Interestingly enough, polo shirts
were originally designed for playing tennis; in fact, to this day, they are
sometimes referred to as “tennis shirts”. Before champion René Lacoste invented the shirt in 1926,
tennis fashion consisted of long-sleeved button-up shirts, flannel pants, and neck
ties. This attire made the game difficult to play, and was uncomfortable to
boot. Lacoste’s design improved the clothing greatly, changing not only the
style of the shirt, but the material as well. The short sleeves meant players
no longer had to roll up their sleeves to keep their arms mobile; the soft
pique-style collar was able to be turned up to prevent a sunburned neck; the
new “jersey knit” fabric was durable, and more breathable than the previous
dress-shirt fabric; and a "tennis tail", created when the back of the
shirt was longer than the front, could be placed into the back of the pants to
keep a dignified and tucked appearance while still moving freely. Later, polo
players—whose uniforms likewise consisted of uncomfortable, long-sleeved
shirts—gladly embraced the shirt as part of their own sport. By 1973, when
Ralph Lauren featured the shirts as part of his company’s “Polo,” collection,
the shirt had already become so associated with polo that tennis players—for
whom the shirt was originally designed—took to calling it a “polo shirt”.
At the turn of the 20th
century, the color of choice for dress shirts was white. They were meant to be
a simple part of a suit, nothing more. In the 1910’s, however, colored shirts
became increasingly popular, with vertical blue-and-white stripes quickly
becoming a favorite. As the decade changed, striped dress shirts stayed trendy,
with thicker stripes and more varied colors coming into favor; blue and green
stripes could stylishly exist together on one shirt, while another might
feature yellow and pink stripes, and so on. Before long, checks, plaids, and
dots also came into fashion. These stripes and patterns were almost always set
against a white background, again to compliment whatever suit a man might wear,
though solid-colored pastel dress shirts became acceptable near the end of the
1920s.
Short-sleeved dress shirts didn’t
really come onto the market until 1953; even then, clothing retailers feared
the shorter sleeves would be too reminiscent of sports shirts, and had to
educate their sales associates on how to properly sell the idea of a
short-sleeved dress shirt. Luckily, customers gladly took to the new style, as
they could now keep cooler in the workplace while still looking classy in a
suit jacket. From these short-sleeved dress shirts, the business-casual button-down
shirt as we know it today was created. These shirts could be buttoned up to the
neck, or left open at the top for a more casual look, and were almost always
worn tucked into the waistband. More casual, sporty looks came into style as
well, made of more comfortable fabrics and with two large pockets.
“In the 1910’s the striped shirt such
as blue and white vertical stripes were very popular in the summer months. The
trend for stripes continued into the 1920’s where various thickness of stripes
were mixed with not just one color but multiple colors of stripes. Blue, green
and yellow could be seen on one shirt or pink, yellow and green on another. For
dress shirts the stripes were nearly always against a white background so as to
complement whatever suit men chose to wear. Besides stripes, Chevoit checks,
light plaids, and even polka dots had their trendy moments. Solid color dress
shirts were acceptable towards the late 20’s.
Greens and blues were the favorites although pastel colors like peach,
pink, purple, and orange were seen on trendy dressers…Fabrics were mostly
cottons or linen in summer. Silk was very popular in the 1910’s until the cost
of silk import drove the prices too high for the common man in 1920. Thicker,
corser weaves such as broadcloth were favored in the early years with the
softer oxfords and mercerized cotton leading the later years. Soft material
that was primarily used for men’s underwear and night shirts became a welcome
fabric in men’s dress and casual shirts too…While most men wore dress shirts
for 90% of their life, the working class, the young men, and the weekend
sportsmen wore casual shirts which were long sleeved and collared just like
dress shirts. The sport shirt was usually a single color, in a heavier durable
fabric such as twill, wool, or flannel for manual work and rugged sports
(hunting, hiking, fishing, etc)... The short sleeve shirt was just starting to
make an appearance in mens sportswear. The
polo shirt, a short sleeve knit shirt with longer shirt flaps in the back and
three buttons up to the collar was about as casual as you could get. The
polo shirt was new to market and not yet ready for the masses to bare arms.”
“The difference between dress and
sport was still in the tailoring and the fancy collar types. When the short
sleeve dress shirt hit the market around 1953, retailers, feared they would
look too much like sport shirts. Educating the salesmen to show off the new
style as a cooler alternative to long sleeves was required. Fortunately most
male shoppers picked up the trendy short sleeved style with enthusiasm. Now
they could relax in their offices in casual comfort and still look respectable
when the need came to put their suit jackets back on …The button down shirt was
a spin off from men’s dress shirts. They always had one or two chest pockets,
were worn tucked in and had a moderate point collar. Most shirt collars
buttoned up to the neck just like dress shirts. Some styles were made “sporty”
with double large pockets and more casual materials. In fall and winter a long
sleeve plaid flannel shirt (aka a country or California ranch look) was
especially popular.”
No comments:
Post a Comment