20240830145908.gif)
Between the nineteenth and early twentieth century, tennisplayers had a tough time playing their games as a result of poor design of theirattire. In those days, they had to wear long-sleeved shirts, trousers and eventies to the tennis court. These formal cloths were akin to what the whitecollars of today wear to work and were simply too heavy and cumbersome forprofessional playing. Therefore, a French tennis player called Rene Lacostedecided to start his own line of tennis shirts named after himself, Lacoste.The 7-time Grand Slam tennis champion came up with a loosely-knittedun-starched pique cotton tennis shirt with a collar and longer shirt-tail atthe back. The collar is thicker so that it could be upturned and provide theneck protection from the sun while playing. Actually, before Lacoste inventedthe revolutionary tennis shirt in 1929, polo shirts already had the button-downcollar design since the late nineteenth century. While this design was able toprevent the wind from flapping the collars against the players neck, thelong-sleeved polo shirts which were made of Oxford-cloth cotton were clumsy towear on the field. As a result, Lacostes tennis shirts were promptly taken onby the polo players as their apparel in the 1930s.
Soon, the polo shirt and tennis shirt were considered theone and the same. In the US, the two terms were very commonly usedinterchangeably in the 1950s to describe this very popular apparel. It was sopopular that the tennis players openly refer to their shirt as a poloshirt", even though the t-shirt was first used in tennis and even thoughpolo only adopted it many years later.
The t-shirt was made even more popular, thanks to RalphLauren. In 1967, he added a
Before long, golfers became aware of the advantages ofLacostes tennis shirt. As a result, when golfs customary wear grew morerelaxed and informal some time in the twentieth century, golfers did not thinktwice about adopting the tennis shirt. Until today, most golfers wear nothingelse. For the ladies, they can have their tennis shirt custom made in colorsthat they like. The only difference is that the monicker golf shirts"have various golf cuts necessary to incorporate into the standard tennis shirts.Today, the tennis shirts popularity is so widespread that it has a line offashion of its own. Most of the main clothing producers have a version orvariation of Lacostes tennis shirt since it is worn extensively by both menand women today and not necessarily for athletic purposes. Tennis shirts areregarded as smart casual wear. Many semi-professional and retail workers weartennis shirts to work because round collar t-shirts are considered too informaland yet business suits are too formal.
Field guides, laborers and others who work outdoors love towear tennis shirts to work because the material and design are resilient anddurable. Sometime in the 1990s, the tennis shirt also found favor by the hightech industry and was made its standard business as well as casual wear. Otherindustries followed suit. Usually, a company logo is printed on the shirt tomake it look more business-like. In some of Indias government departments,tennis shirts are standard office wear.
In many schools with uniforms, especially junior schools,tennis shirts are part of a compulsory uniform for both boys and girls. Thetennis shirt continues to be popular in sports, even used by officials such ascaddies, some retired golf professionals, umpires and sports announcers. Thanksin part to the outdoor nature of the sports with which they are linked to, theshirts often come in light colors, for example in tennis the color white ismost often used.
Like in the original Lacostes design, sometimes a tennisshirt is cut so that the back hangs a few centimeters lower than the front alsoknown as a "tennis tail". The longer tail is meant to keep the shirttucked into the back of a man's tennis shorts when he is bent over to surveythe court. The easily-upturnable collar remains another athletic aid to protectagainst sun burns.
The tennis shirt or Joules Clothing polo shirt will continue to occupy a nichein the fashion industry, regardless of the changing trends and times. It hasbecome an essential wear in our daily lives.
About the Author:
JoulesClothing,
To read more articles on
To promote your company, product and services via promotional article, followthis link:
20240909093956.jpg)
Comments