Culture of Band Tee

The t-shirt’s innate spontaneity determines its inextricable fate with the street culture and fashion. From the ordinary people to the fashion famous stars, even the film. It popularized in western hipsters and rock ‘n’ roll fans in the 1960s, has become as essential a base item for almost everyone as jeans.

A selfie in band tee. photograph: Jing Shen

In the early 1990s, t-shirts were known as “cultural shirts” in China. The common printing in the pure white T-shirt, printed some exaggerated, slightly, less aesthetic text and graphics. However, at that time, when people used black and blue as the main colour, cultural shirt really led a new fashion trend in China.

Cultural communication attributes of t-shirts enable to express the emotion and idea directly. In the 1960s and 1970s, in western countries, t-shirts became a vehicle for self-expression and even self-promotion. And band tee became an essential piece of equipment for rock fans and an emotional connection between fans and musicians.

Rock ‘n’ Roll and t-shirts both represent informality and individuality. Fans of these rock musicians will find irreplaceable emotional identification and resonance in his t-shirts. Such as Kurt Cobain draw a drunken smiley face, and it became an instant hit after fans posted it on the website and social media as the Nirvana’s logo. This logo is also printed at t-shirt as band tee.

Band tee of Metallica and Nirvana . photograph: JIng Shen

Rock stars not only wear their own band tee on the stage, they also wear their favourite band’s t-shirts to show their respect. And their fans in live show also wear another band’s t-shirts. For example, on Metallica’s live show, same fans wear in Guns N’ roses and Led Zeppelin t-shirts. This is not surprising. These bands belong to the same genre, which is perfectly acceptable, in terms of their preferred musical style.

For punk rock music fans, band tee is more than just a piece of clothing. Any image and text can be used to express their attitudes, views, positions, feelings. Band tee also have special function of emotional connection and sustenance. When rock fans stand on the stage or hang out on the street in their favourite band tees, it’s all about showing their attitudes. When you boldly express your attitude towards the world, you are confident and proud.