Student Society discounts get a quote today for your society
Fair Trade and Organic hoodies See our Ethical section
T Shirt Printing Over 50 colours available online
Student Society discounts get a quote today for your society
Fair Trade and Organic hoodies See our Ethical section
T Shirt Printing Over 50 colours available online
Custom polo shirts with embroidered or printed designs are among the most widely sold items of personalized clothing. We at Acorn Printing supply a wide range of custom polo shirts in men’s, women’s and children’s sizes. They include designs by Fruit of the Loom, B & C and other quality brands.
Today, custom polo shirts are available in a wide range of colours and designs – but all are based on the Lacoste tennis shirt created in 1933. However, placket-collared polo shirts actually date back to 1896, when Robert Brooks developed a heavy long-sleeved Oxford cotton shirt, incorporating a button-down collar (called a placket) to prevent flapping in the wind, a version of which is still made by Brooks Brothers today. However, polo players found them uncomfortable, and adopted Lacoste’s short-sleeved tennis shirt in preference. Prior to this, a lightweight design embroidered with a polo player logo had been designed for the Hurlingham Polo Club at Buenos Aires. These custom polo shirts continued to be produced commercially, adding the familiar embroidered logo to the equation.
Since that time, custom polo shirts have become universally popular, with practically every clothing manufacturer making their own version of the Lacoste shirt. Instantly recognisable by their two or three-button placket, they are typically made of pique cotton, although polycotton and even lycra mixes are also available. Sleeves vary in length; today, full-length, cap-sleeved and even sleeveless versions are available.
As popular as ever on the sports field, custom polo shirts have become established golf wear, and are standard dress code in many golf clubs. Sports-specific golf shirts have been developed, with a longer placket and pocket to hold the score pad and pencil, and a stitched double-layer collar in the same fabric the shirt is made from, in place of the more familiar one-ply ribbed knit cotton collar. They are also widely used in leisure centres and sports clubs, being worn by both members and staff, including coaches and receptionists.
Lacoste’s sports-orientated shirts, with their iconic crocodile emblem, have also become a design classic with non-athletic wearers. In 1972, Ralph Lauren returned to the ‘sport of kings’ theme with a Polo fashion line incorporating an embroidered polo player and pony. Aimed at fashion buyers rather than sportsmen, this made custom polo shirts a high street favourite overnight.
Custom polo shirts mark the perfect balance between informal t-shirts and formal business attire, with a ‘smart casual’ look which makes them perfect as work uniform. They became informal business uniform for IT firms in the 1990s, rapidly spreading to the retail and hospitality industries. Today, it is common for custom polo shirts to be embroidered or printed with the company name or logo, either for staff wear or to be given away at promotional events. They are also a popular choice for groundsmen and other outdoor workers, being both rugged and stylish.
In recent years, custom polo shirts have become standard school uniform too. Embroidered with the school name and logo, they are worn both indoors and on the sports field, with schools able to boost funds by ordering in bulk for resale to parents. They are also widely used by student societies in colleges and universities, retaining their urban chic while delivering a message.
Acorn Printing Services Ltd.
Acorn House
Falkland Close
Charter Avenue Industrial Estate
Canley
Coventry
CV4 8AU
Free Phone (UK only) 0800 0190552
Telephone +44 (0) 24 7669 4466
Fax +44 (0) 2476 464059
Sales | sales@acorn-printing.co.uk
A limited Company registered in England: 4619732
VAT registered: 376 0325 57
Online web business names registered to APS Ltd
www.acorn-printing.co.uk
www.tshirtuk.com
www.tbears.co.uk
9am –- 5pm Monday –- Friday
