Author: Lorena Lombardozzi, Cristina Santos

Activity
15 minutes

The secret life of T-shirts

Updated Wednesday, 9 January 2019

Explore the secret life of T-shirts as we look deeper into how they are made, how the value is created and who benefits from this value.

This page was published over 5 years ago. Please be aware that due to the passage of time, the information provided on this page may be out of date or otherwise inaccurate, and any views or opinions expressed may no longer be relevant. Some technical elements such as audio-visual and interactive media may no longer work. For more detail, see how we deal with older content.

Have a look at your T-shirt label, where does it say it was made? What does this actually mean? Your T-shirt may have been all around the world before it arrived in the shop you bought it from, so why is only one country listed?

Your T-shirt has been on a long transformation process from a cotton field to your wardrobe. Find out more about all of these stages and which of them add the most value to your T-shirt.

Finally, who benefits from this value? Find out more with our interactive exploration into the secret life of T-shirts:

Launch the interactive exploration

Click the image above to launch.

Find out more about Economics:

Economics explains discrimination in the labour market

Discrimination in the labour market exists in many forms: the 'glass ceiling', ageism, racism, and so on. This free course, Economics explains discrimination in the labour market, will help you look at this problem from a new perspective: through economics. You will learn how economists have tried to understand what drives this distortion of the...

Learn more to access more details of Economics explains discrimination in the labour market

Become an OU student

Author

Ratings & Comments

Share this free course

Copyright information

Become an OU student

BA/BSc (Honours) Open degree

Some of the key questions in the world today require expertise from a range of subjects. Multidisciplinary study has always been at the heart of the Open University, and the BA/BSc (Honours) Open, or Open degree, allows you to bring together different areas of study in a completely flexible way to develop knowledge and skills. It's a degree with a difference. Free from the restriction of a subject-specific specialism, you can set the direction of your learning. Choose from over 250 modules across 16 subject areas to create a bespoke qualification that matches your interests and helps you stand out in the job market. "The flexibility of creating your own path is simply amazing. I am super thankful for the opportunity to create a degree adapted to my needs and interests. It's ingenious."?Susanna van Tonder, BA/BSc (Honours) Open

OU course

BA (Honours) Politics, Philosophy and Economics

Politics, philosophy and economics (PPE) are central to understanding how modern societies are organised and governed. By studying them together you'll gain a combination of skills that?s in high demand across the private, public and non-profit sectors. Whilst PPE has been described as ?the degree that runs Britain?, this combination is better viewed as the study of how countries are run, what motivates and constrains their rulers and residents, and how social order and prosperity are best understood and promoted.?All three disciplines are presented in up-to-date form, covering alternative as well as ?mainstream? approaches and firmly rooted in the real world.

OU course

Economics in context

Why are markets so powerful in most economies today? What is the role of the government in different economies, and how does this role shape opportunities for different people and firms? What explains global inequalities? Why is economic growth such a key economic goal in most countries today? Are there other goals economies could pursue? You'll unravel these and similar questions using insights from recent history, key economic thinkers, and drawing on economic perspectives and examples. This module is a building block towards a critical perspective on economics and economic choices for our daily lives.

OU course

My OpenLearn Profile

The secret life of T-shirts

Find out more about Economics:

Economics explains discrimination in the labour market

Become an OU student

Author

Ratings & Comments

Share this free course

Copyright information

Publication details

Copyright information

BA/BSc (Honours) Open degree

BA (Honours) Politics, Philosophy and Economics

Economics in context

Politics, knowledge and social change during the COVID-19 pandemic

W.E.B. Du Bois – A Man for All Times

Weighing up the reliability of expert criminal evidence

Convoy to Calais

Rate and Review

Rate this activity

Review this activity

Activity reviews