You may be having a shirt with such a loop at the back side of the clothing. Many people have been buying clothes yet they never understood the purpose this loop serves.
At the back of some men’s shirts, where the pleat meets the yoke, there happens to be a small loop. Ever noticed? Ever wondered what it’s there for? No? Well do notice it now.
In the past, people didn’t have wardrobe with rods and hangers as it is today. All clothes were stored on pegs or hooks.
These small but useful little loop were used to hang a shirt, without getting wrinkles on it since they never had advanced cloths ironing tools.
The loop, despite their littleness, were originally used by East Coast sailors, who would hang their shirts on ship hooks when changing.
This detail soon found itself off the ships and onto the streets. The trend started with the US made Oxford button down shirts in the 1960′s.
Later, it even became part of Ivy League dating culture where they were used to denote relationship status or to show interest.
Young ladies would rip the locker loops on the shirts of boys they found cute, which would sometimes result in the shirt ripping off. Sometimes, the guy would remove his loop to show that he was already taken by his sweetheart. That way girls couldn’t run by and yank their shirt to pieces.
But this loop has nowadays lost meaning with inventions of hungers, pegs and iron machines. However, several manufactures borrowed the design for decoration only.