THE LETTER SWEATER

Holiday 2010 by Rugby

Dartmouth University

Princeton

Buddy Lee in an University of Minnesota Sweater

Yale University

Scene from the movie Easy Rider

Harvard University

Deuce.....

shot by The Sartorialist

Page from Take Ivy

The idea of the varsity letter was first introduced in 1865, when the Harvard baseball team added an old English "H" embroidered on their grey flannel shirt. Ten years later, the Harvard football team followed and used the "H" also on their jersey's. In that time it was common use that the player who won an important game kept the letter as an award. First you had the Letterman sweaters followed by jackets and cardigans. The letter was quite big and centered if the sweater was a pullover. If it was a cardigan, the letter was placed on the left side. The stripes on one sleeve designated the number of letters won; a star indicated the team captain.