The iconic varsity jacket's origins trace all the way back to Harvard University in the year 1865.
Harvard's baseball team at the time was the first known group of students to sew large old English "H" patches onto their uniforms.
But these uniforms weren't varsity jackets, so to speak. Not yet, at least.
The Harvard uniform was basically a thick-knitted gray flannel pullover and, with the giant "H" sewn right onto the center, these soon came to be known as "letterman" sweaters.
Hebben ze de trui mogen houden?
The story goes that although lettered sweaters were soon provided to each player, in the spirit of good-natured competition, players involved in the year's most momentous games got to keep theirs while the rest had to return their letterman sweaters at the end of the season.
Het voetbalteam van Harvard zou tien jaar later zijn gevolgd door truien met letters te adopteren. Vesten wonnen aan populariteit ten opzichte van truien, waardoor het nodig was om de letter van het midden van de borst naar links te verschuiven.
Today's Varsity Jacket
Al snel hadden verschillende teams van verschillende scholen, uit het hele land, truien beletterd en uiteindelijk begonnen middelbare scholen in de voetsporen te treden van hun collegiale voorgangers.
By 1930, the varsity jacket finally took on the form we're so familiar with – wool jackets, leather sleeves and chenille lettering.
Moderne varsity-jassen, zoals die van United Sport Apparel, hebben zelfs zakken voor mobiele telefoons.
Varsity jackets have changed a lot over the years, but one thing that hasn't changed is that varsity jackets are a sign of achievement. You've earned your varsity jacket and now, with the ability to customize jackets with different colors, patches, designs and so on, each jacket can be as unique as the student wearing it.
Op maat gemaakte varsity-jacks van hoge-kwaliteit, gemaakt in de VS
Net als jij heeft United 110 procent ingezet om ons spel te perfectioneren. We zijn net zo trots op de productie van onze sportjassen voor de middelbare school als de atleten en studenten die ze dragen. Met meer dan 65 jaar ervaring bieden we de hoogste kwaliteit in handgemaakte-bewerkte, op maat gemaakte sportkleding voor teams, bedrijven en professionals.
Our custom letterman jackets are hand-made in the United States, using only the finest wool and leather materials, highest quality stitching, a wide variety of colors and hundreds of chenille patches and varsity letters.
