Ever since unruly tennis legend Rene Lacoste reduce off the forearm sleeves on his button-down shirt to get an edge on courtroom, the tennis shirt (later to be generally known as the polo shirt) has been probably the most well-liked clothes within the menswear wardrobe. Once we consider the polo we’d solid our thoughts to the pique cotton choices bought by Lacoste and Ralph Lauren, color blocked and nonetheless primarily grounded of their sporty origins with a mesh end to wick away the sweat.
However lately designers have championed new methods to put on polo shirts, together with a reassessment of textured kinds. Your dad most likely wore a knitted polo shirt within the Seventies and his dad earlier than him within the Fifties. It appears to leap generations, the Nineties have been absolutely too busy leaping round in cargo pants. Now it’s not regarded as a stuffy heirloom from a bygone period however reasonably as one of many best methods to convey timeless magnificence to your outfit.
The knitted polo is tough to outline – most fashionable polo shirts are made out of a cotton knit anyway however for essentially the most half it can have loosely ribbed sleeves and hem, mushy, three-buttoned plackets (or no buttons in any respect) that fly out wider than your odd polo shirt, a taper to the waist and a reduce increased than a daily polo simply above the waistband of your trousers. The material will cling just a little to your higher physique and have a markedly completely different really feel – mushy and soft versus the onerous carrying pique.
It’d look just a little like one thing your gran may conjure up together with her knitting needles (menswear designer of the 12 months 2018 goes to nana). If it’s one thing you may think about Alain Delon or Dickie Greenleaf in then you definitely’re on the fitting tracks. And that needs to be all of the proof you want of its timeless beauty.
How To Fashion a Knitted Polo Shirt
“Knitted polo shirts are great for event dressing,” says Chris Hobbs, mens trend editor at Matchesfashion.com. “I’m not really a full suit and tie kinda guy but if the occasion calls for a blazer then I’d most likely layer a knitted polo underneath.
“Dunhill’s contrast-placket versions have a 1960s vibe in two colourways that are very much in my palette, while Berluti’s have a tailored fit to them made from 100 per cent silk that they style on the runway with cropped trousers. If the summer continues way into September then I’d be quite happy tucking one of them into shorts for the office too.”
Tucking into chino shorts lends the knitted polo the air of Armie Hammer in Name Me By Your Title, however like Armie be certain to go for a impartial beige so the shirt can actually stand out. The deep V of the collar and the excessive reduce of the sleeves on some choices additionally make them a flattering form for these with a toned higher physique (the Rock has been seen rocking the fashion lately).
Put on with slim tapered or pleated trousers to maintain the silhouette trim or floaty extensive legs to faucet into that Fifties Hollywood chilling on the lot vibe, with a luxe suede jacket excessive as we transfer into the chillier months.
The Greatest Manufacturers For Knitted Polo Shirts
Reiss
British premium retailer
River Island
Excessive avenue trend behemoth River Island excels at masking all of the fashion bases from streetwear to reasonably priced tailoring. So whereas the textured knitted polo shirt isn’t its specialty it gives sufficient of the fashion for it to be price a gander. Enter the gathering with the navy cable knit choice with a decent stretchy match and cloth that can cling to these well-earned beneficial properties from the fitness center.
Dunhill
Dunhill began life initially of the twentieth century because the go-to vacation spot for motor automobile equipment (it did a fine-line in driving goggles). Steeped on this classic custom however repackaged for the modern gentleman, its knitted polo shirts are available silk and with chunky lengthy contrasting plackets, which extra carefully evoke the Seventies than something 20 or 80 years prior.
Ben Sherman
Based within the Sixties, Ben Sherman together with Fred Perry turned an emblem of the period’s teddy boy and mod kinds. Like at present’s Instagram influencers, each subcultures dressed to impress when out in town, and the model continues to create items that evoke the time’s sensible informality. Its knitted polo shirts faucet into this with daring jacquard patterns that come out behind a natty impartial colored blazer.
Wax London
Purportedly impressed by summers in Italy, you may virtually odor the recent pasta and wine once you take a look at Wax London’s fashionable tackle the knitted polo shirt. Harkening again to the unique traditional 1950’s summer time leisure polo, you’ll discover this shirt can be a well-worn and adaptable piece for years to return.
Percival
Premium unbiased menswear maker Percival is likely one of the finest British manufacturers to have emerged this decade, with a traditional aesthetic that lives lengthy within the reminiscence (fashionable Brits Invoice Nighy and Martin Freeman are followers). It’s textured weave or knitted polo shirt is thicker than different decisions on this listing making it a must have in your transitional wardrobe with a singular, cycling-inspired design.
Far Afield
Based mostly within the seaside metropolis of Brighton, the clothes from Far Afield are as sunny as British menswear will get. Nestled within the knitwear part of its website, the knitted polo shirts are daring and breezy with contrasting vertical stripes together with a long-sleeved knitted polo shirt that includes a heavy cotton-crepe yarn that couldn’t be extra ‘nouvelle vague’ if it had a half-smoked cigarette dangling from its pursed lips.
King & Tuckfield
Whereas a lot of the manufacturers on this listing are impressed by mid-century fashion – the Fifties resurgence doesn’t appear to be it will likely be abating anytime quickly – King & Tuckfield actually ran with the look from its very beginnings. With not an excessive amount of in the way in which of trimmings bar an elegantly easy contrasting trim on the collar, its textured knitted polo shirts concentrate on a refined ribbed sample and the luxurious really feel of the 100 per cent merino wool.
Cos
Coming in all silky clean by way of the aspect door is minimalist Scandi model Cos which takes the excessive fashion-for-the-masses-manifesto of its mother or father firm H&M and add a sprinkle of extra premium high quality into the combination. Decide up a silk-cotton mix high quality knitted polo shirts to slide stylishly into your work wardrobe or strive an open-collar knit shirt for when buttons are simply not wanted.
Mango Man
Not as apparent a excessive avenue vacation spot as its rivals Topman and
Canali
Who knew Italians may make garments? Alright, sarcasm doesn’t translate effectively on-line however the high quality design and craftsmanship that goes right into a Canali knitted polo shirt is one thing we are able to all see plain and clear. With a geometrical test design panel on the entrance, it bridges the hole between the Fifties fashion and the variations from the Seventies.
Lacoste
We’re dishonest just a little bit with this one, however it might break our coronary heart to not embrace the legendary French clothier. Whereas the pique polo is the fashionable go-to for Lacoste and its up to date fashion no-longer evoking the textured Fifties, it does supply the throwback Parisian fashion with its clear and chic silhouette wanting ace as a alternative for a button-down beneath a blazer. It makes use of the Nineteen Thirties period of its founder as the important thing touchstone.
Ralph Lauren
Once more the enduring Ralph Lauren knitted polo shirt doesn’t fairly match into our concept of the knitted polo however Ralph would get mad if the croc was in and he wasn’t. Ralph Lauren does supply some polo shirts that match into the period in query although, together with long-sleeved jumpers which have the distinction tipping and extensive opening placket you’d count on in a knit.
Zara
One other bastion of quick trend,
Subsequent
Alright, your mum would possibly store at Subsequent, however that’s no motive to show your nostril up on the excessive avenue large, so subsequent time she pops in considered one of its shops be certain she nabs you considered one of its knitted polo shirts whereas she’s there. In one hundred pc cotton and a textured melange impact, it has actually nailed all the standard and Fifties design you’d need from the fashion.
