Never Underestimate The Power Of Stupid People In Large Groups Shirt

Despite originating from the traditional fabric treatment techniques of Indian bandhani and Japanese shibori, the tie-dye trend only caught on in the West during the 1960s. As the Vietnam War raged on, American youth looked for a means of rebellion against the conservatism of their parents’ generation, moving towards traditional, hands-on techniques that corresponded to the emerging trends of new age philosophy and psychedelic rock. Plus, the patterns formed by tie-dye surely enhanced the effects of that other beloved 60s psychedelic recreation: dropping industrial quantities of acid.

Never Underestimate The Power Of Stupid People In Large Groups Shirt

The next milestone for the t-shirt came in the 1970s, as Vivienne Westwood established her now legendary ‘SEX’ boutique on the King’s Road. While the punks of her generation were chopping off sleeves and fastening the rips in their tees with safety pins and badges, Westwood recognised the potential of the t-shirt as a blank canvas for more overt political messages. A number of her designs caused controversy, but a 1975 graphic of two cowboys touching penises actually led to the arrest of one of their shop attendants, who was stopped and later fined for “indecent exhibition” while walking through Chelsea – a dispiriting sign of how little British attitudes had changed towards homosexuality following the 1967 Sexual Offences Act.