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Two things are making the rugby shirt this summer’s most exciting casual clothing item:
1. Clint Eastwood’s film Invictus, showing South Africa’s World Cup quest has won critical acclaim; it’s the ‘Best Movie for Grownups’ according to AARP The Magazine catering for the 50+ audience in the USA, as well as being popular with rugby players themselves. Starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, the film is likely to be one of the most popular historical dramas of the year.
2. The Six Nations Rugby, ahead of the 2011 World Cup, promises to be a more equal, and therefore more exciting, European tournament than for many recent years. And for England fans, Jonny Wilkinson is back in the frame for both the Six Nations and the World Cup.
So how should you wear your rugby shirt to be in with the latest fashion?
• This item of sportswear is likely to be more popular in a solid colour than in the traditional hoops of colour in 2010.
• Never, ever, tuck it in.
• While rugby shirts have been worn a lot with jeans in the past, this year – because of the links to the film, Invictus – they will be most fashionable worn with sports shorts especially white ones.
As recently reported across the UK, a pressure group is asking parents not to buy their little girls pink presents for Christmas, and of course, little boys see pink as the most horrible colour in the world, associated with frills, playhouses and kissy games.
But if you’re not so little, pink is the new black. For several decades, City bankers and other financial types have worn pink shirts and pink ties, and even read the ‘pink pages’ which contained the finance news. Pink polo-shirts and golf shirts have been popularised by the world’s sporting stars and next year’s 2010 English cricket opener between county champions Durham and the MCC will be played in Abu Dhabi …using pink balls
Pink is the colour of choice in high fashion and the High Street, according to Robert Johnston, associate editor of GQ magazine and it’s not just fashion, 5% of shirts sold by the English shirtmaker Turnbull & Asser, are pink.
To wear pink well, pick a shirt or polo-shirt with a strong colour, a pink that’s too pale can make a man look as if he’s just washed a white top with something red and had the colour run. Team a pink T-shirt with black trousers or with jeans, but not white, brown or red which look a bit Starsky and Hutch, and if you’re not entirely comfortable about starting with pink clothing, choose a T-shirt or rugby shirt that is striped pink and other colours to ease you into this flattering colour.
Cotton has been used to make cloth in areas with tropical climates since around 12,000 BC and is now the largest clothing contributor in the world
Why is cotton clothing so popular?
• From the day a baby is born, it is dressed in cotton clothing like all-in-ones or T-shirts because it’s a non-allergenic fabric which doesn’t irritate sensitive skin or create allergies. This also makes it the most popular fabric for underwear and cotton socks and undergarments are still the first choice for the world’s sporting legends.
• Because cotton is adaptable it can be blended with other fabrics such as polyester to make easy wear, easy care shirts or with lycra to make clothing that fits snugly. It’s also a very good taker up of dye, which means cotton or cotton blend T-shirts and polo-shirts have richer colours that those made entirely of synthetic fabrics.
• Cotton is more durable that finer fabrics such as silk, so cotton casualwear has a longer life than many other garments. Cotton is also able to take up 27 times its own weight in water, making it the ideal fabric for clothing such as jog pants and sweatshirts that need to absorb sweat without leaving the wearing feeling uncomfortable.
• Organic cotton is particularly suitable for people with sensitive skins as it is produced with none of the insecticides or chemicals that can remain as a residue in standard cotton – this is why organic cotton clothing can often feel a little softer than other cottons and is popular for comfort garments such as sweatshirts and casual tops like vests that are worn next to the skin.
In August, Dennis the Menace, beloved of generations of children and a nightmare to teachers and parents nearly ended up in hoodie. There was a cunning plan to dress him as a graffiti artist complete with spray can and hoodie as part of the Beano makeover and for his appearances as a BBC cartoon. The design agency makeovers didn’t quite get their way. The new Dennis will still have his stripey top and shorts, but a more up-to-date hairstyle. No hoodie, sadly.
And David Cameron seems to have lived down his hug-a-hoodie speech in which he infamously suggested that young criminals needed love rather than punishment.
New Hoody popularity
What’s brought about the rehabilitation of the hoodie? Partly, it’s a gender thing. More women are now wearing hoodys than ever before, and they are being seen on some top girls, like Kate Moss and Prince William’s girlfriend Kate Middleton who wears them to polo-matches. Partly it’s new styling that has made this year’s hoodies tighter and sleeker, less like crime-hoods and more like the sportswear they actually are. And partly it’s colour. Hoodies used to be grey, black and navy, but now they turn up in pink, yellow and this year’s top shade: chocolate brown, and that makes them look like a completely different garment.
How to wear a hoodie
To wear a hoody proudly, make sure that what you have on under it is not too bulky, as that spoils the new clear line of the tighter hoodies, and try to have a contrasting garment so you get two colours where the hoodie neck meets the T-shirt or vest underneath it. That adds interest to the ensemble and makes it clear you’re not wearing a hoodie as camouflage trying to avoid getting caught on CCTV.
Most people these days have a couple of polo-shirts in their drawer or wardrobe – it’s become a standard item of clothing from tots to OAPs and it’s worn by everybody from sportsmen to company staff to nursing assistants to yummy mummies walking the family spaniel after doing the school run.
So wearing polo-shirts is pretty universally acceptable, but making good clothing choices can change your average polo shirt from a bland item to a fashion statement.
For women, it’s been traditional to pick pastel colours and more feminine styles, but in the past couple of years a more formal shape of polo shirt has become available for women, in brighter colours or with contrasting trim, to give their polo-shirt wearing a cutting edge appeal.
For men, the pink polo is a recent development, and it’s been traditional for men to stick with standard colours: navy, white, black and maybe red, but now the polo-shirt comes in an amazing range of colours and styles. Shirt sizes have also increased so that the come in extra large and even XXXL shirts for the burlier man. This means that getting the right fit and cut is easier for everybody.
Polo-shirts look good under a jumper, but can also be worn well with a sleeveless fleece or with an informal jacket. This means that the polo-shirt can be worn year round, making it one of the most versatile forms of clothing around.
The top polo shirt for autumn is tipped to be pink. Yes, once again, the pink polo shirt is appearing on the catwalks, often not as a block colour but in a striped form with a dark green or a light blue or in a three colour stripe with light and dark brown.
But the solid pale pink colour is still very much around and ‘pink is making inroads into male attire’ is said by no less that Vogue Hommes International magazine. So what does this mean for the fashion conscious man, or just any man who wants to look smart without looking ridiculous?
• Don’t team your pink polo with red. It shouldn’t need to be said but it does happen that some men, perhaps the colour-blind ones, tend to wear red and pink together – it makes them look like a raspberry ripple ice-cream. Don’t do it.
• Pink needs strong colours to support it. While you shouldn’t wear red, do pick strong shades to support pink – it looks good with navy, black or British racing green, so wear it with a navy fleece for example, but grey or beige will simply wash out the colour.
• Solids and patterns. If your polo is a single solid colour, try teaming it with a pattern like herringbone trousers, a tweed jacket or even a marl jumper.
• Wear it with confidence. Pink looks great on most men, but it needs to be worn with panache. Don’t hide your pink polo away, under other clothing so only the collar peeks out, wear it with pride, putting a T-shirt underneath if it’s chilly weather.
Women have come to love the simple, classic, polo shirt as much as men, but for women there are ways to wear the polo that really make it into a fashion statement – here’s a brief round up of what you can do to turn a simple polo shirt into a show stopping outfit:
• Use a scarf: scarves are big this summer, especially floaty, hippy type scarves, so use a couple to dress up your polo shirt by wearing the shirt with a long skirt and then twisting one scarf to make a rope belt that you tie round the waist of the shirt, while the other you twist and wear round your hair like a headband.
• Wear a waistcoat: this is a great way to give a polo shirt some pizzazz – just add a contrasting waistcoat over the top to give a more formal impression.
• Wear a vest T-shirt on top: low cut vests in contrasting colours can make a polo shirt look very boho – just put the T-shirt on over the polo shirt and make sure you leave the polo neck completely unbuttoned, it looks very casual and cute.
• Wear it under cashmere: for instant style, pair a soft-toned women’s polo-shirt with a v-neck cashmere sweater or a button-up cashmere cardigan. It’s a bit like a twin-set but more modern.
All of these add a twist to the classic polo shirt.
Stedman by Hanes is one of the world’s leading brands in quality sportswear and casualwear. It produces the kind of clothing that is both relaxed and wearable every day, while being durable and this isn’t surprising, given the history of the Hanes brand.
In 1901 the first Hanes underwear was produced and when it became two piece underwear instead of the all-in-one that men had worn until that time, men quickly began wearing it as outerwear, so perhaps the first T-shirt was born from this behaviour?
Anyway there’s now a vast range of T-shirts, polo-shirts, and sweatshirts designed to be as comfortable as underwear but as stylish as the most fashion aware consumer could demand.
Look out for fantastic budget casual wear in the Stedman range, in particular long-sleeved T-shirts that hark back to the simple, cosy comfort of the very first Hanes brand but carry all the durability and style of this international brand. Stedman is one of the world’s best selling cost-conscious T-shirts for three good reasons: comfort, price and hard-wearing design.
Seriously, researchers into evolutionary theory and practice have discovered that both men and women respond better to white clothing than other colours and that there might be an evolutionary reason.
White shirts, with a dark suit, caused women to view a man as more powerful than the same man wearing a dark shirt. White shirts with a white tuxedo amplified the effect and given a choice between the same man wearing a white T-shirt or a navy blue one, women preferred the white T-shirt.
We know that men respond to women wearing white, whether it’s a wedding dress or that girl tennis player scratching her behind, but why? When men were shown the same ‘nurse’ wearing a white polo shirt or a green one, they felt the one wearing the white polo shirt was more intelligent and compassionate.
The colour white is a high risk colour in the world of animals, unless you live in a snowy region – white stands out against most backgrounds. This means that a white creature that can survive against a non-white background, must be more resourceful, clever or powerful than other creatures, so it’s a good creature to breed with as it has better genes for survival.
We don’t like to think of ourselves as creatures, but it seems that we may have the same evolutionary tendencies as all other living things. We think that white clothing makes the wearer superior. So wearing a white polo shirt could be just the thing if you want to impress a certain guy or gal … or maybe even a teacher or interviewer. And if you have a business, putting your staff in white polo shirts, work shirts or even T-shirts, could make a lot of difference to the way your company is seen by your customers.
A hoodie also spelt hoody, is a mysterious thing. If you’ve never owned one, you view them with deep suspicion, especially if the hoodie wearer is following you up the street on a dark night. On the other hand, once you’ve experienced the comfort, warmth and general usefulness of a hoodie, especially if you work outside or are an athlete, you cannot ever imagine living without one.
While it developed as a piece of warm up gear in the 1930s, it wasn’t until Hip-Hop took hold in New York in the 1970s that the hoodie became a fashion item, helped by the first Rocky film, where Sylvester Stallone single-handedly made the hoodie into the garment de jour. And by the 1990s, the skater or surfer hoodie was ubiquitous. However, in the UK, the hoodie was associated with chavs, criminal activity and out of control youth. It was banned from certain shopping centres and the term hoodie culture was viewed as marking out all that was bad in urban, disenfranchised, delinquent young men.
But since the Millennium, the hoodie has begun a process of rehabilitation, and now that London will host the Olympics 2012, hoodies are becoming not just acceptable but downright popular.
A great hoodie, like those produced by Fruit of the Loom, has a number of features: it will be comfortable, it will be heavy enough to feel warm but loose enough to allow easy movement and it will be soft and comfortable to wear. It may have a drawstring hood and a front pocket, or a zipper and two side pockets, but it will always fit snugly around the face to prevent earache or loss of heat through the head. And it will be easy to wash and wear. Given all its benefits, it’s good that the hoodie, or hoody is undergoing a renaissance, because as far as casual clothing goes, it’s definitely in the top ten for wearability.
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