prettysadiereed
Okay, I have a fun history lesson on this style of Varsity j..
Published: April 30th 2025, 1:00:20 pm
Okay, I have a fun history lesson on this style of Varsity jacket.
Traditional sailors' uniforms have a "flap" on the back of the collar. It almost looks like a miniature cape. Supposedly these were designed as a protective layer over the uniform. At the time, men added "tar" (like a hair grease) to their hair to keep it out of their faces which obviously made a mess of things. The "Tar Flap" was added to the uniform to protect the back of the uniform from their hair tar and the name stuck.
By the time WW2 rolled around, sailors would send their uniforms back home to their wives/girlfriends. At times, women would don them, or at least the tops, as a nod to their servicemen sweethearts.
Jumping forward, women's varsity jackets (majorettes, cheerleaders) of the 1950s and 1960s were designed with the tar flap as a nod to the men's jackets women wore of the same style.
This one is a bright orange satin tar-flap varsity jacket of a 1950s majorette.