About Breathable Shirts by Murphy | Supercool Polo and Grandad Shirts for Dance, Sport and Work

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Designed by professional sailor and three times world Maxi Yacht Champion, Philip "Murphy" McColl, with a lifetime engaged in sports activities from rugby to rowing to sailing, and now dancing!

Murphy was introduced to dancing by his partner, Pam Mountford. Pam and Jill Colton, who run dance club, Newquay Jive, spent many hours coaxing and encouraging Murphy to get by on the dance floor. As seen on the Strictly Come Dancing show, it very quickly becomes addictive. The trio would go to dance weekends with anything up to 2,000 people attending.
One of the things that struck Murphy at these weekenders was the abundance of clothing on sale for women but nothing at all for men. Another factor was the number of men gathered in the toilets changing out of sodden shirts and trying to keep dry. It was not unusual for men to change two to three times during an evening, sometimes even more. It was also confirmed that a "pet hate" for ladies was dancing with a man with a shirt soaked in perspiration!

Drawing on his experience in the world of high tech sailing, Murphy set about designing the perfect "breathable" shirt. All the major manufacturers were compared and materials generally described as "wicking" or "breathable" were tested in a range of environments. Nothing worked as well as a favourite shirt used in winning the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on a yacht called "Condor". This old garment was sacrificed and cut into 40 pieces and each swatch was sent to various companies for price comparison. Not one manufacturer produced it due to the complicated weave. Eventually, one supplier agreed to manufacture the material to Murphy’s specification.

The decision was made to order polo shirts in two colours in a classic style. Samples were made and rejected until the cut and top quality finish necessary was achieved. Over time, the new Murphys-shirts logo began to be seen at dance venues all over the UK and with that a string of testimonials and personal recommendations.

Breathable Shirts by Murphy

It quickly became apparent that having one style of shirt in two colours was not sufficient and a new "granddad collar" style was designed. The new style had to reflect customer feedback for something smart enough to wear out in the evening which was not a sports derived garment. Eventually Murphy settled on the current style and introduced two further colours, cobalt blue and graphite grey to compliment the ever popular black. New designs are currently being considered with the possible introduction of a ladies garment top of the list.

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