No doubt that Ralph Lauren has done more for the Ivy look than any other brand. They produce some very nice shirts if you can live with the pony logo or did, because the ones I’ve seen on sale lately have the shrunken collars that seem to be everywhere now. The quality is variable from not that good to bloody awful. I’ve bought items of theirs in the past that just haven’t lasted for five minutes, for example a pair of cords that were great except that they went bald at the knees after I had worn them half a dozen times.

Woof,
See this is the interesting point. Inconsistent quality. I have a pair of made in Italy Polo cords from House of Fraser purchased 12 years ago. I have had them let in and out overs the years and they’re worn each winter.They still look like new.
I have a number of non logo’d shirts that are good too.
Your experience is typical. As a global brand they have loads of different suppliers and the quality is so variable.
I believe that in the late sixties there were Ivy brands that featured a smaller collar too.

I bought my first RL items late 80's. Two polo shirts in black & navy purchased from Pulse in Guildford. Ian of Harrington also owned this shop it was a bit more street fashion and the shop had 3 floors, the top floor was a RL showroom. I still have those polo shirts faded to death but still wearable.
Most of the RL I own nowadays is unbranded, a made in Scotland Shetland some BD's a pair of Cramerton cloth chinos. I also have a few branded BD's which wash up and iron like new. My opinion is there's some good some bad, just make wise choices.

Yeah I’ll stand up for RL.
Like everyone on here, I’d rather they did away with the logo, which at some point became the internationally recognised symbol of ‘I am a tosser’, the bigger the pony………. And I’ll be happy if I never see another photo of him in horrendously fitting jeans, cowboy boots and a dinner jacket.
But, most importantly, the shirts and polos fit me. They are one of only a few brands of polos I’ve ever had that don’t shrink up to my waist after the first wash. The shirts stay tucked in, often have the important (to me) three finger collar, and I don’t mind chucking one on when I don’t know where the day will take me. I’m unlikely to risk a US Brooks if there’s a chance I’ll end up hedge cutting.
I don’t buy any clothes on line. Ever, but I am a shopper, on a fairly limited budget. So my choices are from the high street. RL is the most readily available brand that ticks (one or two) Ivy boxes, as opposed to Next, Matalan etc.
Obviously nobody’s claiming all, or even most of it is acceptable to us here. Sizing can be off. They’ve got a strange habit of producing a half decent product and then sticking teddy bears or CND signs all over it. And they do stray into slim fit, or the dreaded ‘with stretch’ But that’s to be expected from a high profile fashion label.
For my purposes, like Brooks, Levi’s, Press, Gant, Orvis, Land End, Uniqlo etc, some of it CAN be ok. Not earth shattering. Certainly not ‘boom years’, or maybe JS, but ok.
Anything that just exists, but can have a pony logo stamped on it; boxers, socks, pumps, fragrance, is best avoided.
Actually, Red Extreme is pretty good.

TRS speaks favourably of them elsewhere.  His opinions are not to be disregarded.

I can't handle the logo but that's just me. Had a pair of RRL 5 pocket cords that looked pretty good but were too low waisted. With a long enough sweater they'd look ok, legs had a good cut to them but ultimately they were sold.

I'd say modern Gant is also a workhorse.  Like Ralph Lauren, I have mixed feelings about it.  The 'Nordic Twill' I bought in a charity shop around four years ago was made in India (like, obviously, a great deal of Madras - and rightly so) and has had a very great deal of wear, washing and softening.  A navy poplin, bought only a few weeks ago, I have not yet taken to.  I don't think I'd go out of my way to find them.  A notch or two above, say, Haggar, though, as a modern, second, even third, best shirt.

What RL did (positively) stylistically at the time he did it was to provide a midway point or blending between American ivy and continental (Italian off the rack) clothing in terms of fit and finish, not entirely unlike the Paul Stuart of the same period (late 20th c.). He also democratized the style even beyond its widespread 50s/60s mass wave of popularity, so that literally every kid in America can walk into a mall and with $50-80 buy the same shirt as the future kings of England.

All of this was rather like the meat in a lobster, but almost all the mass lux companies went to hell in much the same way.

Without starting another thread, I know the phenomenon has been assessed in book form but I sincerely believe a book from a UK point of view is vital.  This is not intended to dismiss the efforts and interests of France, Germany, Italy, Finland, The Netherlands, Japan and elsewhere - not at all - but the focus should be slightly away from the US and on, well, London really.  Ralph Lauren would be granted the recognition he merits - that goes without saying - but certain shops in and around London should be at the forefront - perhaps beginning with Gee.

Just in case anyone thinks I'm being a little too precious about the pony, I can only say in my defence that it's a reaction to men seen out and about who ruin the look by teaming Ralph Lauren with their no-mark strides and clown shoes/horrible trainers/flip-flops etc.  Team a button-down with some decent plain-fronted chinos or cords and penny loafers, it'll work.  The footwear, as we know, is key.

There are a few things currently available that would be of interest to Ivy Stylers. A tartan shirt, unlogo'd with J Press style flap and third collar button and locker loop.Wool-cashmere knits with suede elbow patches and a suede newsboy blouson.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CX12og4Lrbd/

Better--than ivy then or most of the cloth on Savile Row now. Norton & sons did a version of something like this in lightweight Scabal which I have but I wish it were more polo which during this period really heightened the American look of the cloth itself.