# Fits you to a Tee?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fits-you-to-a-tee/4430>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 2, 1999, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fits-you-to-a-tee/4430 "1999-11-02T20:18:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fits-you-to-a-tee/4430/1 "1999-11-02T20:18:00Z")

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A friend at work told me that some friends of his were engaged in conversation, and one of them wondered aloud about how a Tee-Shirt (or T-Shirt) got it’s name. It doesn’t LOOK like a tee, or a T. So someone, lay that Straight Dopage on me!

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Yer pal,  
Satan

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**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fits-you-to-a-tee/4430/2 "1999-11-02T20:48:00Z")

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Actually, it does sort of look like a T. Lay the shirt out flat with the arms sticking out to the sides… It looks like a “T” with a very thick stem.

OTOH, I heard it was short for “Tennis” Shirt.

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“Drink your coffee! Remember, there are people sleeping in China.”

Dennis Matheson — [dennis@mountaindiver.com](mailto:dennis@mountaindiver.com)  
Hike, Dive, Ski, Climb — [www.mountaindiver.com](http://www.mountaindiver.com)

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**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fits-you-to-a-tee/4430/3 "1999-11-02T20:48:00Z")

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Actually, it’s suppossed to. that’s where the name came from.

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All this science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week-- Rocketman

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**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fits-you-to-a-tee/4430/4 "1999-11-02T21:07:00Z")

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Here’s another theory. I asked “jeeves” for the “history of the t-shirt.” One of the links that little gnome provided gave me this info.

In 1901, the P.H. Hanes Knitting Company (now just Hanes) introduced two-piece men’s underwear for catalogue sale. But it was the U.S. Navy, 12 years later, that inadvertently accelerated the evolution of underwear by issuing a revolutionary new item to its sailors. Seeking to avoid sexually scandalous sights exposed by its V-necked uniforms (read: hairy chests), the Navy issued a garment that featured short sleeves, a “crew” neckline (hence “crew neck”) and a vaguely “T”-shaped silhouette (hence “T-shirt”).

A few years later, the influx of sailors on leave during World War I brought about the truncating of the popular civilian “union suit” into a “singlet” or “jersey.” The price: 24 cents. The trend soon spread, and by World War II 12 million men were wearing the Navy’s newer, less expensive tee, which quickly became known as “skivvies.”

## Take it for what it’s worth.

**Dopeler effect:**  
The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

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**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fits-you-to-a-tee/4430/5 "1999-11-03T08:15:00Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> and one of them wondered aloud about how a Tee-Shirt (or T-Shirt) got it’s name.

OED goes with the "shaped like the letter T explanation.

T-shirt orig. U.S. Also tee-shirt.  
[f. the letter T (see below) + shirt n.]  
A simple kind of garment, orig. a man’s undershirt, typically short-sleeved, round-necked, buttonless and made from knitted cotton fabric, and forming the shape of a letter T when spread out flat; now a similar garment of various designs, widely worn as a shirt by men, women, and children for sport or as casual wear.

The earliest reference they give is for 1920, from F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Ugly