polo shirt
A polo shirt, originally called a tennis shirt and also known as a golf shirt, is a T-shaped shirt with a collar, typically two or three buttons down a slit below the collar, two small slits on the bottom of either side, and an optional pocket. A zipper may substitute for buttons, or neither may be present. Polo shirts are usually made of knitted cloth (rather than woven cloth), usually pique cotton or, less commonly, silk, merino wool, or synthetic fibers. Long-sleeved shirts with polo collars also exist.
History
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History of the tennis shirt
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, tennis players ordinarily wore "tennis whites" consisting of long-sleeved white button-up shirts (worn with the sleeves rolled up), flannel trousers, and ties.[1][2][3][4] As one might expect, this attire presented several problems for ease of play and comfort on the court.[2][4]
René Lacoste, the French 7-time Grand Slam tennis champion, was very keen to these problems. He decided that the stiff tennis attire of the day were simply too cumbersome and uncomfortable for the tennis court.[2] Instead, he designed a white, short-sleeved, loosely-knit piqué cotton (he called the cotton weave jersey petit piqué) shirt with an un-starched, flat protruding collar, a buttoned placket, and a longer shirt-tail in back than in front (known today as a "tennis tail"; see below), which he first wore at the 1926 U.S. Open championship.[1][2][5][3] Beginning in 1927, Lacoste placed a crocodile emblem on the left breast of his shirts, as the American press had begun to refer to him as "the alligator," a nickname which he embraced.[1][2][3]
Lacoste's design mitigated the problems which the old, traditional tennis attire created: the short, cuffed sleeves solved the cumbersome tendency of long-sleeves to roll down; the soft collar easily could be loosened by un-buttoning the placket, the piqué collar easily could be worn upturned in order to block the sun from one's neck; jersey knit piqué cotton breathed; and the "tennis tail" prevented the shirt from pulling out of the wearer's trousers or shorts.[1][5][3]
In 1933, after retiring from professional tennis, Lacoste teamed up with his friend and clothing merchandiser André Gillier, to market that shirt in Europe and North America.[1][2][5] Together, they formed the company Chemise Lacoste, and began selling their shirts - still including the small embroidered crocodile logo on the left breast.[1][2]
Application to polo and other sports
Before Lacoste’s 1933 mass-marketing of his tennis shirt, polo players wore thick long-sleeve shirts made of Oxford-cloth cotton.[6][4] Interestingly, this shirt was the first to have a buttoned-down collar, which polo players invented in the late nineteenth century to keep their collars from flapping in the wind (Brooks Brothers's early president John Brooks noticed this while at a polo match in England, and began producing such a shirt in 1896).[6][7] Brooks Brothers still produces this style of button-down "polo shirt".[6] Still, like early tennis clothing, those clothes presented a discomfort on the field, and when polo players became aware of Lacoste’s invention in the 1930s they readily adopted it for use in polo.[4]
The term polo shirt, which previously only had referred to the long-sleeved buttoned-down shirts traditionally used in polo, soon became a universal moniker for the tennis shirt; no later than the 1950s, it was in common usage in the U.S. to describe the shirt most commonly thought-of as part of formal tennis attire. Indeed, tennis players often would refer to their shirt as a "polo shirt," notwithstanding the fact that their sport had used it long before polo did.
In 1972, Ralph Lauren (when his name was still Ralph Lifschitz) included his "polo shirt" as a prominent part of his original line called Polo, thereby probably helping to further its already widespread popularity.[8] While not specifically geared for use by polo players, Lauren’s shirt imitated what by that time had become the normal attire for polo players.[4] As he desired to exude a certain "waspishness" in his clothes, initially adopting the style of clothiers like Brooks Brothers, J. Press, and "Savile Row"-style English clothing, he prominently included this attire from the "sport of kings" in his line, replete with a logo reminiscent of Lacoste’s crocodile emblem. This worked well as a marketing tool, for subsequently, due to the immense popularity of Lauren’s clothing, a majority of English-speaking westerners began to refer to Lacoste’s tennis shirt as a "polo shirt".[9] Still, "tennis shirt" remains a viable term for all uses of Lacoste’s basic design.[4]
Over the latter half of the twentieth century, as standard clothing in golf became more casual, the tennis shirt became adopted nearly universally as standard golf attire.[1][4] Very few golfers today wear anything else.[4] Moreover, producing Lacoste’s "tennis shirt" in various golf cuts has resulted in specific designs of the tennis shirt for golf, resulting in the monicker "golf shirt".[4]
Today
Status and use
Since 1933, the tennis shirt has become so popular that it has become one of the standard categories of clothing. Virtually every major clothier makes some version or variation of Lacoste's tennis shirt. It is today worn by both men and women in numerous non-athletic contexts.[4] Notably, tennis shirts are worn by many semi-professional and retail workers in settings where T-shirts are not acceptable, but formal business attire is not required. In contemporary Western fashion, tennis shirts are considered more casual than woven button-front shirts while still being slightly dressy.[4]
It is also a favored shirt for those working outside, such as groundskeepers and construction workers due to its ruggedness and style. During the 1990s, the tennis shirt became the standard informal business attire for the high tech industry and then spread to other industries (see business casual).[4] A form of tennis shirt (often prominently branded with the company name and logo) is a common element of a uniform for retail companies. In China, most younger government officials wear tennis shirts (sometimes made of silk) as standard business attire.
In many schools that require students to wear uniforms, especially junior schools, tennis shirts are part of a compulsory uniform for both boys and girls.[4]
The tennis shirt continues to have vast use in athletics, used even by non-athletes associated with a given sport in their employment, such as caddies, some retired golf professionals, and sports announcers.
The 1980s Spanish pop-punk group Los Nikis is named after the Spanish name of the shirt[10]. It was part of their concert attire.
Style
The most common way to wear a tennis shirt is with the top button undone and with an optional undershirt underneath for warmth. One can find them in a wide variety of colors and patterns. Wide horizontal stripes (hoops) are common, as are shirts with patterns. Due to the outdoor nature of the sports with which they are associated, the shirts are often made of "natural" colors. For tennis, one would normally wear a brighter-colored shirt, most often white.
As in Lacoste’s original shirt, sometimes a tennis shirt is cut so that the back hangs a few centimeters lower than the front. As noted above, this is called a "tennis tail".[4] The longer cut is designed to keep the shirt tucked into the back of a man's tennis shorts when he is bent over to survey the court. The easily-upturnable collar remains another athletic aid.[4]
By the late 1990s, the tennis shirt had started falling out of favor by tennis players. As of 2007, most tennis players, like Roger Federer, usually wear a t-shirt, but a few others, like Andy Roddick, still wear a tennis shirt.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Fashion Encyclopedia, "Lacoste Sportswear" (2007).
- ^ a b c d e f g "The Story of Lacoste".
- ^ a b c d Time Magazine, "Style & Design: Lacoste," Winter 2004.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Jay Pow, "How tennis and polo shirts came about"
- ^ a b c The Brand Channel, Lacoste profile.
- ^ a b c Official Brooks Brothers history website
- ^ Fashion Encyclopedia, "Brooks Brothers".
- ^ Official Ralph Lauren history website: "1972".
- ^ Official Ralph Lauren history website: "1967".
- ^ Niqui at the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española.
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