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The t-shirt is the common thread in casual apparel for men, women and children. It is also in many ways not just body covering, but a uniform and a statement for many wearers.

It is the multi-purpose utility of the t-shirt combined with low cost and ease of care that makes it a staple of young and old, traditionalist and non-conformist.

Propelling the t-shirt into the pantheon of all-American apparel classics is its acceptance as appropriate mode of dress for most occasions. Barriers have most definitely fallen.

The t-shirt has come a long way from the basic one-color, unprinted plain adornment to which no thought or marketing cachet was given.

Ironically, fashion cycles have at times brought the no-frills white t-shirt back into haute couture, and will continue to do so.

Of course, the army/navy retailer was the source for the basic t-shirt, especially the genuine military heather gray P.T. or the olive drab t-shirt long before they were co-opted by everyone from Wal-Mart to Nordstrom’s.

Now the military style t-shirt is everybody’s ball game. But the army/navy retailer remains the best locale for the genuine military article and for the state of the art in military-themed graphic tees.

GENERATIONAL GRAPHICS

But youth shall be served, and in the t-shirt market, youth always demands a certain cool intensity to their t-shirt, be it expressed with simple iconic designs such as stars, skulls, peace signs or other symbols of attitude.

Lately, though, while the iconic tee with austere graphics remains popular, the goth/horror tee that features wall-to-wall (or at least shoulder-to-shoulder) graphics has captured the imagination and the t-shirt dollar of American youth.

“We’re seeing more elaborate and non-traditional use of graphics even within the context of military logos,” stated John Ottaviano of Rothco.

He claims that many of the Black Ink Design tees that Rothco sells reflect this trend,

These trendy graphics tend to exhibit gory, dramatic or intense visuals depicting horror, gothic, anime and video game themes. They are not only illustrated for maximum chill factor, but are frequently printed from edge to edge, covering almost the entire face of the t-shirt. This adds to the fear factor of the individual graphic designs.