#NotOldyButGoldy
Vintage is. *HENLEY SHIRT*
From gentleman’s sport jersey, to hard work uniform, to jolly of men’s wardrobe.
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#NotOldyButGoldy
Vintage is *HENLEY SHIRT*
From gentleman’s sport jersey, to hard work uniform, to jolly of men’s wardrobe.
The first appearance of similar garments come from Victorian Age England, where they were widely used as men’s underwear. Their main feature was obviously about comfort, and because of this they started to be used as sport uniform, particularly rowers crews chose the henley as official jerseys. The origins of the garment name came exaclty form Henley on Thames, home of the famous Royal Regatta, the most important in the UK since 1839. There are two main practical reasons why rowers opted for the Henley, the button closures on the front helped thermoregulation and a collar would have caused flutters and distractions.
Starting form industrial revolution, production volumes of goods grew exponentially allowing a worldwide distributions of clothes and fabrics, the henley stared to be used as working garment, in particular in high temperature environment, such as farms and mines. During this period Henleys were used only for strenuous activities, sport or hard work. The origins of the italian name, Serafino, has a completely different story, in fact it come from the main character of Serafino a 1968 movie by Pietro Germi starring a young Adriano Celentano, who displays an italian shepard who wears almost only Henleys ( What a surprise, isn’t it?).
The exceptional versatility of the Henley allowed them to become a must have in casual looks, its presence in pop culture is not loud but constant. Bruce Lee wore a white henley in his most famous movie, The Big Boss (1971) creating an iconic character/outfit pairing. From ’60s Henley started to appear also on female looks, underlining a whole new society and the classic but relaxed mood of this garment. In the most iconic scene from Rocky IV (1985) we can notice Sylvester Stallone wearing another white henley, as Ryan Gosling does in Drive and also Daniel Craig in the latest James Bond franchise.
In a couple of centuries Henley has became a pillar of casual wear, offering an easygoing alternative to the classic polo shirt. Traditionally made in cotton, featuring from three to five buttons on the front, long or short sleeved depending on your needs, during the years it has been reworked many times without losing its original mood. The Henley shirt by Vintage55 wants to celebrate the origins of this garment, we have made it also in our woman collection to underline its versatility, the chiseled buttons and the vintage dyeing process are amazing details that enrich even more this garment.
Musical tip: “Regatta de Blanc”
The Police
