What Is a Polo Shirt?

Where does the polo shirt come from?

The polo shirt comes from sportswear, but sources disagree about who made the first one. The reference work Fashion, Costume, and Culture says the first polo shirts were part of the uniforms worn by polo players on teams in England and the United States. Merriam-Webster dates the first known use of the term “polo shirt” to 1887.

The same reference work says early polo shirts were knit from wool jersey, and soon from cotton and other soft materials. By the late 1920s they had become the preferred shirts of golfers, tennis players and men sailing yachts, who valued their comfort and ease of movement. By the mid-1930s the polo shirt was among the most popular leisure shirts for men. In 1934 Esquire reported that navy blue polo shirts had reached the “status of a uniform” on golf courses.

Knitted shirts temporarily dropped out of favour when the Second World War began in 1939, according to the same source, and polo shirts returned to fashion after the war.

Who invented the polo shirt?

There is no single agreed inventor. Three accounts appear in the sources, and they describe different things:

• Polo players. Smithsonian magazine describes “one school of thought” that credits the shirt’s invention to the needs of British polo players in India in the 19th century.
• John Brooks. Smithsonian also says John Brooks, grandson of the founder of Brooks Brothers, copied the style in the United States after seeing polo players wear the shirts in England in the late 1800s, and gives this as the reason for the name.
• René Lacoste. The tennis player René Lacoste (1904–1996) wore a short-sleeved shirt in piqué knit cotton, with an unstarched collar and a buttoned placket, at the US Open in New York in 1926, according to Smithsonian. Tennis whites at the time meant a long-sleeved button-down shirt, long trousers and a tie. Lacoste’s own history dates the moment to 1928, when he played the French championship final in a non-regulation shirt. The company says that in 1933 he created his own brand and “launched the first polo shirt in history”, yet its archive photo captioned “First Lacoste polo shirt” is dated 1934, and Smithsonian says only that he started the company after retiring in the early 1930s.

The evidence supports a narrower summary: the name comes from polo, and René Lacoste’s tennis shirt of the late 1920s is the earliest short-sleeved piqué version these sources describe. Lacoste’s “first polo shirt in history” is the company’s own claim; the polo-team shirts and the 1887 use of the term predate it.

What makes a polo shirt a polo shirt?

A polo shirt is defined by three features together: a knitted body, a collar that folds over, and a short buttoned opening at the neck called a placket. Merriam-Webster’s definition also allows long sleeves and a banded neck instead of a turnover collar, so the knitted body and pull-on construction matter more than any single detail.

The fabric is the second clue. Many polo shirts are knitted in piqué, which Cotton Incorporated says is most commonly found in polo shirts and describes as a durable cotton knit with a tiny textured pattern, made by a cross-tuck knit construction that gives a cellular effect. Others are knitted in plain jersey, a smooth knit with no texture. Lacoste lists short sleeves and ribbed cuffs among the features of its original shirt.

A quick test: if the shirt opens all the way down the front, it is a woven shirt, however casual. If it has a placket and a ribbed band instead of a fold-down collar, it may be sold as a Henley or as a banded-neck polo; Merriam-Webster’s definitions overlap here.

What are the main types of polo shirt?

Polo shirts vary mainly by fabric, sleeve length and neck finish.

Team shirts printed with numbers and team colours are a different garment, the athletic jersey.

How do you tell a well-made polo shirt?

A well-made polo shirt has collar and cuff ribbing that springs back, a clear, even texture if it is sold as piqué, and cloth that does not hold creases. You can test all three in a shop, using how Cotton Incorporated describes the two knits involved.

Ribbing

• Stretch the cuff ribbing, and a ribbed collar, gently, then let go. Cotton Incorporated describes rib knit as alternating high and low knit columns, more elastic than jersey, with a structure that lets it bounce back into shape very easily. Ribbing that stays stretched or wavy is not doing that job.

Piqué surface

• Look closely at the surface in good light. True piqué shows a small, regular cellular texture from its cross-tuck knit. A flat surface means jersey, which is not a fault but is a different shirt from the one described.
• Crush a corner of the hem in your fist for a few seconds. Cotton Incorporated says cotton piqué does not tend to wrinkle because of its knit structure, so it should not hold sharp creases.

Label

• Read the fibre content. It tells you whether a shirt sold as piqué is all cotton or a blend.

How do you wear a polo shirt?

Wear a polo shirt as a casual or smart-casual top, and decide tucked or untucked by looking at the hem. Smithsonian says Lacoste’s shirt had a “tennis tail” to help keep it tucked in. A tail at the back is a sign the shirt is meant to be tucked in.

• With trousers. Tucked into chinos with a belt, it looks neater than worn loose.
• Under tailoring. A plain piqué polo under an unstructured blazer works where a tie would be too much. Keep the collar flat inside the lapels.
• Layering. A thin polo fits under a cardigan in cooler weather.

Worn with chinos and loafers, the polo shirt often appears in preppy style.

How do you care for a polo shirt?

Wash a cotton piqué polo shirt at home following its care label, and take it out of the dryer promptly. Cotton Incorporated says cotton piqué is easy to care for at home and that home laundering removes stains and odours easily. Because the knit structure resists wrinkling, prompt removal from a tumble dryer can be enough without ironing.