The T-shirt as we know it evolved from nineteenth century undergarments as utility wear for men: miners and the military then farmers and factory workers. Then in 1950, Marlon Brando wore one in A Streetcar Named Desire and just like that the humble T-shirt was upgraded from under-your-workwear to fashion item. It was another decade before printed T-shirts were a thing and the garment became a platform for protest, self expression and souvenirs. Print a powerful statement on a T-shirt and those who agree are bound together by lightweight cotton knit and solidarity.
I have a drawer just for T-shirts and wear one most days. They are my battle cry, my protest placard, my jokes, my chest beaters, my plea for space. My all time favourite says If I’m too much, go find less. Today I am wearing one which says, Be kind to your mind.
I have souvenir T-shirts from Nashville, Tennessee which say, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene – you can have him and In Dolly we trust which I have worn so many times they have little holes in them. I also love my light blue T-shirt that says in very basic type, I’m not for everyone. I wore that on a first date and never saw him again, so that proves the theory. I realised today that I don’t own many T-shirts which don’t declare something.
I gave a T-shirt to my brother Pete when we were young adults that still makes me smile. He was at bible college looking for an equally churchy wife to go on missionary adventures with (he succeeded) when I bought him a bright red T-shirt with white letters which said JESUS LOVES ME and below that in tiny print, everyone else thinks I’m a wanker. He loved it.
The first protest T-shirt I recall owning was in 2017. It said in caps GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN-DAMENTAL RIGHTS. It originated when the message was used on placards at women’s marches all over the world, the day after the 45th president of the USA was inaugurated. Women everywhere were deeply concerned about their rights as the presidency took a hard right down Pussy Grabbing Boulevard. The US march raised more than $USD250,000 for Planned Parenthood and True Colors United. Cyndi Lauper turned the statement, which was a play on the title of her 1983 mega hit, Girls just wanna have fun, into a T-shirt and BAM – cash poured in, raising funds for reproductive rights and the LGBTQI+ community. This T-shirt has changed lives. Buy the original here which is on its third design release. Don’t accept fakes.
T-shirts really do make cracking fundraisers and therefore agents of change. They don’t just say something. They do something. Another which has moved mountains simply says in shouty caps: DANGEROUS FEMALE. It’s produced by an Australian crew of deadly women to fund initiatives for women and girls. I wear mine to the gym and no one causes me any harm. In fact, bodybuilders jump out of my way, which is rather nice.
And then came Grace Tame and the T-shirt she wore to an official function with the Prime Minister of Australia in January 2025. It’s the T-shirt that inspired this article, if I am honest. FUCK MURDOCH it said, in the boldest type I ever did see. Red for rage and black for certainty on white fabric for pop.
That was one mighty publicity opportunity she grabbed by the seams, creating world news. Women like Tame are not impressed by the Murdoch media monopoly. Maybe a monopoly could be tolerated if it were a more balanced one, but a right wing media empire built on fear and hatred with a side order of phone tapping has women all over the world thinking precisely what this T-shirt suggests. Several hundred have been sold since Tame stood next to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon, with a genuine, happy grin. You can buy the design Grace wore, hand printed in Australia, right here. They also stock FUCK TRUMP and FUCK ELON. Your wardrobe could become an orgy of oligarchs and obscenities, if you so wish.
My next T-shirt may well come from Cheek Media if I can overlook the typeface which is supposedly a nod to the early 2000s stretch and plonk. It says GOOD MORNING TO EVERYONE EXCEPT PETER DUTTON. When humour, truth and politics collide, a statement has more power, and the leader of the opposition here in Australia really struggles with 51% of the population having a good day. The pettiness of excluding a politician from a ‘good morning’ greeting is in such contrast to the gravity of the issue that it is funny, horrid and profound. To be clear, this man has made some totally bonkers statements lately and a lot of women are not pleased. He’s also consistently voted against women’s bodily autonomy in parliament. Alas, I can’t buy this T-shirt because I am fussy about the typefaces I place on my body (20 years as an advertising creative will do that to you) and the design hurts my soul, but you should: right here. Only buy originals, avoid all fakes.
Perhaps this is particular to Aussie humour but we love taking insults and owning them or turning them around and aiming them squarely at those who have lobbed them, like a textile mirror of sorts. Dutton (always causing problems for himself) referred to a woman journalist a while back as a ‘mad fucking witch’ in a text message meant for another member of parliament. But Dutton, an ex-cop and ex-butcher with fat thumbs, sent it to the journo in question, we assume in error. You can’t make this stuff up. Mad Fucking Witches was born to commemorate his buffoonery, the brainchild of Jennie Hill, a woman of many talents who had had enough.
My favourite T-shirt in MFW’s merch range simply says TO YOUR BROOMS. It’s a call to arms, a threat, a not-so-secret gathering of the unimpressed women that some sections of parliament and the media so desperately seek to curtail and silence. You can add this one to your T-shirt drawer here. The organisation has evolved into a ferociously successful movement to ‘fight media lies’ with more than 200,000 members. The current MFW campaign aims to remove radio ratings poison Kyle Sandilands from the airwaves for good and has almost entirely obliterated advertising support for his show by mobilising the membership.
Another insult-to-T-shirt success story comes from a small business in Blue Mountains of New South Wales named Mount Vic and Me, owned by artist and activist, Kara Cooper. One of her best sellers reads Typical bloody leftie. I asked her where this came from, assuming a rotten politician or perhaps career verbal abuser Alan Jones had said it but Kara confirms it is just a derogatory name that she’s copped all her life. In 2020, she enshrined the phrase on a T-shirt. One of my favourites in the Mount Vic range challenges toxic masculinity with an illustration of 80s TV star Mr T – a black man with a mohawk and mega muscles drinking a cup of tea and giving us all the side eye. See the full range here.
Yet another man-barb that I have slam-dunked into my wardrobe faster than you can say ‘machine wash cold’ is Nasty Woman by Confetti Rebels. The phrase has been used by a well known US politician for many years and he said it most recently when a bishop asked him to be merciful to the flock. South Australian school teacher Kate Boccaccio contacted the owner of Confetti Rebels, Amy Clarke and said, ‘how about a Nasty Woman T-shirt?’ and that was that. Amy dances in her apparel on socials and is one of the most adored e-commerce success stories in Australia. She’s the creative behind my favourite T-shirt of all time which you can find in the ‘loud and proud’ range here.
Lastly, I recently clicked ‘add to cart’ on a T-shirt with light blue print that simply says Rage consumes me by Shawn Craft. Pictured below the text in contrast to the angry confessional is a folk art style kitten holding a bouquet. My order hasn’t arrived yet and tracking says it has been returned to sender. I am annoyed on several levels. Buying it offered an all-encompassing statement across my bosom which refers to (but is not limited to) menopause, parenting teens, global politics, the cost of living crisis, the state of gender equity, climate change, and the way my hair sticks to my lipgloss when I am about to go on stage. Add to that a T-shirt shipped from mainland China (when I thought the seller was homegrown), that is on its way back to the manufacturer rather than to my letterbox.
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Lucy Bloom is an international keynote speaker, author and T-shirt activist.
