buttons from this garment made it revolutionary. Ever since, the t-shirt has been popular among youth, who introduced the concept of illustration on tees, decorating them with patches and design beginning in the 1950’s. “Neck here” read the ribbed collars of teen boys who used the t-shirt as a way to advertise their availability. Today we are still using clothing to take a stance, claim a point, or pick a side. Perhaps this undeclared warfare has caused us to move into a state of ambiguity, where we are waiting for conflict to create the next turn, the next shift in what we wear. We use clothing, plastered with symbols, graphics, and language as a means of communication. Was war being declared when Dior sent a t-shirt down the runway in fall 2016 featuring the phrase, “We Should All Be Feminists”? Or when seas of people covered by red, “Make America Great Again,” baseball caps assemble? Without declared battle, our feelings and our views on what side we take, are not as obvious to the naked eye. We use illustration, color, cut, design, to relay our message, to speak out. Conflict, on or off of the battlefield, moves us to express our side in the one way one we have always known how.
“CONFLICT IN SOCIETY CREATES A SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DIVIDE, WHICH SHAPES THE DIRECTION THAT OUR CLOTHING TAKES.”
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