The Essential Series: The Polo Shirt - How Polo has Nothing to do with it.
This essential got it’s start long before a horse or polo player had anything to do with it. Like most essentials, it came out of necessity. Not too long ago, the sports of gentlemen were extremely strict in regards to the attire that could be worn while playing them. Tennis was no exception. It wasn’t long until a man by the name of Renee LaCoste, 7 time grand slam champion, decided to wear a short sleeve, lightweight, pique fabric shirt. Really, it was just a fashionable statement displaying his frustration with wearing wool pants and shirts, while playing tennis. Little did he know that this lightweight shirt would become a cultural staple, and that a little alligator on his upper left chest would become all the rage. Interestingly enough, the alligator on the shirt started with a wager. To encourage LaCoste to lead his Davis Cup team to a win, he was promised a prize. That prize- a set of alligator luggage. Now labels from Banana Republic to Burberry have some sort of rendition of the shirt. Decades later, the shirt is worn by guys from the Vineyards of Martha to the Vineyards of Napa and everywhere in between.
