which ironically is not a shirt but a T-Shirt.
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 1920
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. 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 XIX (19th) century presumably in India, shows players wearing a striped polo 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.This attire presented problems for ease of play and comfort.
René Lacoste, the French seven-time Grand Slam tennis champion, felt that the stiff tennis attire was too cumbersome and uncomfortable. 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.
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” a nickname which he embraced.
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 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. Together, they formed the company Chemise Lacoste, and began selling their shirts, which included the small embroidered crocodile logo on the left breast.
Application to polo
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).
Brooks Brothers still produces this style of button-down “polo shirt”. 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. 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.
The story behind US Polo’s Polo T-shirts
U.S. Polo Assn. is the official brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA), the non-profit governing body for the sport of polo in the United States. With worldwide distribution through over 1,000 U.S. Polo Assn. branded stores, independent retail, department stores and e-commerce, the U.S. Polo Assn. brand offers apparel for men, women and children, as well as accessories, footwear, travel and home goods in approximately 150 countries worldwide. The Association’s trademarks and logos registered worldwide are managed by USPA Global Licensing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the USPA.
USPA Global Licensing, Inc. partners with licensees in North and South America,[1] Asia, Europe,[2] Scandinavia, Russia, and the Middle East[3] to provide consumers with branded apparel, accessories, luggage, watches, shoes, small leather goods, eyewear and home furnishings.
As a for-profit corporation, USPA Global Licensing, Inc. pays taxes on its profits generated by sales from U.S. Polo Assn. products and submits royalties to the USPA for the exclusive rights to license its trademarks. Since its incorporation in 1890, U.S. Polo Assn. has realized annual global retail sales in excess of $1.6 billion. The royalties paid to the USPA enables them to promote the sport of polo and underwrite educational and training programs such as benefits for polo player members, support training centers for interscholastic and intercollegiate polo competition [4] and fund programs in umpiring, competition and equine welfare.
Very interesting indeed!
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Polo_Assn.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo_shirt
