Are Ralph Lauren (polo) sweaters any good?

Their pima cotton sweaters are nothing special. The prima cotton, now that is good stuff, like prime rib.

I actually like their v-neck pima cotton sweaters for everyday basics. They are comfortable and fit me well.

You can get them regularly for about 40 bucks and they are a good deal that price IMO.

I'd throw in a vote for John Smedley. Their Sea Island cotton jumpers are very well made, as are their merino ones.

nice screen name. i got watchmen for christmas!

Building off the OP's original query, any thoughts on the Polo lambswool or shetland sweaters? I see they are marked down from $100-125 to $40 on their website. Are they worth it? The colors look nice, thought I hate the logo patches.

i don't like the fit on polo sweaters

Itchy and too many Koreans wearing Polo logo clothing.


I have mostly Hickey Freeman and like them. Smedley is good. Also check out the Brooks Brothers sea island, they are cheap right now and are decent.

whats wrong with it?

Here's what I do: if it says "Made in Italy", it's probably a keeper. If it's made anywhere else, I don't buy it or I buy it and don't expect too much from it.

in my opinion from experience of just buying 2 new sweaters, RL is TERRIBLE quality!

Another example of mindless GroupThink. I disagree; after buying jumpers/knitwear (~30+ over a 15 year time window) from a range of manufacturers over the years, I don't find that the "Made in Italy" moniker makes a substantive difference. Some jumpers will pill, others won't, and there really is very little consistency or predictability. The only manufacturer that I've found that consistently makes knitwear that shows a very low tendency to pill, lose shape, etc. is John Smedley.