High End Polo Tees/ Tees

[meFIRST]

Spring fever. The time has come to update my polo and t-shirt collecion.
Usually worn with a pair of jeans (form fitting) or over a pair of khakis, over a blazer of somekind.

I am looking to replace worn items in my collection and was looking for SF members thoughts on well made polo shirts and t shirts. (no, quality does not stop with my 7 folds). If it can purchased at a substancial discount over retail (even better!)

In my collection

Polo Shirts
1.Brooks Brothers Polo shirts (all pima cotton) . These are my favourite. I have a lot of this.

2. Lacoste Pique polo (great, but I think it's more hype than quality)

3. Hickey Freeman/Bobby Jones. (Good contruction, however the designs are not to my taste. This is great of the occasional golf game. I live in NY and don't have country club membership (yet)

3.Banana Republic (linen / cotton mix) - ok quaility not the best. The stiching is coming off already, depite the fact that is was sparsely worn and purchased last year.


T-shirts (to be worn over a blazer/jacket, or with an overpriced pair of jeans and dress shoes/boots)

1. James Perse. (This is my favorite - I love the quality and construction of his tees. This years collection (spring/summer) leaves much to be desired.

2. Brooks Brothers. (Also my favorite - egyptian cotton with a sheen to it). I wear this out when going clubbing in the spring/summer. I have several of this

3. American Apparel. Great color selection (which I why I bought it) however quality is so, so.

4. GAP and Old Navy trash. I work out and sweat in these - they are basically trash.


Please add on to this. My philosophy is clothing is buy less (quantity), but buy the best you can afford. Am I missing anything?

 

[Pink22m]

Sorry, I know this is off topic, but four consecutive times, I tried responding to this thread, and each time, towards the end of my post, the screen went blank. Literally, it was as if someone just clicked the little "x box" in the right hand corner of the screen, clicking me out of styleforum. Has anyone ever had this happen to them?

I hate computers sometimes.

 

[Pink22m]

Ok, my SIXTH try at this...

Polo shirts are really frustrating. I can wash my dress shirts numerous times, and they always look and feel the same prior to their first washings. Polo shirts, on the other hand, seem to be the exact opposite for me. I have tried polo's from Target and, oddly enough, Loro Piana, which I ignorantly paid full retail for ($150). In both cases, each polo failed to maintain its shape and color after just one washing. Has anyone else experienced this? Are their polos out there that hold up through washings far better then others? If so, I would like to know, especially since they are a must have staple in any wardrobe. Suffice is to say, I won't be spending $150 on a polo shirt again.

 

[acidboy]

probably go easy with the wash and dry. if you can, air dry your shirts by hanging them outside- that will probably save the shape of the shirt. oh, and don't use a hanger.

 

[Pink22m]

I should have mentioned that these results came even after washing both polos on a gentle cycle, with warm water, and laying them flat to dry.

 

[Horace]

Originally Posted by Pink22m

Ok, my SIXTH try at this...

Polo shirts are really frustrating. I can wash my dress shirts numerous times, and they always look and feel the same prior to their first washings. Polo shirts, on the other hand, seem to be the exact opposite for me. I have tried polo's from Target and, oddly enough, Loro Piana, which I ignorantly paid full retail for ($150). In both cases, each polo failed to maintain its shape and color after just one washing. Has anyone else experienced this? Are their polos out there that hold up through washings far better then others? If so, I would like to know, especially since they are a must have staple in any wardrobe. Suffice is to say, I won't be spending $150 on a polo shirt again.

Google "Grass Court". They've got a polo shirt made in a factory in Philadelphia that's pretty good. They've got a couple of different models. One with Peruvian fabric and one with English fabric. The latter is very heavy and is one that I'm happy with. It was somewhat expensive but the for me worth it.

 

[mbc]

Originally Posted by Pink22m

In both cases, each polo failed to maintain its shape and color after just one washing. Has anyone else experienced this? Are their polos out there that hold up through washings far better then others? If so, I would like to know, especially since they are a must have staple in any wardrobe. Suffice is to say, I won't be spending $150 on a polo shirt again.
That happens to me all the time (regarding the shape, not the color). Ridiculous. I wash them on cold, flat dry them overnight, etc. The only one I have that has ever reliably held its shape through multiple washings is a "Halogen" polo from Nordstrom, but that is 65% cotton and 35% polyester.

 

[j]

Originally Posted by Pink22m

Ok, my SIXTH try at this...

Polo shirts are really frustrating. I can wash my dress shirts numerous times, and they always look and feel the same prior to their first washings. Polo shirts, on the other hand, seem to be the exact opposite for me. I have tried polo's from Target and, oddly enough, Loro Piana, which I ignorantly paid full retail for ($150). In both cases, each polo failed to maintain its shape and color after just one washing. Has anyone else experienced this? Are their polos out there that hold up through washings far better then others? If so, I would like to know, especially since they are a must have staple in any wardrobe. Suffice is to say, I won't be spending $150 on a polo shirt again.
I don't know - I've tried polos from Sears, Fred Perry, Lacoste, Polo RL, Norsport, etc. Never had much trouble by running them on warm regular wash and tossing them in the dryer on low heat with everything else. I always wash and dry them inside out. For black and really dark colors, I don't know if it's possible to keep the color perfect. All black cotton seems to fade no matter what you do. (Assuming you want them clean.)

 

[hughjoen]

Originally Posted by j

For black and really dark colors, I don't know if it's possible to keep the color perfect. All black cotton seems to fade no matter what you do. (Assuming you want them clean.)

I usually have dark color ones, dry cleaned. I've been wearing a black RL polo for 3 years (wearing about 10 times per season) and dry clean them 3 times a year, and they keep their shape and color pretty good.

BTW the polo mentioned is a fake one from Korea I bought for $ 20.

 

[Becks23]

Last year a bought a bunch of polo's from Champs/Eddie Bauer for cheap, ~$10 CND per polo. I just cold wash inside out and they seem to do alright. I personally don't feel the need to drop cash on a logo'd polo since I don't value a "possible" better fit over the difference in price. Maybe i lack fashion sense but on a student budget thats what i can muster.

 

[j]

Originally Posted by hughjoen

I usually have dark color ones, dry cleaned. I've been wearing a black RL polo for 3 years (wearing about 10 times per season) and dry clean them 3 times a year, and they keep their shape and color pretty good.

BTW the polo mentioned is a fake one from Korea I bought for $ 20.
I don't really think dry cleaning cleans cotton well enough (for me). I don't usually like wearing an undershirt with a polo shirt if I can help it, so they need real washing.

All my darks do go in cold wash though, and they stay reasonably dark for a reasonable amount of time.

 

[Mark_Y]

Originally Posted by meFIRST

T-shirts (to be worn over a blazer/jacket, or with an overpriced pair of jeans and dress shoes/boots)

Do you have to get extra large T-shirts in order for them to fit over a blazer/jacket?

 

[chorse123]

I can't see spending a lot of money on polos. Even on the most expensive, the collar is going to lose shape after a year or two, so I buy whatever fits best and is on sale. J Crew has a sale going now (2 for $50). I've also had nice polos from the Gap, to my surprise.

 

[meFIRST]

Originally Posted by Mark_Y

Do you have to get extra large T-shirts in order for them to fit over a blazer/jacket?

Hmm, this is not worn over a typical suit jacket. I only wear this with slim fitting blazer/jackets (armani, belvest, etc).

The regular fitting blazer's (i.e Paul Stuart) I would wear with a shirt.

 

[Tekhintsi]

I really hope you mean that you wear a jacket over a tshirt and not that you wear the tshirt over the jacket.