A sweatshirt is a long-sleeved pullover shirt or jacket fashioned out of thick, usually cotton, cloth material. [1] [2] Sweatshirts are almost exclusively casual attire and hence not as formal as some sweaters. Sweatshirts may or may not have a hood. A sweatshirt with a hood is now usually referred to as a hoodie, although more formal media may still use the term "hooded sweatshirt".
In 1920, Benjamin Russell Jr., a quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide Football team, was tired of the constant chafing and itching caused by their wool football uniforms. [3] He worked with his father, whose company Russell Manufacturing Company made women's and children's knit garments, to come up with a better option. [4] They created a thick cotton practice jersey that was a modification of a ladies' union suit top. [5] These loose, collarless pullovers were the first sweatshirts. A new division of the company, focusing solely on the production of sweatshirts, became the Russell Athletic Company.
In Australia, the sweatshirt is sometimes referred to as a 'Sloppy Joe'. [6] [7]
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