Polo shirt

A polo shirt is a form of shirt with a collar, a placket neckline with three buttons, and an optional pocket. Polo shirts are usually short sleeved; they were originally used by polo players during the 1920s.

Polo shirts are usually made of knitted cotton (rather than woven cloth), usually a Piqué knit, or less commonly an interlock knit (the latter used frequently, though not exclusively, with pima cotton polos), or using other fibers such as silk, merino wool, synthetic fibers, or blends of natural and synthetic fibers. A dress-length version of the shirt is called a polo dress.

At the end of the 19th century, outdoor activities became important for the British ruling class. Jodhpur pants and polo shirts became part of the wardrobe for horse-related sports. The two garments were brought back from India by the British, along with the game of polo. A picture shot at the end of the 19th century, presumably in India, shows players wearing a striped polo shirt.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, tennis players ordinarily wore “tennis whites” consisting of long-sleeved white button-up shirts (worn with the sleeves rolled up), flannel trousers, and ties. This attire presented problems for ease of play and comfort.

René Lacoste, the French seven-time Grand Slam tennis champion, felt that the stiff tennis attire was too cumbersome and uncomfortable. He designed a white, short-sleeved, loosely-knit piqué cotton (he called the cotton weave jersey petit piqué) shirt with an unstarched, flat, protruding collar, a buttoned placket, and a shirt-tail longer in back than in front (known today as a “tennis tail”), which he first wore at the 1926 U.S. Open championship.

Beginning in 1927, Lacoste placed a crocodile emblem on the left breast of his shirts, as the American press had begun to refer to him as “The Crocodile”, a nickname which he embraced.

Lacoste’s design mitigated the problems that traditional tennis attire created:

• the short, cuffed sleeves solved the tendency of long sleeves to roll down;
• the soft collar could be loosened easily by unbuttoning the placket;
• the piqué collar could be worn upturned to protect the neck skin from the sun;
• the jersey knit piqué cotton breathed and was more durable;
• the “tennis tail” prevented the shirt from pulling out of the wearer’s trousers or shorts.

In 1933, after retiring from professional tennis, Lacoste teamed up with André Gillier, a friend who was a clothing merchandiser, to market that shirt in Europe and North America. Together, they formed the company Chemise Lacoste, and began selling their shirts, which included the small embroidered crocodile logo on the left breast.