The Fashionable History Of The Polo Shirt — You May Be Surprised
Think of a polo shirt, and a few different images may be conjured up in your mind: uniforms, preppy fashion, and dads. As versatile, useful, and fashionable as high-quality polo...
Think of a polo shirt, and a few different images may be conjured up in your mind: uniforms, preppy fashion, and dads. As versatile, useful, and fashionable as high-quality polo shirts can be, they sometimes get a bad rap. Seen as the “little boy” of men’s fashion instead of as the “professional man,” the polo shirt is the shirt you wear for collared events — but in which you can still feel comfortable.
No more! Here at Stone Rose, we love men’s luxury polo shirts and believe there are three reasons polo shirts are one of the best items for your closet: they’re versatile, comfortable, and colorful. When you shop men’s fashion, are you not looking for those three aspects? A quality polo shirt is comfortable (perhaps as comfortable as your favorite tee?), but it helps you to look pulled together for those summer picnics, first dates in the fall, or casual company events. Whether it’s a men’s spring shirt, men’s summer top, or men’s casual fall fashion, the high-quality polo shirt is the reigning king.
In today’s blog, we’re going to cover the surprisingly interesting history of the polo shirt and, of course, cover a bit of what makes our polo shirts online different from the rest. Shop men’s fashion today with Stone Rose.
Here’s The History Of The Polo Shirt
Q: True or false? Polo shirts got their start from men who would play polo.
A: False!
Polo shirts — though not as fashionable as our high-quality polo shirts — emerged with the early days of tennis. Men would wear flannel trousers, a dress shirt, and, get this, even a tie! This isn’t even expected at most workplaces these days. Can you imagine yourself playing well? It affected them also, so René Lacoste invented the grandfather of modern polo shirts — complete with a longer tail in the back so it could stay tucked in.
Q: What year did the polo shirt get its start?
A: Depends how you define “start”: either 1926 or 1933.
René Lacoste — a seven-time Grand Slam winner — debuted the shirt at the 1926 U.S. open, and, well, the rest is history! He started mass production of quality polo shirts in 1933.
Q: Why are crocodiles associated with early polo shirts?
A: René Lacoste was nicknamed “the Crocodile”!
His brand is still around today with its signature crocodile logo.
Q: So why is it called a “polo shirt” instead of a “tennis shirt”?
A: Because of its popularity with polo players.
Polo players would wear the Oxford button-down on the field, but they found the short-sleeve polo shirt much more effective. It was so popular with polo players that even tennis players began to call the garment a polo shirt!
