Why would I wear a polo?
More specifically, why would I wear a polo when I could just wear a buttoned shirt? I could wear a BBQ/Aloha shirt if I needed to dress down or a nicer buttoned shirt if I needed to dress up. So why polos? Is it literally just a golfing thing?
27 Replies
why would you wear a buttoned shirt if you could wear a suit? Why would you wear a t shirt if you could wear a buttoned shirt? why would you wear a buttoned shirt if you could wear a t shirt?
this isn't an answerable question beyond "cause you prefer a polo in that situation"
that is honestly an answer i appreciate
i keep seeing them recommended as part of basic bastards and such and i keep going “okay why tho”
i haven't looked at the BB in a while, but its basically just seen as valid office wear for most "bizcaz" positions which i would assume heavily biases it.
FWIW I would also note there is far more to polos than the pique polo you are thinking of as well.
Ive asked the same question, and I just don't wear a polo.
its also just a versatile style of shirt
guides arent meant to be an all encompassing outfit, its just a suggestion
yeah. a lot of why i end up asking questions is because i keep going “okay but why is this recommended”
i’m crawling out from my hole i’ve lived in for the past twenty years of my life where i’ve worn nothing but graphic tees and bootcut/slim jeans
so there’s still a lot to learn
specifically, the BB is more of a "I don't want to think about clothing myself" guide these days. Most of the people into fashion would say if you want to get into fashion, a large part of it is moving away from the guides and learning on your own. See @Ben (GSH) substack write up and discussion here, and he is the author of the latest iteration of the BB:
https://discord.com/channels/1116793467654381685/1235984218715066488/1235984218715066488
particularly relevant is his discussion of the BB and how moving away from it was extremely important to his style journey
its ok to not like something
yeah. i’m very much still doing my own thing, but while i’m doing that i’ve been trying to grasp why what’s recommended gets recommended
but yes, pretty much all of clothing outside of actual dress codes is jsut personal preference
Polo is just a dressier version of t-shirt, they are alternative to t-shirt not buttoned shirt, just wear them whenever you would wear a t-shirt.
No
why not?
If wearing a chino pant, switching out a white t-shirt for a white polo is a no-brainer...
For me, on the casual-formal scale, polos are on par with most of my button-up short-sleeve shirts. I think there are polos that look sloppy and as casual as a t-shirt, but I try to avoid them: ribbed collars that wrinkle and curl easily, and untucked polos that are way too long. Collars with interlinings or two-piece collars look much better to me, as does an attached placket — or at least a nice set-in placket.
A polo is a different thing to a t-shirt. It is not an alternative to a t-shirt in the same way a shirt is not an alternative to a vest or a t-shirt or a long sleeve t. Superficial similarities.
And if you want to get super anal about it, t-shirts originate as underwear. Polos originate from (often OCBD) sport shirts. Both are casual, though a polo might satisfy/have satisfied dress codes at some golf/tennis clubs etc where a t-shirt doesn't.
A no brainer is a bold statement? What if the polo looks worse than a white tshirt?
oh, yeah sorry.
I assumed a "polo" is similar to the Polo RL OC Poloshirt
Only know that type of polo tbh
It's also the case that polos just don't mesh well in some styles. Someone wearing a military surplus inspired or workwear inspired outfit is likely to find a t-shirt works better than a polo nearly all the time, even if they're wearing "officer chinos" or similar. A lot of street wear is going work better with a t.
"just wear a polo where you would a t-shirt" is so simplistic that it's ultimately bad advice.
yeah sure.
i was projecting i guess 😄
(Preface: I own no polos)
To me personally the only use case where I would maybe want to use a polo is when dressing down tailoring, especially casual summer suits and I want to substitute the button up with something else as I dislike neck on suitjacket-collar action. In general though I feel like a breezy shirt still does that job better for me.
There are some very meshy/textured polos that I could see myself wearing, though ultimately its just not close enough to my aesthetic to justify the resources to aquire one.
Long sleeved patterned polos though have some charm I feel - might maybe experiment with that next fall...
I try to dress IvyLeague / Preppy (i guess?) and there Polos are just a staple
Yeah, I guess it really depends on ones desired aesthetic
That being said, if i came across a nice casatlantic polo for cheap on some secondhandsite I would propably cop
MFA doesn't have a lot of love for polos. As someone who used to wear them a lot, I think I sort of see why. If you just treat them as "in between a tee and button up", they end up looking generic and boring. You need to treat them as their own distinct thing, and that is harder.
I think polos are also somewhat culturally tainted by their association with a certain type of boring bizcaz similarily to quarter zips for example.
Though talking about polos made me want to wear popover shirts.
Damn, you are pretty rude to my Peergroup man 😅
As a consultant, I feel offended now, but just a little bit haha
(no offense meant!)
I think it can look fine if one puts a bit of thought into it. But there are just too many ppl who do very uninspired stuff with polos I feel.
I was kidding, bro. I know we look slimy to others haha