The Polo

"You must understand oldness to be a fashionable dresser"
-Ralphie Lipshitz

A lot of fashion has percolated from the bottom up but this one is as trickle down as Reagan and Thatcher after a tea-party. 


Interestingly, what most of us refer to as the "polo" began a tennis shirt.  Until the mid-part of the last century,  showing skin was still a "no-no,"  so for tennis matches men wore long sleeve shirts and slacks--all white of course.  As you can imagine rolled up sleeves, woven fabric and a button up collar were cumbersome.   

Jean Rene Lacoste

Then the late 1920s and early 1930s, group of Frenchmen dubbed the "Four Musketeers"  dominated tennis.  One of quartet was Jean René Lacoste also known as the "Crocodile" (due either to his winning leather handbag in a bet or his prominent nose).  He had the nifty idea to shorten the sleeves, collar, and use the more versatile and lighter Jersey fabric.  He also gave the shirt a tail so that is would stay tucked.  Being the son of a wealthy industrialist, he also had the financing. Thus the tennis shirt was born and Lacoste proudly - or pointedly- emblazoned them with a logo of his nickname. The shirts were very smart and very popular.  Not surprisingly, there was a lot of cross-membership between tennis and polo clubs (free-time is expensive) so it didn't take long for this new style to be sported among the social set.

Ralph Lauren Advertisement

George H. W. Bush

The reason, however,  we call it the "polo" and not the "tennis" is the same reason we ask for "Kleenex" and not "tissue": good old- fashioned branding.  For that we can thank Ralphie Lipshitz  nee Ralph Lauren.  It was he who tapped into the growing aspirational consumer market.   Ralph Lauren's "Polo" wasn't just a label it was a fantasy of aristocratic exclusivity the -- world of Great Gatsby or any Merchant and Ivory film.   Instead of the the traditionally preppy brands like Gant or Brookes Brothers,  it was the Ralphie from Brooklyn became the king of WASPish style; his fantasy became our fantasy.

Since then the polo has become a staple of the male wardrobe.  As it has filtered down from the leisurely It has morphed from a simple elegant sportswear item  to an acceptable work wear.  It can be seen with vertical stripes styles favored by fast food employees and middle managers or done outrageously by such designers as Miuccia Prada.  It can be fitted and tailored or relaxed.  In some corners it is or worn loose a baggy like mumu--just in case you're into that sort of thing.  The original LaCoste shirts are still available as are Ralph Lauren polos.  Newish labels such as Tommy Hilfiger who has been described by some as having "little more to offer than preppy-style in primary colors" to Abercrombie & Fitch have added their takes on this classic style.   

Prada's take on the polo