If you’ve ever examined your clothing closely, you might have seen that certain items have a loop on the back. Men’s dress shirts usually include this loop. If you chance to find it, you might not have known about its possible application until lately. Button-down shirts are usually worn casually.
It can be dressed up as a stylish piece by adding further accessories and matching jeans. A small loop was attached to the back for those who often visit the gym. It makes it easy to take off and hang the shirt, saving time and effort looking for a closet or making sure there’s somewhere to store it before joining others outside the house.
One further use for the loop has been to display an individual’s relationship or single status. Indicating that the wearer is in a committed relationship and doesn’t need to hang the garments somewhere else, the shirt’s loop should be removed. The original meaning of the loop has been lost; it is now just an extra piece of material sewed into clothes.
Over the past century, American design has seen tremendous transformation, and it’s usually enjoyable to take a journey down memory lane and discover a little bit about the past. You’ll discover that, in actuality, some things haven’t altered at all.
This particularly holds true for men’s clothing. The back-of-the-shirt loop is one indisputably true but subtle piece of information that you might have missed. It’s there, daring you to grab it or use it to spin the t-shirt around on your finger, staring back at you from the middle yoke.
Frequently called a “locker loop” or “fairy loop,” it is a sewing detail found on numerous button-down and oxford t-shirts. The intention? As you might have guessed, the loops are intended to be used for hanging the t-shirts up. The origin story of the locker loop is sometimes connected to American sailors who hung their t-shirts from them while on board ships.
Ultimately, they became a typical part of popular menswear in the 1960s, worn by college students as part of their “preppy” ensemble. Clothing company Gant claims that this button-down got its start on Ivy League yards across the nation. After the company’s founder presented Yale’s training program for men the design for the t-shirt, word ultimately spread.
