Figure 1.--The Aertex shirt was popular at the more informal prep schools wear boys did not have to wear ties during the warm summer months.

A popular summer school uniform shirt style done as polo shirts in England is the Aertex shirt. HBC believed that this style appeared after World War II, but has not yet confirmed this. We believe that the shirts are named after the brand, a long established British company. Aertex is a British trademark for a loosely woven cotton fabric. It was initially used to make shirts and underwear. Investors Lewis Haslam, Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson and Richard Greene formed the Aertex company (1888). The company initially focused on manufacturing women's underwear in the Aertex fabric. Aertex gradually expanded its product line and became known for both undergarments and sportswear. It now has a wide producr line of shirts, blouses and skirts for summer wear. The company was the forerunner of cotton thermal knits worn as casual wear. We are not sure when Aertex first introduced a scghool uniform shirt. We think it was some time before World War II. We do not think, however, that the shirts were very common before the War. This is primarily because ties were commonly required at most English preparatory schools before the War. The early Aertex shirt was usualy grey with an open weave material. It was almost always short sleeved and with buttons all the way down the front. It was worn similarly to the modern polo shirt in that it was a summer shirt. It was, however, not at first made in the Rugby style. It has a collar button so that a tie can be worn. This is commonly grey, but can be in white or light blue with some preparatory schools using other colors. Since the 1970s these colored versions have become increasingly common and we note bright colors like orange and yellow along with the more traditional colors. The Aertex shirt becamne increasingly popular as schools began to adopt more informakl styles, especially during the summer. After World War II, Aertex introduced a cotton-polyestwr bended fabric for these shirts. The Aertex shirts are commonly worn at the more informal prep school. It was most unusual for schools other than preparatory schools to use these shirts as part of the school uniform, bbyut we now note them being wirn at state primaries. Schoolboys over preparatory age do not normally wear these types of shirt as part of the school uniform. We also notice many state primary schools adopting them as part of the school uniform. It was not designed to be worn with a tie, but it did have a top button. Often the boys were allowed to come to school without a tie in the summer. Atother schools the boys had to wear their ties to school, but once at school couls take them off until ready to go home. As schools have increasingly adopted seasonal uniforms, the Aertex shirt was a popular summer choice. We notice that another company, the Artex compamy has a wide range of of casual school uniform shirts. We are not sure about the history of this company or the choice of the name so close to Aertex.

Created: November 21, 1999
Last updated: 4:10 PM 9/7/2008