How tennis and polo shirts came together

A tennis shirt, often referred to as a polo shirt or a golf shirt, is a style of t-shirt with a collar. It usually has two small slits on the bottom of each side, an optional pocket, and a few buttons along a slit below the collar. Usually knitted materials, such as pique cotton, but less frequently silk, merino wool, or synthetic fibers, are used to make these shirts.

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Tennis players found it difficult to play their games in the late 19th and early 20th centuries due to poorly made clothing. They used to have to come to the tennis court with long sleeve shirts, pants, and even ties. These stiff, formal clothes were just too heavy and unwieldy for professional playing; they resembled the white collars of today’s workforce. Consequently, Rene Lacoste, a French tennis player, made the decision to launch his own brand of tennis jerseys with his own name, Lacoste. The seven-time Grand Slam tennis winner designed a tennis shirt with a collar and a larger shirttail at the back made of loosely-knitted, unstarched pique cotton.

The thicker collar allows it to be turned up and shield the player’s neck from the sun as they play. Actually, the button-down collar on polo shirts dates back to the late nineteenth century, long before Lacoste created the iconic tennis shirt in 1929. The Oxford-cloth cotton long-sleeved polo shirts were awkward to wear on the field, but at least this design kept the wind from fluttering the collars against the players’ necks. The polo players quickly adopted Lacoste’s tennis shirts as their uniforms in the 1930s as a result.

The tennis shirt design quickly came to be associated with the phrase “polo shirt.” It became a prominent slang term in America by the 1950s, referring to the shirt that was most often associated with formal tennis wear. In fact, despite the fact that the term “polo shirt” was coined far earlier in polo than in tennis, players would more frequently refer to their shirt as such.

Then, in 1967, Ralph Lauren launched a new line of polo shirts and added them to his already-existing Polo range. Polo shirts thus gained even greater appeal. Although Lauren’s polo shirts were not specifically made for the match, their style was inspired by what the players were donning at the moment.

Tennis shirts became the typical golf shirt as golf apparel became more casual and less formal in the 20th century. Today, the majority of golfers—male and female—wear tennis shirts. Tennis shirts for women may be customized in a variety of hues. The term “golf shirt” originated from the fact that golf is a completely different game from tennis and hence calls for a distinct cut on the tennis shirt. Tennis shirts have their own market segment because they are so widely worn in today’s culture. Almost every fashion designer began creating at least a variant of Lacoste’s tennis shirt for non-athletic uses as both men and women wear it for every occasion. However, tennis shirts provide an excellent alternative uniform for occupations (such as semi-professional and retail workers) when round collar t-shirts are considered inappropriate yet formal business apparel is considered overdressed. Tennis shirts are commonly seen as casual and dressy clothing.

Because of its flexible and durable texture, tennis shirts are also appropriate for outdoor activities. For example, those who work as laborers and field guides like to wear tennis shirts to work. Throughout the 1990s, the high tech sector gradually adopted tennis shirts as part of their required work attire. Usually, the tennis shirt has the corporate logo embroidered on it to give it an official appearance. Tennis shirts have been chosen by several Indian government departments as their official uniform.

Tennis shirts are unquestionably quite stylish in the sporting world. Tennis shirts are regularly worn by officials including caddies, sports commentators, umpires, and certain former golf pros. In addition, tennis jerseys are a common sight in many schools, particularly in the lower grades. Tennis shirts are a required element of the school uniform for both boys and girls. Tennis shirts are available in a wide range of light colors as they are directly related to sports. White is the color that is most common.

Sometimes a tennis shirt is cut with the back hanging a few millimeters lower than the front, a style known as a “tennis tail” similar to the original Lacoste design. When a guy leans down to look over the tennis court, the longer tail is designed to keep the shirt tucked into the rear of his shorts. The collapsible collar is still an additional sports device that offers sunburn protection.

Whatever it is, tennis shirts and polo shirts will endure for many years to come as a staple of our wardrobe, adapting to shifting trends and seasons.