Joe Gold, Founder of Golds Gym

There are garments that are designed from the beginning to look a certain way, and then there are garments that acquire their character through use. The raw tee belongs to the second category. Its defining feature is also its simplest: the sleeves have been cut short or removed altogether, leaving the edges unfinished and exposing more of the upper arm. It looks deliberate, but its origins were far more practical.

      Golds Gym Workout 1970s

The story of the raw tee is closely connected with the culture of American bodybuilding during the 1970s, particularly the legendary Gold's Gym in Venice, California. Founded by Joe Gold in 1965, the gym became the centre of a remarkable period in bodybuilding history. By the 1970s it had attracted some of the most recognisable figures in the sport, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, Dave Draper and Frank Zane. The atmosphere was a long way from the polished, commercial gyms that would emerge decades later. It was a place built around training, heavy weights and the people who came there to use them.

The clothing reflected that environment. There was little interest in specialist sportswear as we understand it today. Bodybuilders trained in ordinary T-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts and whatever else was comfortable enough to survive a hard session. As the body heated up and training intensified, sleeves could become restrictive, particularly around the shoulders and upper arms. The solution was uncomplicated. If the sleeves were getting in the way, they were cut off.

                             Warmup, Golds Gym

It is difficult to identify a single moment when this became a recognised style, because the practice was essentially an act of improvisation. People were modifying clothing to suit the way they trained. A sweatshirt could have its sleeves removed, a T-shirt could be cut higher around the arm, and the result could be worn for the next workout. There was no pattern to follow and no technical garment to purchase. The wearer simply changed an existing piece of clothing until it worked.

That simplicity is an important part of the raw tee's character.

The 1970s were a particularly important period for bodybuilding. The sport was moving beyond its traditional niche and beginning to enter popular culture. Gold's Gym became central to that transformation, while the physiques and personalities of its members increasingly appeared in magazines, photographs and films. The release of Pumping Iron in 1977 brought the world of competitive bodybuilding to a much wider audience and helped establish the image of the Venice bodybuilding scene in the public imagination.

The clothes became part of that image.

The cut-off sweatshirt or T-shirt was perfectly suited to the environment. It exposed the shoulders and arms while leaving the wearer unrestricted during training. More importantly, it reflected the attitude of the gym itself. Nothing was especially polished. Equipment was there to be used, clothing was there to be worn and the emphasis was on the work rather than presentation.

There was also a practical relationship between the garment and bodybuilding that went beyond comfort. Bodybuilding is unusual among sports because the development of the body is itself part of the objective. The shoulders, arms and chest are areas that receive considerable attention during training, and the shortened sleeve naturally exposed those areas. As the physiques of the athletes became more developed, the cut of the clothing increasingly reflected the body underneath it.

But the clothing followed the training. It didn't create it.

Ken Waller about to lift heavy, on an Incline Fly

That distinction is worth remembering because much of today's performance clothing works in the opposite direction. Modern sportswear is engineered to advertise performance before the wearer has done anything at all. The raw tee came from a much simpler idea: make the existing garment less restrictive and more comfortable, then get on with the workout.

The unfinished sleeve edge is perhaps the clearest expression of that philosophy. Once the sleeve has been cut away, there is little reason to hem it. The edge can simply be left as it is. Over time, the cotton softens, the edge may curl slightly and the garment takes on the appearance of something that has been repeatedly modified and worn.

That imperfection is part of its appeal.

A raw tee should not look too precise. If the arm opening is perfectly engineered and the edge looks exactly like every other garment, some of the original character is lost. The charm comes from the suggestion that the garment could have been altered by its owner with a pair of scissors before a workout.

This is also what separates the raw tee from a conventional tank top. A tank is designed without sleeves from the outset. Its proportions, armholes and construction are developed specifically for that purpose. A raw tee retains the proportions and visual language of a traditional T-shirt, but the sleeves have been removed or substantially shortened. It looks adapted rather than designed. That distinction gives the garment its identity.

The influence of Gold's Gym eventually spread far beyond Venice. The gym became a symbol of the golden era of bodybuilding, while its distinctive logo appeared on T-shirts that were worn not only during training but around the streets of Venice and elsewhere. Gym clothing was becoming part of a wider cultural identity, and garments that had originally existed purely for exercise began to appear in everyday life. The raw tee fitted naturally into this transition.

It carried the appearance of the gym with it. The exposed arms, substantial cotton body and unfinished edges suggested hard training without requiring the wearer to actually be inside a weight room. The garment had acquired a visual language of its own. From there, its influence continued to spread.

What began as an improvised modification became a recognisable silhouette, eventually reproduced intentionally by clothing manufacturers. The irony is that the modern raw tee is carefully designed to resemble something that originally required almost no design at all.

The best versions retain that sense of simplicity.

The fabric should feel substantial rather than flimsy. The body should retain the straightforward proportions of a traditional T-shirt, while the shortened sleeves create more space around the shoulders and upper arms. The raw edge should look natural rather than artificially distressed.

Most importantly, it should feel like something that can be worn hard.

That quality connects the raw tee with a much broader tradition in American sportswear and workwear. Clothing becomes more interesting when it is allowed to develop through use. Cotton fades. Seams soften. Edges curl. The shape changes slightly with repeated washing and wear. The garment becomes yours.

There is something particularly appealing about this approach today. Modern clothing is often produced with the intention of remaining visually consistent for as long as possible. The raw tee belongs to a different philosophy. Its unfinished construction acknowledges that clothing will change. The marks of wear aren't necessarily damage. They are evidence of use.

That idea helps explain why the raw tee has survived long after the particular bodybuilding culture that gave it prominence. Its original purpose remains understandable even outside the gym. It is comfortable, unrestricted and uncomplicated. It can be worn with denim or work trousers, layered beneath an overshirt or simply worn on its own during warmer weather. The context has changed, but the basic principle hasn't; Make the garment comfortable. Give the wearer room to move. Don't add anything that isn't necessary.

Perhaps that is why the raw tee continues to feel more authentic than many garments that have been designed specifically to look authentic. Its history comes from people changing ordinary clothing because they needed it to work better.

There was no marketing strategy behind the first cut-off sleeves at Gold's Gym. No seasonal collection.No trend forecast. Just a bodybuilder, a sweatshirt and a pair of scissors.

The style came later.

The raw tee is a reminder that some of the best ideas in clothing don't begin with design at all. They begin with someone simply trying to make a garment work better.