This month we take a deep dive with PHM Collections Officer Kayleigh Crawford into the museum’s recently digitised t-shirt collection. Kayleigh reflects on how t-shirts have been used in politics and protests over the past 40 years including examples from the 1984 Miners’ Strike and the Labour Party.
There are over 100 t-shirts in People’s History Museum’s (PHM) permanent collection. As the national museum of democracy, the t-shirts in our collection all relate to the history of democracy in some way, whether they were worn at a protest or used on the campaign trail. The museum has a wide range of t-shirts that were produced for various popular movements such as the 1984 to 1985 Miners’ Strike, campaigns against the Poll Tax, Anti-nuclear groups, the campaign against Section 28, and the Anti-Apartheid Movement. There are also a variety of trade unions represented in the t-shirt collection, showcasing different campaigns, strikes, and periods of industrial action.
Protest t-shirts promote a person’s convictions and advertise the issue to other people. They can help to create a sense of identity between protestors, allowing people to connect with each other on issues that matter to them. The People’s March for Jobs t-shirt shown above would’ve been worn by many on the march, easily recognisable and promoting a group identity for those participating. Many marchers kept their t-shirts for years afterwards and would wear them on subsequent demonstrations, carrying the legacy of the march with them.
T-shirts are often seen on protests and demonstrations but sometimes wearing a t-shirt is in itself a protest. In 1997, Liverpool FC footballer Robbie Fowler was fined 2,000 Swiss Francs after lifting up his football jersey to reveal a t-shirt in support of striking dockworkers underneath. Although Fowler was punished, the incident made media headlines the next day and brought a lot of attention to the strike; with many others buying and wearing similar t-shirts supporting the dockworkers.
Unlike a placard or banner, items of clothing cannot be taken away or discarded as easily. Wearing a t-shirt can therefore be an act of defiance; by displaying a message on your body you are carrying your cause with you wherever you go and proudly sharing your convictions.
During the Section 28 law imposed by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government – a law that made it illegal for local authorities to ‘promote’ homosexuality or present homosexuality as ‘normal’ – many LGBTQIA+ people took a stand by wearing t-shirts that supported freedom of expression for non-straight identities. Groups like OutRage! and National Tour Against Section 28 produced t-shirts for their supporters to wear proudly and fight back against the attempt to push LGBTQIA+ people out of public life.
T-shirts are often worn to show support for campaigns or movements and wearing them can be an act of solidarity. The ‘Boycott South African Goods’ t-shirt shown above is an effective campaigning tool whilst also standing up for people who lived under Apartheid conditions in South Africa. Similar to the Palestinian Kufiya, protest t-shirts are a way of demonstrating solidarity; seeing someone else wear one may help us remain strong in our convictions and remind us that we are not alone in our struggle.
Protest t-shirts are worn by groups united behind a common purpose and anyone wanting to visibly show their support for a cause. Campaigning and fundraising groups, such as the Mark Ashton Trust, would often wear t-shirts when collecting donations to show the aims and purposes of the group as well as identify themselves with a campaign or issue so that they are easily recognisable.
T-shirts are also frequently used by political parties in the run up to elections; candidates often wear t-shirts or clothing in the colour associated with their party as a way to signal loyalty to a party and promote that party’s electoral chances. People may also wear political t-shirts when canvassing, so that voters recognise them as political figures representing their party and can engage in discussion about their party’s policies. The Labour Party t-shirt pictured above was worn by party members in the run up to the 2017 general election and features the campaign slogan ‘For the many, not the few’.
There is an environmental and social cost to t-shirt production and not acknowledging it can sometimes contradict the very message that is being promoted. In 2014, a t-shirt reading, ‘This is What a Feminist Looks Like’ went viral after multiple celebrities, activists, and politicians were photographed wearing it as part of a campaign to promote women’s equality. However, the t-shirt was produced under exploitative conditions and the people, mostly women, who worked in the factories where it was made were not fairly compensated for their labour. Oxfam’s Clothes Code aims to address the social inequality involved in t-shirt production and campaigns for ethical alternatives to exploitative practices.
Environmental impact must also be considered. Producing a cotton t-shirt produces around 7kg of CO2 emissions. Some groups, such as environmental network Extinction Rebellion, have swapped out traditional t-shirt printing for more DIY methods, taking t-shirts people already own and using block prints to transfer a message. This is also a cheaper method for those who may struggle with the money involved in having t-shirts printed. The anti-poll tax t-shirt pictured above is another example of a DIY t-shirt made from materials that likely were found around the wearer’s house ahead of the march.
Does the utility of the t-shirt in campaigning or protest movements outweigh the environmental cost of t-shirt production? As the world continues to experience the devastating effects of the climate crisis, questions like this one may become more and more important for campaigning groups.
View the entire range of t-shirts in PHM’s collection. All recently digitised thanks to funding from the John Ellerman Foundation.
Read our blogs about the 1981 People’s March for Jobs, the 1984 to 1985 Miners’ Strike and activist and campaigner Mark Ashton.
Visit the museum and follow PHM’s pink rosettes trail and discover incredible objects from 20 general elections, including a Labour Party t-shirt from 1997.
Join The Fabric of Protest creative workshop for some stitching, chatting and sharing, inspired by the museum’s collection.
Go behind the scenes of The Conservation Studio on a guided tour with our specialist textile conservators, and discover how they care for the museum’s collection
Buy Pits and Perverts t-shirts from PHM shop.
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