge collection of sports T-shirts. I can never afford them. I’d love an All Black one but they were out of my price range!