We, the t-shirt: The story of the t-shirt's multiple personalities

We, the T-Shirt: The Story of the T-Shirt's Multiple Personalities is a professional project that focuses on the history and evolution of the t-shirt and how the garment has become an American cultural icon, most notably an emblem for hyper-commercialism. The project is located on a web site built on the WordPress content management system and can be found at www.nardinesaad.com/wethetshirt. This is the story of the evolution of the modern t-shirt---from conception to consumption---told through Los Angeles t-shirt companies and consumers.;The first Web page in the series is titled "The-T-Shirt: From Men's Underwear to Casual Couture." The story page opens with an embedded multimedia timeline chronicling the history of the shirt and provides about five to 10 minutes of interactivity. Each year cited in the timeline is accompanied by a photo and a caption. The story on the web page also tells the history of the t-shirt but with more analysis than the timeline. Interviews with a fashion expert from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, a t-shirt blogger, a marketing professor and quoted material from Charlotte Brunel's "The T-Shirt Book" comprise this story. However, the timeline includes more than 65 photos and is much more detailed in the chronology of t-shirts. Photos also accompany the story.;"The Designer: What's in a Name Brand?" profiles the t-shirt through Jerry Hernandez, an actor who is new to the fashion business. His story is representative of similar designer's stories when they are beginning to make a name for themselves. This piece hearkens back to when branding and slogan first started and details these phenomena. It also explains how t-shirts make fashion affordable for consumers and are extremely profitable for designers. The multimedia on this page is a photo gallery of Hernandez's t-shirt designs. Most of the prints in his collection are similar but bear different slogans and the photo gallery allows the user to get a better look at them and also comment about their favorites.;"The Manufacturer: Why American Apparel Dominates the T-Shirt Market" takes the reader inside American Apparel's downtown Los Angeles headquarters via a VUVOX virtual tour with photos, video and text. Beneath the VUVOX is a feature story in which Ryan Holiday, one of American Apparel's marketing specialists, guides a tour through the factory. There is also a YouTube video produced by American Apparel that interviews shoppers at its annual factory sale on the page. American Apparel is the largest manufacturer in the United States and its founder Dov Charney started it with t-shirts and many experts have cited it as an industry leader because of its business model and product output. This feature story also includes interviews with customers and a fashion expert to better balance this piece, which essentially touts the company's business model. However, the company and its founder have been scandalized recently for their racy ads and unethical business practices. These angles elucidate the manufacturing giant's lesser appreciated qualities.;"The Printer: Behind the Screens" allows the user to see how t-shirts are screen printed by using an interactive DHTML graphic that includes photos and video. The graphic uses a photo from David Knepprath's Culver City screen printing shop and the user is meant to click on each of six steps to see what happens in the printing process. The story focuses on Knepprath as its subject and also applies a feature writing style. He has more than 20 years in the screen printing industry and has multiple high profile and Hollywood clients. Knepprath's experiences with screen printing helped tell the story of how the t-shirt industry has rapidly changed in the past few decades citing NAFTA and other labor contentions that have influenced t-shirt production and also screen printing.;"The Consumer: You Are What You Wear" reads slightly more like a news story but still uses a subject---consumer Joe Abdelnour---as its launching point. Abdelnour has collected multiple free t-shirts and represents Americans who have freely adapted a t-shirt-heavy wardrobe. The story also includes analyses from t-shirt blogger Coty Gonzales, marketing professor Bettina Cornwell and fashion expert Christina Johnson. The multimedia component in this piece comprises 21 different man on the street interviews that question and showcase people's t-shirt sensibilities. The video supplements what Abdelnour and the experts in the story have already suggested when it comes to t-shirt culture. This approach allows the incorporation of various consumer opinions and lets the reader get a more rounded view of consumer culture. The video's overall effect is for the user to identify and connect with the stories of these consumers, who talk about t-shirts they received for free or buy on vacation.;"You, the T-Shirt" is the last featured entry on the site and includes a poll in which users vote on their favorite types of t-shirts. This multimedia element was created with www.polldaddy.com, a poll-generating service. Users are encouraged to share their own t-shirt stories in the comments section of this piece. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...