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button down collar on a polo?

eightdouble

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thoughts? i was super into it (tried it on) my girlfriend thought it was a little strange. i think it kind of exudes this sort of classic 1950s tennis wear look (as all white fred perry polos probably do). i think it adds a bit of interest to the shirt. you?

this isn't me, btw.

fp.jpg
 

asdf

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I understand real (old) polo shirts, made of oxford cloth, had button down collars to stop them from flapping around.
 

voxsartoria

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A "polo" shirt is a Brooks Brothers invention comprising:

1. A soft, button down collar, with no interfacing and with a roll.

2. A partial placket front, a.k.a., a popover front.

3, A more substantial shirting, often "Oxford" cloth.

In the Forties, BB switched their "polo" shirts to a "coat front," a full length placket, and the OCBD shirt that we know today was canonized, later on with a pocket.

The knit, short sleeve tennis shirt was popularized by Lacoste, also AFAIK in the Forties. For reasons that are not obvious to me, this shirt is now commonly called a "polo" shirt, plausibly because of excellent Ralph Lauren marketing commencing in the late Seventies.

Oddly, the knit shirt that everyone calls a polo shirt today is a tennis shirt...but one that is part of the uniform of most contemporary polo teams and pizza delivery men as well.

- B
 

Harold falcon

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The buttoning of the top button is throwing me off. The only people who button the top button of these shirts are marsupialed people.

Sorry for the un-PC terminology, but that look is upsetting.
 

bowtielover

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it is a kind of useless and very dated style, dosen't really haev a place in modern times. If this sounds like you then go for it but i'm guessing you'd be better off if you didn't.
 

talkhot

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So its fashion if you wear it cause it's outdated?
 

NewYorkIslander

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I have a black 5 year old FillipaK polo like that, wore it just the other day and I like it. For all those vehemently against this, do you really think people pay that much attention to you?
 

Advent

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I think this shirt would look entirely different if the placket were unbuttoned. Right now it looks kind of stick-up-the-arse.
 

chrisb0109

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Originally Posted by bowtielover
it is a kind of useless and very dated style, dosen't really haev a place in modern times. If this sounds like you then go for it but i'm guessing you'd be better off if you didn't.

What makes it anymore useless than any other button down collar shirt?

I really can't see hoe such a detail makes the shirt dated.
 

bowtielover

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Originally Posted by chrisb0109
What makes it anymore useless than any other button down collar shirt?

I really can't see hoe such a detail makes the shirt dated.


because it is a style of shirt that emerged before I was even born and it should be reseved for dress shirts only and nothing else. if you can't see that then oh well but it is true.
 

chrisb0109

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Originally Posted by bowtielover
because it is a style of shirt that emerged before I was even born and it should be reseved for dress shirts only and nothing else. if you can't see that then oh well but it is true.

When do you think most dress clothing was conceived? There is very little if any clothing that has been invented in the last 40 or 50 years.

You not liking it is a separate issue. There is nothing inherently precluding a more casual shirt from having a button down collar.
 

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