POLOS

Polo shirt outline
A polo shirt is a form of shirt with a collar, a
placket neckline with typically two or three
buttons, and an optional pocket. Polo shirts are
usually short sleeved; they were originally used
by polo players during the 1920s [1]
Polo shirts are usually made of knitted cotton
(rather than woven cloth), usually a Piqué knit, or
less commonly an interlock knit (the latter used
frequently, though not exclusively, with pima
cotton polos), or using other fibers such as silk,
merino wool, synthetic fibers, or blends of
natural and synthetic fibers. A dress -length
version of the shirt is called a polo dress. [2]
History
History of the polo shirt
At the end of the 19th Century outdoor activities
became important for the British ruling class.
Johdpur pants and polo shirts became part of
the wardrobe for horse-related sports. [3] . The
two garments were brought back from India by
the British, along with the game of polo. A
picture shot at the end of the 19th century,
presumably in India, shows players wearing a
striped polo shirt [4] .
History of the tennis shirt
A Lacoste tennis shirt
In the 19th and early 20th 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 . [5][6][7] This attire presented problems for
ease of play and comfort. [6]
René Lacoste, the French seven-time Grand Slam
tennis champion, felt that the stiff tennis attire
was too cumbersome and uncomfortable. [6] He
designed a white, short-sleeved, loosely-knit
piqué cotton (he called the cotton weave jersey
petit piqué) shirt with an unstarched, flat,
protruding collar, a buttoned placket, and a shirt-
tail longer in back than in front (known today as
a "tennis tail"; see below), which he first wore at
the 1926 U.S. Open championship. [5][6][7][8]
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 Crocodile", [9][10] a nickname which he
embraced. [5][6][7]
Lacoste's design mitigated the problems that
traditional tennis attire created: [5][7][8][11]
the short, cuffed sleeves solved the tendency
of long sleeves to roll down
the soft collar could be loosened easily by
unbuttoning the placket
the piqué collar could be worn upturned to
protect the neck skin from the sun
the jersey knit piqué cotton breathed and was
more durable
the "tennis tail" prevented the shirt from
pulling out of the wearer's trousers or shorts
In 1933, after retiring from professional tennis,
Lacoste teamed up with André Gillier, a friend
who was a clothing merchandiser, to market that
shirt in Europe and North America. [5][6][8]
Together, they formed the company Chemise
Lacoste, and began selling their shirts, which
included the small embroidered crocodile logo
on the left breast. [5][6]
Application to polo
Polo players Paul Barr, Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha , Adolfo Cambiaso ,
Martin Valent with fellow player Prince
William (center), wearing polo shirts as
part of their uniform.
Until the beginning of 20th century polo players
wore thick long-sleeve shirts made of Oxford-
cloth cotton. [12] This shirt was the first to have
a buttoned-down collar, which polo players
invented in the late 19th century to keep their
collars from flapping in the wind (Brooks
Brothers ' early president, John Brooks, noticed
this while at a polo match in England and began
producing such a shirt in 1896). [12][13]
Brooks Brothers still produces this style of
button-down "polo shirt". [12] Still, like early
tennis clothing, those clothes presented a
discomfort on the field.
In 1920, Lewis Lacey, a Canadian born of English
parents in Montreal, Quebec, in 1887,
haberdasher and polo player, began producing a
shirt that was embroidered with an emblem of a
polo player, a design originated at the
Hurlingham Polo Club near Buenos Aires. [14]
The definition of the uniform of polo players –
the polo shirt and a pair of white trousers - is
actually a fairly recent addition to the sport. Until
the 1940s shirts were generally very plain, with
no numbers, writing or logos. When necessary,
numbers (ranging from 1 – 4) were simply
pinned on to the back of the player’s shirts a
few minutes before the start of a match. To
differentiate the polo teams from one another,
some polo shirts had horizontal stripes, others
bore diagonal coloured stripes.
In 1972, Ralph Lauren included his "polo shirt" as
a prominent part of his original line Polo , thereby
helping further its already widespread
popularity. [15] While not specifically designed
for use by polo players, Lauren's shirt imitated
what by that time had become the normal attire
for polo players. 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,
depicting a polo player and pony.
Golf
Over the latter half of the 20th century, as
standard clothing in golf became more casual,
the tennis shirt was adopted nearly universally as
standard golf attire. [5] Many golf courses and
country clubs require players to wear golf shirts
as a part of their dress code. [16][17] Moreover,
producing Lacoste's "tennis shirt" in various golf
cuts has resulted in specific designs of the
tennis shirt for golf, resulting in the moniker golf
shirt .
Golf shirts are commonly made out of polyester,
cotton-polyester blends, or mercerized cotton.
The placket typically holds three or four buttons,
and consequently extends lower than the typical
polo neckline. The collar is typically fabricated
using a stitched double-layer of the same fabric
used to make the shirt, in contrast to a polo
shirt collar, which is usually one-ply ribbed knit
cotton. Golf shirts often have a pocket on the
left side, to hold a scorepad and pencil, and
may not bear a logo there.
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Polo
shirts.
Rugby shirt
Sportswear (activewear)
References
1. ^ Charlotte Mankey Calasibetta - Phyllis
Tortora, The Fairchild Dictionary of Fashion -
2003 Fairchild Publications, inc. New York -
ISBN 1-56367-235-9
2. ^ McKean, Erin (2013). The Hundred Dresses:
The Most Iconic Styles of Our Time . USA: A &
C Black. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-4725-3585-6 .
3. ^ Vittoria De Buzzaccarini, L'eleganza dello
stile - Duecent'anni di vestir maschile. 1992,
Edizioni Lupetti & co
4. ^ https://www.hurlinghampolo1875.com/our-
story
5. ^ a b c d e f g "Lacoste Sportswear –
Fashion Designer Encyclopedia" .
6. ^ a b c d e f g The Story of Lacoste.
Retrieved from "Archived copy" (PDF).
Archived from the original (PDF) on 26
January 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2011..
7. ^ a b c d Style & Design: Lacoste. Time
Magazine, Winter 2004. Retrieved from http://
www.time.com/time/2004/style/111504/article/
lacoste_on_a_lark_and_a08a.html .
8. ^ a b c The Brand Channel, Lacoste profile
Archived 26 September 2012 at the Wayback
Machine.
9. ^ [1] The Crocodile
10. ^ [2] The Birth of the Crocodile
11. ^ Butterworth, Helen. "The History of the
Polo Shirt" . Retrieved 22 November 2012.
12. ^ a b c "Brooks Brothers – About Us" .
13. ^ Fashion Encyclopedia , "Brooks
Brothers" .
14. ^ "A Popular Shirt Tale" . TIME. 1
September 1986. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
15. ^ Official Ralph Lauren history website:
"1972" .
16. ^ "Dress Code" , BURLEIGH HEADS GOLF
CLUB
17. ^ "Dress Code: Proper Golf Attire" , Long
Island National Golf Club
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