In life, there are times when we often overlook seemingly trivial things, yet they are incredibly useful. Take, for example, the pocket, the small buttons on each pair of jeans, which are places to keep loose change or, in the past, to secure a pocket watch, right?
But wait, have you ever wondered why some shirts have a small loop at the back?
Certainly, many have seen it but immediately dismissed it and concluded that it serves no purpose, just a decorative detail.
However, everything has its own reason. So what is the function of this small loop? I dare say you won't know. There are quite a few hypotheses put forward to explain the presence of the small loop on shirts.
The first hypothesis suggests that in the past, there were no closets or clothing racks, so all clothes were hung on hooks.
This loop was usually a nail, screw... or a device made of bent iron/steel fixed to the wall, with a small surface area, to allow the small loop on the shirt to easily pass through. And obviously, this tiny but useful loop would help the shirt hang without creases.
It is said to help gentlemen in the past have a "support" to hold their tie when the fashion for men's shirts used to be detachable collars. However, this hypothesis seems somewhat unlikely, doesn't it? Then let's move on to the very romantic hypothesis below!
Would you believe that this seemingly "useless" loop is actually used to express the status of romantic relationships or to show care for someone? It sounds "far-fetched", but it's actually part of dating culture at Ivy League schools in the 1970s.
According to this, girls would tear off this loop on the shirt of the boy they liked without caring if the shirt might get a hole there or not?
That's on the female side, as for the gentlemen, they would also voluntarily remove this loop on their shirt as a statement, declaring "the flower has an owner". So, other girls wouldn't linger or cling anymore.
