One of the things that most men wear these days is the polo shirt (or polo tee as most of us here in Malaysia call them). The polo shirt, was first used as a golf shirt and tennis shirt. It is a fairly new invention actually, sometime after the 1860s after which tennis was first invented. The polo shirt is a shirt with a collar, a placket with buttons, and sometimes comes with one chest pocket. . Polo shirts are usually made of knitted cloth rather than made from woven cloth that dress shirts are made of. It is made from woven cotton usually but you also have them in wool, silk, polyester and a combination of materials too.
I personally like using them on weekends, on holidays and other more casual outings. One thing that always bugged me about polo shirts is the way they sit underneath a sports jacket. The collar, made out of the same material as the body of the shirt but ribbed and just folded over to create a collar, sits flatly underneath any jacket. In fact, even when wearing the polo shirt on its own, it may curl up or be very limp. Buttoning up till the top does not work. In fact, buttoning up the top most button on a polo shirt would actually make you look like Forrest Gump. Whilst the character is amazing and shows you how people can survive with what was given or not given to them, he also showed us a certain stereotype which one should never follow unless you're Forrest Gump. This here is a tip folks. Do not button up the top button on your polo shirt.
Anyway, after browsing through style forums like er...Styleforum.com and permanentstyle.co.uk (a fabulous website about bespoke wear, tailoring and other style luxuries), I have the opinion that if I had a choice, all my polo shirts would come with a dress shirt collar.
What does this mean? Simple. The collar of the polo shirt gets made like a collar of a proper shirt. Instead of its collar being stitched to the body of the shirt directly the polo shirt now has a collar band after which the collar is then attached to. This, if the collar band is proper and high enough would actually make the collar stand up like a normal shirt. It would make you instantly look dressier even though it is just a polo shirt. Check out my friend Azidi in the photograph above. He is the chap to the right and has on a navy blue Brioni polo shirt. Note that the collar stance looks exactly like the dress shirt I am wearing. He looks a million times dressier than if he wore a normal collared polo shirt.
But the question most would ask is where could you buy them here in Malaysia? From the web, you could go to Sunspel (Riviera) or Orlebar Brown (Sebastian - which is sold in Takashimaya, Singapore if you are there). The Sunspel Riviera is the shirt used by James Bond (Daniel Craig) in Casino Royale. I have not held one personally buy sunspel products are a favourite of mine but hard to come by here. The one by Orlebar Brown is pretty good, but it has decorative buttons on its sleeve and has some other style touches. Not so traditional looking. I have tried them on when I was down in Singapore some months ago.
For budget shoppers that want to view such a polo shirt before buying, you can try heading to Uniqlo for their Dry Shirt Collar polo shirt. But be warned. Fit is Japanese and even their XL is actually small for those with a broader torso.And oh, these are usually a mix of cotton and polyester. Muji also has something like this too but only the button-down type. This is priced higher than the one by Uniqlo as it is 100% cotton.
For budget shoppers that want to view such a polo shirt before buying, you can try heading to Uniqlo for their Dry Shirt Collar polo shirt. But be warned. Fit is Japanese and even their XL is actually small for those with a broader torso.And oh, these are usually a mix of cotton and polyester. Muji also has something like this too but only the button-down type. This is priced higher than the one by Uniqlo as it is 100% cotton.
So for hard core natural material only folks out there, you could buy the Brioni polo shirts featured here. Very, very expensive at the boutique located at Suria KLCC (even when its on sale its still pricey) or one or two factory outlets that occasionally have the brand in stock. These are actually made out of very soft full cotton pique and does not have any branding or logo on them - which is great as you do not want to look like an advertisement for the company. The fit is tapered and the collar is cut higher than most high collared polo shirts - together with the thick collar band, it sits even higher than the ones offered by Uniqlo or Muji. I think the Brioni high collared polo shirt is the best there is out there. The flaw is that the material can be a little thin and you may show some breast, nipple or tummy. Chubby boys like me usually need to buy them in darker colours so that we may hide unwanted bits from showing. But again, the collar looks fabulous underneath a jacket.
Take a look below - I have compared a Brioni tee with one from a normal ribbed collared Ralph Lauren (Rugby but fits like any Polo Ralph Lauren polo shirt) in blue (a brand in demand here when it comes to polo shirts). Notice the higher collar points on the Brioni compared to the one my Rugby - A slight difference that actually makes you look a whole lot dressier than wearing any regular polo shirt.
High collared or Shirt collar polo shirts win by a mile. Make sure you get a few for your wardrobe.
Take a look below - I have compared a Brioni tee with one from a normal ribbed collared Ralph Lauren (Rugby but fits like any Polo Ralph Lauren polo shirt) in blue (a brand in demand here when it comes to polo shirts). Notice the higher collar points on the Brioni compared to the one my Rugby - A slight difference that actually makes you look a whole lot dressier than wearing any regular polo shirt.
High collared or Shirt collar polo shirts win by a mile. Make sure you get a few for your wardrobe.
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