Do you ever?
I guess, on a hot day, it's no sartorial crime; but does it have too many preppie connotations? Furthermore, does the polo shirt still have its devotees? I can't get too excited about them nowadays, though I have a Harvard item I still enjoy wearing.
Polo shirts... yes. Popping collars... I'm afraid not, unless you are Usher. In fact, I button all 3 buttons up. But I am over 40 Ponyboy! Chuckle
Only if the back of my neck is getting fried.
I'm with Patrick, there. I was getting fried on a beach in Cyprus the week before last and the collar on my Lacoste polo (of which I am an unrepentant devotee) was most definitely popped to protect my lily white British skin. But only on the beach and the boat I stress - with the uber-necessary straw sunhat and shades in tow.
Staceyboy
Thank you my friend! Contrary to the BBC weather reports it was bone dry and scorching - day and night. The breeze from the sea made it fairly comfortable though!
Staceyboy
Last edited by Staceyboy (2009-07-01 10:43:13)
always, even when wearing one polo on top of another
^
guy looks like a damn lettuce.
On the subject of polo shirts, does anyone have any particular favourites? I know Staceyboy favours Lacoste - and they are currently striking me as more stylish than FP - and I think Duck Head has its followers, as does Smedley sea island. I bought a mid-blue Golden Fleece - allegedly large - but it fitted like a glove and had to go. Any polo shirt I wear has to fit just right and this one didn't. Ralph Lauren did some nice ones about twenty years ago: forest green, for instance: made in the USA. Anyone know of a make that has not been overdone? Plain black IMO looks good with a cord olive slack jacket - rather Chet Baker-ish.
Anything logo-less from the next best cheapo emporium.
I find most to be too bulky for warm weather, a silky cotton (saw some nice logoless Fruit of the Loom polos a while back in a thin material, should have picked up a couple) or a stiffer weave like the old Lacostes would be a great find.
The black/olive combo sounds nice BTW
I have worn Fred Perry shirts since I was 17 years old and had the good fortune to meet two guys who fancied themselves Traditional Skinheads (In truth they were two backwoods kids who found a a few skinhead and british street style books and wore whatever they could find). I thought they were the most stylish kids I had ever seen. Most of my polos are the the M12. I have not found a better looking or better fitting shirt. They just kind of work with everything casual. I do understand that the brand may have some unwelcome associations for some of our British contingent here. I have a white and navy lacoste slim fit that I will break out when I don't get too hung up on the preppy associations. I have a couple of Brooks Slim Fits too, and they fit terrible. I haven't tried the Smedley polos but they look really nice. I am a big fan of their sweaters/jumpers.
I think that you're right there Moose re: the older Lacoste weave being stiffer. Particularly the better quality vintage ‘American’ all cotton versions by Haymaker rather than the poly-cotton Zod and Izod (budget) versions. So many companies licensed the Lacoste brand in the States during the Boom Years! The current American retailed shirts that I've seen are made in Peru - though they made be manufactured elsewhere too. They are exact replicas of the French made product and as such are in a fairly soft pique weave. I like my polo shirts fairly short fitting - falling about 4 inches below my belt. I must confess that in the past I've had polo shirts shortened by a tailor. A bit decadent, I confess!
Staceyboy
Oddly, I've seen Duck Head around here. It seems they're made for guys about the size of a house!
I think it's interesting that Duck Head reached some status on your side of the ocean. They were everywhere when I was a kid. The shirts and the chinos. They were a regional household brand. The company was then sold a few times and ended up in the hands of the discount retailer Goody's. Quality apparently dropped off but I don't remember the original being great quality. My father still has the original chinos and a few of the polos. They get mentioned a lot on the internet as a southern frat boy staple but for a while nearly every male in the southeastern United States owned a pair of the pants.
Chemise Lacoste all the way for me as opposed to crappy Izod.
Solid colours only and in the two button version. I never pop the collar. Wearing more than one at a time strikes me as the height of lunacy.
You can still quite easily find pre-2000 examples in general men's stores in France and Italy. In 2001 the shirts were redesigned by a new creative director. The collars were enlarged and made to more closely resemble a spread-collared dress shirt. I avoid these. The current season has thankfully seen a return to the classic collar size and shape.
Fred Perry or Smedley only for me.
Saying that, i do have a couple of uniqlo cotton knitted polo shirts which i liked but they shrunk.
collars popped on smedleys/other knits, down on fred perrys.
Last edited by Prof Kelp (2009-07-01 15:57:24)
Smedley collars do stay up, but do flop about a bit.
No offence taken at all Mr. Kelp :]
There's something about the soft knitted shirt that lends itself to popping without looking awful.
Perhaps it's because the undesirables don't wear them(knitted shirts), or perhaps it's how cool the guy in a Du Pont Puritan knitted shirt ("America's favourite knit shirts") advert from 1966 looks.
Either way, it can look pretty nifty.
I used to swear by Fred Perry polo shirts as a casual staple as I was at school, and the slim fit polo in lilywhite with or without piping were (probably still are) my favourites (partly because they its my football teams colours, Spurs). But I find Lacoste polos to be better in the long run, and the standard polo in XS fits me well (I'm a 38" chest almost but they fit quite large).
Smedley polos are nice, the long sleeve polo/knit is lovely, I very much associate it with in-the-know mods, and always reminds me of Pete Townsend in this Smokey Robinson and the Miracles cover circa 1964:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leMm0ZSxUqA