Putter & Tweed

Hole 3 · 1860–1999

Old golf fashion: tweed, plus fours and 1970s color

1860s–1990s: from tweed jackets to Payne Stewart's plus fours

Old golf fashion, era by era: tweed jackets and long skirts before 1900, plus fours in the 1920s, polo shirts and light slacks in the 1940s, synthetic fabrics and bright patterns in the 1970s, and Payne Stewart wearing plus fours on tour into the 1990s.

1901 fashion plate of two men's golf outfits: a tweed suit with trousers, and a belted Norfolk jacket with knickers and dark stockings
1901 fashion plate of two men's golf outfits: a tweed suit with trousers, and a belted Norfolk jacket with knickers and dark stockings. Sartorial Arts Journal, New York, 1901. Public domain. Source.

What it solved on the course

Each change fixed something about playing in clothes. Plus fours freed the knee, and knit shirts and light slacks took the heat off. Then golf clothing started being designed for how people played, not how they were expected to look.

History

Before 1900 golfers played in everyday country clothes: heavy tweed jackets, flat caps and knee-length knickers for men, long skirts for women. The R&A, running the game from St Andrews since 1754, never needed to write a dress code in those years.

The 1920s belonged to plus fours, cut four inches longer than knickerbockers, worn with knee-high argyle socks, a shirt and tie and a pullover. The public moved on in the 1930s. Golfers didn't, because the extra room at the knee helped them swing. The plus fours page has the full story.

In the 1940s the heavy clothes gave way to polo shirts and lightweight slacks. At some national championship in a heatwave, men dropped their neckties for short-sleeved knit shirts, and the golf clothing maker Three Putt calls this the first time golf clothes were designed around how people actually played. René Lacoste had worn a shirt of his own design at the 1926 US Open. By the 1950s golfers had taken to it, and in 1953 President Eisenhower wore a Lacoste shirt on the course.

Arnold Palmer changed how the pros looked. Before him, in one writer's phrase, they "dressed like they worked in insurance." The 1970s brought synthetic fabrics and bright patterns, and in Three Putt's words golf fashion "abandoned all restraint."

Payne Stewart took up plus fours at the start of his career because of that 1920s uniform, and wore them with a flat cap and long socks on the PGA Tour from 1982 until 1999.

Who wore it best

  • Dwight Eisenhower

    Wore a Lacoste shirt on the golf course in 1953, as golfers were taking up the tennis player's knit shirt.[1]

  • Arnold Palmer

    The player who marks the change: before him, professional golfers are said to have dressed like insurance men.[5]

How to wear it now

  1. Pick one old piece, not a costume. A flat cap or a knit polo with a small collar reads as period without shouting.
  2. Knickers or plus fours need knee socks. Plain wool is easier to wear than argyle if you want people to watch your swing, not your shins.
  3. A tweed jacket is for the walk to the first tee on a cold morning. It comes off before you hit.
  4. Loud 1970s-style pants work with a plain shirt and nothing else patterned.
  5. Real vintage wool and cotton look better than costume-shop copies. Search for the decade and the maker, not "retro golf outfit".

Where to buy

Vintage

Links open the shop's own site. Some may earn us a commission.

Sources

  1. A Stylish Look at the History of Golf Fashion, 18 Birdies. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  2. A History of Golf Knickers, Global Golf. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  3. Plus fours, Wikipedia. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  4. Payne Stewart outfits: From the sublime to the... well, sublime, Bunkered. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  5. The History of Golf Fashion: From Tweed Jackets to Streetwear, Three Putt Golf Clothing. Retrieved 2026-09-30.

Updated .