Back in the 70"s in high school we gleefully tore off the cloth loops from the yoke of guys’ dress shirts. They were impolitely called fruit loops. I have since found them also called locker loops which seems to indicate that one would use the loop on the back of the shirt to hang it on one of the locker hooks. But why hang it there, and what purpose does it really serve. Why is it perpetuated still in clothing?
I’d imagine it’s for ease of hanging like you described. When not hung up, clothes have a nasty tendancy to wrinkle, and when you’re working out at a gym, you probably don’t have the time to iron.
If you have to hang your shirt on a hook, it doesn’t distort the shirt as much if you use the loop. And for the record, we always called it a fruit loop in the '50s and '60s.
In high school in the late 90’s, several young teens (mostly male) referred to them as “fag tags”, which would basically be the same intent as fruit loop.
We called 'em fag tags in the '60s as well.
Southeastern Massachusetts, 1960s, “fairy loops.”
It does really serve the purpose of being able to hang the shirt from a hook, e.g., in a locker, hence the name. Personally, I think a shirt keeps neater if the hanging loop is on the inside of the collar instead of the middle of the back yoke, but I presume having the loop against the back of one’s neck might be uncomfortable, especially on men’s shirts which are often held snugly against the neck by a necktie.
thank you to all who took time and effort to answer…I am on sabbatical in Mexico with time on my hands, and was going through my wardrobe realising I’d not need any dress shirts for awhile. :smack:
We also called the fag tags and if you wore one to school, you had to put up with classmates mercilessly yanking on the backs of your shirt. I went to Catholic school and wore uniforms, so the oxford button down shirts were pretty popular. I had my mother cut off the loops so I wouldn’t be strangled by my shirt collar a dozen times per day.