Golf outfits through the years
Golf is a very old and prestigious sport that was invented in Scotland many years ago. Over the years, the sport has spread all around the world and has become immensely popular. Throughout this time, the outfits that golfers have worn have changed dramatically as well; from wearing very formal outfits in the olden days to wearing more comfortable clothing nowadays. Golf has always been a bit of a formal sport and even today jeans and sneakers are not allowed on the golf course. Golf outfits have also become very fashionable these days with top design houses making the latest fashion accessible to golfers and sometimes even designing stuff especially for them. A lot of golfers are very well dressed these days, but you also sometimes see the odd horrendously dressed person out there in a tournament. The fashion statements will keep changing and it will be reflected on the golf course as well.
If we go back to golf’s beginnings in the 1700s, we see that golfers used to wear animal skins and kilts because of the sport’s Scottish heritage. Things started to change as the game became more popular. Golf attire in the early days was extremely formal and an outfit would usually consist of a long tailcoat, knee high britches and long stockings. This apparently was high fashion in those days and many golfers copied each other’s style. As the 1900s rolled around, stockings were getting unpopular and were being replaced by a new item of clothing that we all take for granted now. Trousers or slacks were becoming very fashionable and so golfers took to wearing them instead of the stockings. Also around the 1950s golfers started wearing formal jackets over their trousers to give them a dignified look on the course. After the 1950’s, golfers started to experiment with their style of clothing just as the world started to experiment with fashion in general. The 60s and 70s saw big changes in the world of fashion and that was aptly reflected in the world of golf. Colour found its way into the outfits worn by golfers and people started to wear whatever they felt looked good on them.
The interesting thing about golf though is that there is no specified dress code; a golfer can practically wear whatever they want to wear. There are certain frowned upon things such as jeans and sneakers but everything else seems to be fine. A golfer will have to follow the rules of the club they are playing at and a lot of them have their own specifics about what to wear. Most clubs do not like t-shirts and would prefer a shirt or a polo t-shirt. The polo t-shirt has a lot of advantages; they are as comfortable, easy to breath in and cool for playing in the hot weather, they are also stretchable to allow a golfer to swing at their fullest and they look more formal than a t-shirt. They seem to be the ideal thing to wear for both male and female golfers.
Female golfers used to be forbidden from playing golf in the beginning because it was seen as something that was not befitting for a lady to do. Later on as women started to play the game anyway, they could be seen playing in full corsets and huge skirts. The time has thankfully changed today, where female golfers wear trousers, shorts or skirts when they play. The clothing a golfer wears should allow them to move freely and give them the best opportunity to be comfortable throughout the day. Over time even hats and baseball caps started to feature in play because of the need to protect golfers’ faces from the sun while playing. Players can sometimes be seen wearing sunglasses as well to shield their eyes and allow them to see where they are hitting the ball.
There have been some very poorly dressed golfers over the years and some very fashionable ones as well. Tiger Woods is a golfer who always looks good on the course in whichever tournament he plays in. An eccentric golfer named John Daly was a very odd dresser and loved to wear bright multi-coloured, multi patterned trousers with bright pink polo t-shirts and blue sweaters. He loved to be seen in the brightest colours and was known more for his outfits than his game.
We will see a continuing evolution in golf outfits and maybe one day we might even see t-shirts, jeans and sneakers on the golf course. It might not happen soon but fashion changes and it will be reflected in golf as well.
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