A tennis shirt, now commonly called a polo 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, and an optional pocket. Lacoste is a French Apparel company founded in 1933 that sells High-end Clothing, Footwear, Perfume, leather A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body Originally an item of underwear worn exclusively by men it has become in American English a catch-all term for A zipper may substitute for buttons, or neither may be present. zipper (data structure A zipper ( English: zip fastener or zip) is a popular device for temporarily joining two edges of fabric. Polo shirts are usually made of knitted cloth (rather than woven cloth), usually pique cotton or, less commonly, silk, merino wool, or synthetic fibers. Knitted fabrics are the third major class of fabric after Woven and Nonwoven fabrics A woven is a Cloth formed by Weaving. It only stretches in the bias directions (between the warp and Weft directions unless the Piqué refers to a Weaving style as in “piqué Cotton,” which is characterized by raised parallel cords or fine ribbing (for example in the collar of a Silk is a natural Protein Fiber, some forms of which can be woven into Textiles The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons The Merino is the most economically influential breed of sheep in the world prized for its Wool. Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells called follicles of animals in the Caprinae family principally sheep, but the hair of certain species Synthetic fibers are the result of extensive research by Scientists to improve upon naturally occurring Animal and plant
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History
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. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Tennis is a sport played between two players ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles) Trousers are an item of Clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth stretching across The necktie (or tie) is a long piece of cloth worn around the neck resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat [1][2][3][4] As one might expect, this attire presented several problems for ease of play and comfort on the court. A tennis court is where the game of Tennis is played It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center [2][4]
René Lacoste, the French 7-time Grand Slam tennis champion, decided that the stiff tennis attire was too cumbersome and uncomfortable. Jean René Lacoste ( July 2, 1904 - October 12, 1996) was a famous French Tennis player and businessman nicknamed "the This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The four Grand Slam tournaments are the most important Tennis events of the year [2] 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. Piqué refers to a Weaving style as in “piqué Cotton,” which is characterized by raised parallel cords or fine ribbing (for example in the collar of a Year 1926 ( MCMXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 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. Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [1][2][3]
Lacoste's design mitigated the problems that traditional tennis attire created: the short, cuffed sleeves solved the 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 to block the sun from the neck; jersey knit piqué cotton breathed; and the "tennis tail" prevented the shirt from pulling out of the wearer's trousers or shorts. In Clothing, a collar is the part of a Shirt, Dress, coat or Blouse that fastens around or frames the Neck. An upturned collar is an otherwise flat protruding collar of either a Shirt, Jacket, or coat that has been turned upward The Sun (Sol is the Star at the center of the Solar System. The neck is the part of the Body on many limbed Vertebrates that distinguishes the head from the Torso or trunk [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. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Andre Gillier is a founder of the French apparel company Lacoste. [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. Jaipur ( Hindi: जयपुर also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital of Rajasthan state, India. Polo is a team sport played outdoors on Horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team Oxford is a type of woven fabric employed to make the fabric in Oxford shirts The warp has two fine yarns paired together [6][4] 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). Wind is the flow of Air or other Gases that compose an Atmosphere (including but not limited to the Earth's) Brooks Brothers is the oldest surviving men's clothier in the United States, founded in 1818 Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year [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. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. For the company see Polo Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren (born Ralph Lifshitz on October 14, 1939) is an American Polo Ralph Lauren ( is American Fashion designer Ralph Lauren 's luxury Lifestyle company [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. White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, commonly abbreviated to the Acronym WASP, is a sociological and cultural Ethnonym J Press is a men's clothier in the United States. Founded in 1902 in New Haven, Connecticut, by Jacobi Press the company now Savile Row (ˈsævɪl both vowels short with accent on the first syllable is a shopping street in Mayfair, central London, famous for its traditional men's A crocodile is any Species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the Subfamily Crocodylinae) An emblem is a pictorial Image, abstract or representational that epitomizes a Concept — e 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] Golf shirts are commonly made out of polyester, cotton and polyester blends, or mercerized cotton. The plaque 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.
Today
Status and use
Since 1933, the tennis shirt has become so popular that it has become one of the standard categories of clothing. Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick (born August 30 1982 is an American professional Tennis player and a former World No 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. A T-shirt (or tee shirt) is a Shirt which is pulled on over the head to cover most of a person's Torso. In contemporary Western fashion, tennis shirts are considered more casual than woven button-front shirts while still being slightly dressy. In American English, a dress shirt is a predominantly men's Shirt with a collar, a full-length opening at the front from the collar to the hem and full [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). Business Casual is the first release by Omaha Nebraska band Beep Beep. [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. A uniform is a set of standard Clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity
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. In Golf, a caddy (or caddie) is the person who carries a player's bag and gives insightful advice and moral support In Golf the distinction between amateurs and professionals is rigorously maintained
Style
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 Novak Djokovic, usually wear a t-shirt, but a few others, like Roger Federer, still wear a tennis shirt. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ( Serbian: Новак Ђоковић Novak Đoković, ˈnɔvaːk 'ʥɔːkɔviʨ born May 22 1987 in Belgrade, Serbia (part of Yugoslavia at A T-shirt (or tee shirt) is a Shirt which is pulled on over the head to cover most of a person's Torso. Roger Federer (ˈrɒdʒə ˈfɛdərər born August 8 1981 is a Swiss professional Tennis player who is currently ranked World No
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". Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995 born in Stockport, Cheshire, was an English Tennis and Table tennis Lacoste is a French Apparel company founded in 1933 that sells High-end Clothing, Footwear, Perfume, leather A rugby shirt, often referred to as a jersey, is a Shirt worn by players of Rugby league or Rugby union. Sportswear (or Active attire) is Clothing, including Footwear, worn for Sport or exercise
- ^ 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".
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