The Beginnings of Tennis and Polo Shirts

A tennis shirt or also commonly known as a polo shirtgolf's customary wear grew more relaxed and
or a golf shirt, is a type of t-shirt with a collar, typicallyinformal some time in the twentieth century, golfers did
with some buttons down a slit below the collar, twonot think twice about adopting the tennis shirt. Until
small slits on the bottom of either side, and an optionaltoday, most golfers wear nothing else. For the ladies,
pocket. These shirts are usually made of knitted cloththey can have their tennis shirt custom made in colors
especially pique cotton or, less commonly, silk, merinothat they like. The only difference is that the monicker
wool, or synthetic fibers."golf shirts" have various golf cuts necessary to
During the nineteenth to early twentieth century, tennisincorporate into the standard tennis shirts. Today, the
players usually wore long-sleeved shirts, trousers, andtennis shirt's popularity is so widespread that it has a
ties Attire suitable for office work in our modernline of fashion of its own. Most of the main clothing
society. These formal clothes presented severalproducers have a version or variation of Lacoste's
problems for ease of play and comfort on the court.tennis shirt since it is worn extensively by both men
The French 7-time Grand Slam tennis championand women today and not necessarily for athletic
René Lacoste felt that the stiff dress shirts and tiespurposes. Tennis shirts are regarded as smart casual
of the day were simply too heavy and uncomfortablewear. Many semi-professional and retail workers wear
for the tennis court. He began his own line of apparel,tennis shirts to work because round collar t-shirts are
named Lacoste after his namesake and designed aconsidered too informal and yet business suits are too
loosely-knit pique cotton shirt with an un-starched, flatformal.
protruding collar and a longer shirt-tail in back than inIts rough and ready style also makes it a favored shirt
front. The function of the thick pique collar was tofor those working outdoors, such as field guides and
protect the neck from being sunburned by the sun.labourers. During the 1990s, the tennis shirt became the
Preceeding Lacoste's 1929 invention of the tennis shirt,standard business informal/casual attire for the high
polo players normally wore thick long-sleeve shirtstech industry and then spread to other industries.
made of Oxford-cloth cotton. It is interesting to noteCompany logos are often printed on these tennis shirts
that this shirt was the first to have a button-downto be used as custom corporate apparel. Some
collar, which polo players invented in the late nineteenthgovernment officials in India wear tennis shirts as
century to keep their collars from flapping in the wind.standard work attire.
Still, those clothes presented a discomfort on the field,Tennis shirts are without doubt very fashionable in
and when polo players became aware of Lacoste'ssports. Officials such as caddies, some retired golf
invention in the 1930s they readily adopted it for use inprofessionals, umpires and sports announcers wear
polo.tennis shirts on a regular basis. Besides that, tennis
Before long, the design of polo shirt and tennis shirtshirts are also popular in many schools, especially junior
became the same. By the 1950s, polo shirts wereschools. Both boys and girls wear tennis shirts as part
deemed as part of the standard tennis attire inof their compulsory uniform to schools. Because tennis
America. It was highly sought after. In fact, the tennisshirts are closely associated with sports, they come in
players also cite their court uniform as a "polo shirt",all sorts of light colors. The most typical color is white.
although in reality, the t-shirt was initially designed forThe modern tennis shirt has a special feature called a
tennis and was only taken on by polo players a good"tennis tail". This design is taken from the original
many years later.Lacoste, whereby the back is cut a few centimeters
Then Ralph Lauren started a new line of polo shirtslonger than the front so that when the tennis player
and incorporated it into his existing collection called Polo,leans forward, the shirt will still stay tucked properly in
in 1967. As a result, polo shirts became even morehis shorts. In addition, a tennis shirt's collar can be easily
popular. Lauren's polo shirts were not really designedupturned to protect the player's neck from the sun.
for the game, but its design was similar to what theThe tennis shirt or polo shirt will continue to occupy a
polo players were wearing at that time.niche in the fashion industry, regardless of the changing
Before long, golfers became aware of thetrends and times. It has become an essential wear in
advantages of Lacoste's tennis shirt. As a result, whenour daily lives.