The shirt is arguably the oldest and most fundamental article of dress in the male wardrobe. Ever since clothes were first constructed from woven textiles, men have worn a tunic-like inner garment, a washable layer preventing the soiling of outer clothes through direct contact with the body and protecting the skin from abrasion from the heavier fabrics of main garments.
Over time the T-shaped, sleeved under-tunic or shirt (serc in Old English) has retained its basic purpose, even after the vest evolved as a modern undergarment. Shirts are both functional and fashionable, although stylistic changes have been gradual and moderate, the fabric historically more important than the shape.
Initially under-shirts were fashioned from linen or wool and by the late Middle Ages were protruding at the neck and wrists. During the 1500s fashionable doublets were extravagantly slashed, displaying puffs of white shirt beneath, while collars and cuffs were ornamented with embroidery or frills. Increasingly shirts signified social status, the wealthy amassing dozens of fine linen shirts.
As the male suit evolved from the late 1600s, the shirt became more prominent, an expanse of linen shirt front and sleeve ruffles complementing perfectly rich materials and handsome coat, waistcoat and breeches. A pristine, starched white shirt was already established as the mark of a gentleman when arbiter of Regency male style, ‘Beau’ Brummell pronounced: “Fine linen, plenty of it and country washing.” Good linen like lawn or muslin washed well and was cool, smooth and absorbent, although wool and flannel shirts were sometimes worn in winter and cotton became widely used during the 1800s, manual workers wearing shirts of calico, Scotch cloth and other hardwearing materials. Respectable shirts were generally white, until striped cotton and eventually coloured shirts became acceptable in the later 19th century.
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Traditionally shirts, along with the family’s linen and other small items, were hand-sewn by the women of the house, and later using domestic sewing machines. When sons left home their mothers and sisters often continued to supply them with shirts. However, by the 1930s ready-made shirts in easy-to-wash synthetic fabrics like spun rayon were available and after WW2 fewer men had their shirts made to measure.
