plus fours

[will.james]

just a quit post.... vintage polo with plus fours yes or no ??

 

[Fastuni]

Not a typical combo, but certainly imaginable (by polo I assume you mean a short-sleeve shirt). Both are casual or sportswear.

 

[Two Types]

I'm sure I've seen it done (most likely in old films).

 

[Stanley Doble]

Not plus fours but jhodpurs. They look a little similar but are quite different.

Plus fours for sports wear were part of a 20s - early 30s golfing outfit, period.

 

[Fastuni]

Nope. Their ¨sporting¨ use extended to hiking, hunting and cycling among others.
They were pretty much general purpose casual/outdoors trousers in 1920-40´s UK and Continental Europe and often worn around town by younger people.

In the US they certainly were used more limited and became outmoded almost a decade earlier than in Europe.

The only caveat would be that plus-fours are usually made from heavier woolen fabric and therefore rather warm, while a polo shirt is summer wear.
But for the transitional Spring time, it would work.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Maybe I was too hasty. I meant that plus fours were not for polo, but that one might mistake jhodpurs for plus fours in an old photo if it was a little blurry.

They were worn as casual or sports attire. Although, not being a polo expert, I could be wrong.

 

[Fastuni]

Ok, maybe there is some confusion. I assumed that the opening poster referred to polo shirts, not the sport of polo.
For the latter you are right, that jodphurs are the appropriate trousers.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Now I am confused too. I also assumed he meant Poloshirts, not the sport. If it was the latter it would make no sense. It's easy to google and of course they don't wear plus fours on the horse.

Nope. Their ¨sporting¨ use extended to hiking, hunting and cycling among others.
They were pretty much general purpose casual/outdoors trousers in 1920-40´s UK and Continental Europe and often worn around town by younger people.

In the US they certainly were used more limited and became outmoded almost a decade earlier than in Europe.

The only caveat would be that plus-fours are usually made from heavier woolen fabric and therefore rather warm, while a polo shirt is summer wear.
But for the transitional Spring time, it would work.

True. They would have been worn on a day in the countryside or on the beach too. Certainly not just for golfing. I think I have seen linen plus fours too so this might have been an option.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

The "four" in "plus four" is a reference to the distance below the knee the trouser legs extend. Some of the photos in F3's post may be plus sixes or even plus eights.

 

[Edward]

The only caveat would be that plus-fours are usually made from heavier woolen fabric and therefore rather warm, while a polo shirt is summer wear.
But for the transitional Spring time, it would work.

I think that would be the limitation I'd see for such a combination, unless, I suppose, one wore thw polo shirt with the full tweeds, in place of collar and tie. Not my preference, personally, but from a purely utilitarian standpoint it could be done.

They were worn as casual or sports attire. Although, not being a polo expert, I could be wrong.

To the best of my knowledg,e polo hs always involved equestrian johdpurs, yes.

I think I have seen linen plus fours too so this might have been an option.

I like the idea of that...

 

[Stanley Doble]

"I think that would be the limitation I'd see for such a combination, unless, I suppose, one wore thw polo shirt with the full tweeds, in place of collar and tie. Not my preference, personally, but from a purely utilitarian standpoint it could be done."

Tom McCahill's favorite everyday, or casual outfit was a Sea Island cotton polo shirt, sport coat or tweed jacket and Tyrolean hat.

If the name doesn't mean anything to you, he was a popular American magazine writer, born in New York in 1907 to a well off family and educated at Yale. He had a reputation as a sportsman but I don't think he would stray too far from orthodoxy in the matter of dress.