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nce upon a time, it was the epitome of cool, the symbol of rebellious youth. Today, the T-shirt makes even more of a statement, and that statement is, well, whatever you want it to be, really.

Anything can be printed on a T-shirt, and with new technologies meaning anyone can be a designer, the T-shirt, is now, more than ever, both a collective and an individual mode of expression.

T-shirts say - or shout - something about their wearers in a way no other fashion item can, boldly or subtly displaying feelings, attitudes, beliefs and loyalties. What T-shirts do is create a connection between fashion, experience, social role and status.

"The T-shirt has evolved into more than just comfortable daily wear," says cultural observer Seno Gumira Ajidarma. "It's a medium of expression and to show one's identity."

Who could forget the great T-shirt battle between Hollywood hotties Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie over Brad Pitt? Aniston may not have openly declared war with Jolie during her divorce from Pitt, but when people started showing up wearing T-shirts printed with either "Team Aniston" or "Team Jolie", everyone knew the heat was on.

That was 2005, and when the Jolie/Aniston T-shirts appeared in People magazine, people all over the world got caught up, taking sides in the celebrity battle, including young Indonesian fashionistas, who were easily able to get hold of copies of the T-shirts in local distros (underground clothing outlets).

Hollywood and Jakarta are thousands of miles from each other, but the situation showed that through a simple item of clothing, a single idea or cause could be shared and expressed by huge numbers of people.

The T-shirt has its own stories in Indonesia. As Seno points out, political regime changes have marked the different faces of the T-shirt, which proved a means to identify wearers' characters and positions during the New Order, reform and post-reform eras.

"There was this kaos jaman orba *New Order T-shirt*, dating back to 1978," Seno recalls. "It was part of the struggle by that time; it was used as a tool to show resistance."

While the trend until then had been to wear T-shirts as underwear, Seno explains, the item moved to become hip outerwear in the late 1970s to send messages such as "Kembalikan Indonesia Padaku" (Bring Indonesia back to me) or "We Want A Clean Government!", which was worn by students of the University of Indonesia.

"At that time, the T-shirt was a result of the strict political oppression. We also called it kaos opini or kaos protes *opinion or protest T-shirt*," Seno says.

The T-shirt remained a popular medium to criticize the government until the reform era in 1998, appearing side-by-side with T-shirts for rock-n-roll bands and designer brands that had crept into the local fashion industry in the 1980s. "Retiring" from its duty of criticizing the government, the T-shirt took on a new role during the post-reform era: Entertainment.

"After the reform era in 1998, this kind of protest T-shirt suddenly disappeared and was replaced with *humor T-shirts' like that produced by *Yogyakarta-based clothing company* Dagadu and *Bali-based* Joger.

"So there it was. No more serious T-shirts. All were done in funny lines and graphics," Seno says. "Even the hip *Tommy Hilfiger' of the time was spun into *Tommy Keblinger *confused*'."

But the relationship between politics and T-shirts was not laid to rest entirely in the post-reform era. In 1999, colorful political campaign T-shirts started appearing in big cities and small villages alike. Unlike the three colors of T-shirts - yellow, green and red symbolizing the three opposing parties Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) - during the New Order era, this period saw T-shirts multiply, with one for each of the 48 competing parties.

An actor, who asked not to be named, says he was into a "T-shirt craze" at that time, collecting the T-shirts for almost all of the 48 parties.

"I was in senior high school then. We were in this democracy euphoria. I went to parties' events just to get free T-shirts," he says. "I thought it was cool to own all of those T-shirts just to show off to my friends. It was a great feeling to look at the colorful T-shirts on the clothesline in my backyard."

Then the new millennium arrived. The T-shirt has been following - and setting - fashion trends ever since, giving local people whatever the global market offered. And thanks to the sprouting of distros in the past 10 years, the T-shirt has become more fashionable than ever. No longer just a piece of cloth with colors and images, the T-shirt has fused with piques, knits and details.

"Now, whether you want to look casual or dressy, the T-shirt can do that for you," says Astrid, who owns a clothing outlet in Plaza Semanggi mall in South Jakarta.

These days, she says, people are clamoring for personalized T-shirts more than ever. And thanks to technological developments, "we can even have our own face printed onto a T-shirt".

Astrid's shop has been making personalized T-shirts since last year. Most of her customers are parents who want to have pictures of their children emblazoned on their kids' T-shirts.

"They sometimes want their kids' names on the T-shirts, just to show off the pretty names they gave to their children," she laughs.

Other recent trends, Astrid adds, are "advertisement T-shirts" displaying brands such as Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Walls, KFC and McDonald's.

"It's funny to think that there are people who are willing to pay to advertise something. It's like letting yourself to become a walking billboard but without getting paid," Astrid says.

Looking fashionable? Check. Personalized? Check. Anything else?

"Well, a T-shirt is not something that is going to break your budget." Astrid says. "Unless it's an imported or limited piece, most T-shirts are affordable. Plus, there are so many choices to fit your taste," she adds, pointing to the shop next to her, which has on display an array of the bright colorful tie-dye T-shirts so popular in the 1960s.

"That's the latest trend: the Generasi Bunga (Flower Generation) or hippie T-shirt. Trendy but not expensive - only around Rp 30,000 each," she says.