Songfacts®:

• Thomas Rhett wanted to cut this groove-filled Ashley Gorley, Luke Laird and Shane McAnally penned song on his first album, but at the time it was on hold for Tim McGraw. He told the Las Vegas Review Journal: "Literally, Tim McGraw took it off hold the day that my record had to be turned in. So there was no time to cut it on the first record. But this was always my wife's favorite song, and for me, man, I was just like even though I've heard it a jillion times."
• Rhett said regarding the song's meaning: "'T-Shirt' is basically about you and this girl that you're dating, or you have dated, and basically, you know, it's just kind of like this remembering story - I remember when you were standing in my bedroom with my long T-shirt on and you were dancing around. It's basically just kind of a fun love song."
  
  "It kind of just reminds me of, you know, when me and Lauren first got married and, you know, you're in that sort of honeymoon phase. It's just a good-time song and brings good vibes."
• The T-shirt was invented in 1904 and marketed to American bachelors who couldn't sew or replace buttons. It was so named as it has the shape of the letter T when spread out flat.
  
  The T-shirt first came into vogue in the 1940s when the US Navy introduced a limited cotton undershirt of this style. The American troops would often strip off to their underwear in the tropical heat.
  
  When Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire premiered at a New York theatre, Marlon Brando took to the stage wearing a bright white capped-sleeve T-shirt. It was the first time it had appeared in public as anything but an undergarment. Brando's T-shirted appearance was not because of prior stage direction, but because he had worn one to rehearsals.
  
  The T-shirt was transformed from establishment uniform to a symbol of countercultural cool by James Dean in the 1955 movie Rebel without a Cause.
• Other artists that have recorded songs with a T-shirt in the title include Shontelle, The Gaslight Anthem, Circa Waves and Dire Straits.
• Thomas Rhett's father Rhett Akins recalled how upset his son was that he couldn't record the song when Tim McGraw had it on hold. He told The Boot:
  
  "Me and Ashley drove to Kentucky one morning to write with Thomas Rhett on the road, and Thomas Rhett was so bummed out. He'd been playing the song on soundcheck, and he was so bummed. He was like, 'Tim's going to cut this song tomorrow, and I'm not going to get it.'
  
  This might sound cheesy, but I can't stand to see him worry. He's the biggest worrier on Earth; he's been that way since he was born. I finally just said, 'Thomas Rhett, there's nothing you can do about it. If Tim cuts it, I don't know what's going to happen. The only thing we can do to solve this is pray about it right now.'
  
  Me and Ashley and TR got in a huddle, and we said, 'God, if you want Thomas Rhett to have this song, thank you. If you want Tim to have this song, I hope it's a huge hit. Whatever happens, just give Thomas Rhett some peace, and let's get on with it.' And the very next day, Tim didn't cut it, and they all said he could keep it."