The Enduring Legacy of the College Letterman Jacket
A warm, smoke-scented jacket on a crisp fall night. Big felt letters with your graduation year that draw smiles and high-fives from your classmates. Varsity jackets evoke a sense of being young and becoming a fully-formed teenage gladiator. Receiving one was a rite of passage for every player who wanted to make “the big leagues.” The letterman jacket - also known as the varsity jacket - belongs to the latter. A garment that’s more than just outerwear. This simple garment represented a blend of team spirit and personal achievement. For others, it was a way to promote their team and a sense of belonging-whether it was with a school or an entire city.
Origins at Harvard University
In the mid-19th century, the Harvard baseball team needed something physical to distinguish its best players. The varsity jacket has a rich history dating back to early 1865 when it was first worn by student athletes at Harvard University. In 1865, Harvard University’s baseball team stitched a bold wool “H” onto their thick uniform sweaters. According to History Daily, letterman jackets originated in 1865 and were made for Harvard's baseball team to reward star players for their outstanding athletic abilities. The uniforms were called letterman's and were sported by the best performing players on the team. Only the most outstanding players were granted the honor of wearing it. These were flannel pullovers that looked nothing like the leather jackets we have today. Sportswear with school letters was the team’s property at that time but MVPs were allowed to keep their sweaters after the season ended. While MVPs and those who played in important games - such as those against arch-rivals Yale and Princeton - were allowed to keep the sweater at the end of the season, those who did not were required to return it. The term comes from the practice of awarding each such participant a cloth "letter", which is usually the school's initial or initials, for placement on a "letter sweater" or "letter jacket" intended for the display of such an award.
In 1875, Harvard's football team adopted the letterman uniform, carrying on the best players only rule. The Harvard football team followed suit roughly a decade later. This exclusivity made these jackets symbols of prestige and hard work, and people loved them. After Harvard began handing out these jackets to star players, other universities and sports teams followed suit.
Expansion and Evolution
By the 20th century, letterman jackets had transformed from the thick knit sweater into cardigans and heavy leather and wool jackets. As decades passed, other Ivy League schools followed suit. The tradition spread to football, basketball, track, and eventually academics, music, and student leadership. Some schools bought jackets for every player but awarded specific players a patch to put on their coats as an award, the same way Harvard awarded athletes the jackets. Before long, everyone knew what letterman jackets were and wanted to earn one.
The letterman jacket was so popular that other clubs and teams quickly began to take the same approach. Jackets were awarded to members of every team imaginable, including non-athletic teams like the Math Club. Schools often followed the same ritual of awarding jackets or patches to outstanding performers. Competitive parallels can be drawn between firefighters and athletes even today. It should also be noted that rowing teams had sweaters and blazers that may have inspired the modern varsity jacket’s trim. Personally, I believe pullovers and cardigans of all sports evolved concurrently. The varsity jacket that we know and love reflected men’s popular fashion after World War I. Still, this waterborne sport was popular on both sides of the Atlantic in the 19th and 20th centuries. It certainly made a splash in the athleticwear world. Knit cardigans were offered off-the-rack in the late 19th century. They were perfect for warm-up gear. It wasn’t long before the next iteration of the letterman jacket was realized since the full-button coat could be easily worn over flannel shirts-the outerwear was referred to as “coat jerseys” in period catalogs.
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Despite the growing line of knitted goods that coaches could pick from, pullovers persisted into the next century. Both cardigans and their button-less counterparts incorporated team colors with decorative trim. The Roaring Twenties were a decisive decade for fashion across the board. Athletic wear is included in this claim because the varsity jacket became the icon that it is today. Prominent among the midcentury makers was Butwin Sportswear Company of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Detail of a 1940s-era varsity jacket made by Butwin and sold by Spaulding Sporting Goods (not to be confused with Spalding!). Cassen’s patent for what would become the classic varsity jacket. It was assigned to Butwin Sportswear Company of Saint Paul, Minnesota. By the 1930s, these lettered sweaters and cardigans gave way to button-up wool jackets with leather sleeves and chenille letters; by the post-War boom of the 1950s, they were as ubiquitous and as quintessentially American as apple pie. Small details varied between manufacturers, but the jacket largely followed a general pattern: It’s cut short in the manner of a cossack or motorcycle jacket, hitting roughly at the hips; a banded collar, ribbed cuffs, and a ribbed waistband - often striped - display school colors. (Earlier examples sometimes feature point collars.) A snap-button front makes for easy doffing and donning of the jacket, while dual vented pockets feature above the waistline. Sleeves are leather or faux leather, and the famous “letter” - which is generally sewn above the left breast - is made from chenille, a fabric with a protruding pile.
Construction and Customization
We handcraft every jacket using full-grain leather, high-quality wool, and precision embroidery. Our artisans don’t just make garments - they build symbols. Each piece is designed to feel exclusive, yet familiar. It’s not a costume. It’s not a trend. In every era, people have looked for ways to say: “This is who I am. The body (i.e., torso) is usually of boiled wool and the sleeves of leather with banded wrists and waistband. Letter jackets are usually produced in the school colors, with the body of the jacket in the school's primary color and sleeves in the secondary color, although sometimes, the colors of the jacket may be customized to a certain extent by the student. There could be cases where a student could change the color so much that it doesn't differentiate too much from school colors. The letter jacket derives its name from the varsity letter chenille patch on its left breast, which is almost always the first letter or initials of the high school or college the jacket came from. The letter itself can also be custom fitted to the particular sport or activity (e.g. The name of the owner usually appears either in chenille (matching the letter) or embroidered on the jacket itself. The owner's graduation year typically appears in matching chenille. Placement of the name and year of graduation depends on school traditions. The year is most often sewn on the right sleeve or just above the right pocket.
The term “letterman” derives from the prominent chenille letter - the school initial - affixed to the varsity jacket. Traditionally, the jacket (and the sweaters and cardigans that preceded it) are awarded only to those athletes who compete at the varsity level in high school or college athletics, or to those who participate in a set number of games or achieve particular milestones.
The Varsity Jacket in Pop Culture
World War II realized the shining potential of luminescent paints and coatings like DayGlo. After the fighting stopped, chemists and designers sought peacetime applications. On a cultural note, the loose relationship between varsity jackets and motorsports persisted well beyond the 1920s as hotrodding flourished. Baseball only continued to grow in popularity and was exported by young G.I.’s during and after World War II. faced an unprecedented puzzle; teenagers. Legions of them. Hollywood leveraged this powerful, dual association in its many depictions of American teenage life-through comedic and dramatic lenses.
Archie Cunningham (right, played by Ron Howard) wears a varsity jacket in a scene from the ’50s-nostalgia series Happy Days. American Graffiti (1973). This fashion choice was probably deliberate-the movie is a love letter to growing up in Southern California during the early ’60s. The varsity jacket, property of the high school letterman caught between being young and becoming a man, was now a narrative symbol. Like ancient Greek athletes being crowned with olive branch wreaths, it was a display of physical prowess.
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By 1980, the varsity jacket had lost some of its mojo, but the iconic music video for Michael Jackson’s seminal Thriller thrust the garment back into the public consciousness. Michael Jackson is shown here on the set of Thriller (1984) with director John Landis to the left. Red and gold with a prominent chenille “M” on its left breast, the jacket worn by Jackson in the 1950s scenes reminded America of the timeless cool of this teenage sartorial staple. As hip-hop’s popularity grew, so did the number and sizes of patches that adorned its lyrical poets. Scott Howard (played by Michael J. Fox) sports his school’s varsity jacket in Teen Wolf (1985). The rise of hip-hop and the proliferation of streetwear provided the perfect backdrop against which the varsity jacket could flourish: Salt-N-Pepa wore versions designed by streetwear scion Dapper Dan in the 1987 music video for Push It, while Fat Joe donned one for LL Cool J’s 1995 I Shot Ya (Remix), after which local NYC shops could scarcely keep them on shelves.
Modern Interpretations and Enduring Appeal
Some fashion pieces fade with time. Others become symbols. Varsity Jacket history is very rich because this garment is classy. In fact, it carries with it entire American sports imagery. Namely, Run-D.M.C. and N.W.A. How was this the turning point? Well, it was so because the varsity jackets then became streetwear. The sports had swayed over these jackets for too long, but now anyone and everyone could wear it. It was a sense of style - it was fashion.
The most gratifying part of my job, when researching these garments, is finding the companies that are still in business. Dehen 1920 is descended from William Peter Dehen. from Germany, he and his family eventually settled in Portland, Oregon, where his garment business hit full stride. Due in no small part to its customizability - it was designed, after all, to be “decorated” with letters, insignia, and numbers particular to its wearer - the varsity jacket has been widely adopted by brands large and small in their quest to tap into American sartorial history. Today, companies such as Ebbets Field and Dehen 1920 make throwback versions of vintage examples from the mid-20th century, while upscale makers such as Valstar and Celine offer their own takes using fine materials and painstaking production methods.
Even today, students love to have highly customizable options when they place orders for varsity jackets on Varsity Made. And whether they want traditional material or any other option, our Varsity Bomber jacket builder gives them the options that they desire. And now that you are aware of the varsity jacket history, you should take a look at the customizable options you have today for creating your own varsity jacket. Undoubtedly, it will help you understand how much the jackets have evolved over time - through the years. Additionally, it will show you the impact of different trends and cultures on these jackets. All of the varsity jacket history has led to the customization options of today.
Earning the Letter
Letter jackets are almost never purchased before a student has earned a letter. In schools where only varsity letters are awarded this is usually the practice in a student's junior or senior year. Recently, many student-athletes have been awarded letters during their sophomore and sometimes freshman year, leading to the need for a jacket much sooner. Still, the actual jacket is not usually purchased until the sophomore year. Some schools may award letter jackets to letter winners at an award ceremony, but more often, the school only provides the letter. While it is commonly done, removing one's letter from the letter jacket upon graduation is not firmly held as protocol.
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Today, in order to distinguish "lettermen" from other team participants, schools often establish a minimum level of participation in a team's events or a minimum level of performance in order for a letter to be awarded. A common threshold in American football and basketball is participation in a set level, often half, of all quarters in a season. In individual sports such as tennis and golf, the threshold for lettering is generally participation in one half or sometimes two-thirds of all matches contested. Some schools continue to base the awarding of letters according to performance, in team sports requiring a certain number of touchdowns, catches, scores, steals, baskets or tackles, according to position and sport. In individual sports letters are often determined according to qualification for state meets or tournaments. Other schools award letters on a more subjective basis, with the head coach, usually with the input of other coaches and sometimes student team leaders who have already lettered, awarding letters for substantial improvement as well as significant performance on or off the field. This places much more emphasis on character, commitment and teamwork as well as, and often in place of, simply playing enough or meeting some other time or performance requirement. Sometimes in high schools academic performance in classes can also be an element.
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