Vintage Polo Shirts

[chanteuseCarey]

bump.

The "Plain Fred Perry Shirt" is a pique weave. Looks good.
http://www.fredperry.us/men/shirts/plain-fred-perry-shirt.html

 

[Dinerman]

Long sleeve polo shirt from the 1930 Spiegel Catalog.

 

[Fletch]

I associate the pre WW2 polo shirt with a sewn self-fabric collar, rather than a knit one.
The one I'm wearing here is a cheap Italian make called Stile di Vita.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Montgomery Wards

Au Bon Marche 1934

German trading card

From Ebay, sold as 1930s

Buster Keaton

Some boxers 1930 (not sure)

Seeberger Brother photo 1930s

 

[Fletch]

Who is that devoon young thing in the sandals? She's tan as a nut. French, of course.

From 1932, the "Do X Shirt," named for the famous giant flying boat, and also for the doeskin feel of the chamois lisle fabric (up till then used mostly in gloves). It opened with a Talon half-zipper, an innovation in shirting at the time. Watch those chest hairs, fellas.

 

[chanteuseCarey]

ohmygoodnessgraciousme, THIS IS IT!! This looks so close to like what I've seen of celebrity pics wearing a polo in the 30s (or 40s)- WOW! It comes in 23 colours...
http://www.johnsmedley.com/uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=isis+

about the best, if a little pricey, options is still the classic, fitted John Smedley Isis shirt in Sea Island cotton...

 

[chanteuseCarey]

Kohl's out here has a couple of very nice polos with attractive patterned weaves by Haggar- no logos! A great sale price right now too!

http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-931219/haggar-minicheck-easy-care-polo.jsp
http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-1198556/haggar-work-to-weekend-easy-care-windowpane-polo.jsp

 

[chanteuseCarey]

http://www.thisisnotporn.net/2011/02/20/fred-astaire-jr-and-fred-astaire/

 

[simonc]

munsingwear have some great 40's knitted models and also hate to say it but gap slim fit in navy is a very good polo.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

I agree with Fletch on the self fabric collar. Maybe a little pointy too similar to dress shirts? It looks more vintage to me. I don't know when the typical modern polo knit collar were invented and maybe both style were avaivable at the same time. [huh] But I guess we often prefer the version that is more special and stands out.

Serge Lifar, Paris, 1929

Joe Louis and Jesse Owens 1930s

Madelios Catalog 1934

DOW and Wallis Simpson 1936


Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hyde 1931

 

[Metatron]

How cool is the DOW?

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

 

[Dinerman]

It looks like that last one is printed backwards. I feel like the combination of a polo shirt and homburg would give some people here fits.
"A homburg is formal and no one wore it with anything else ever!"

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Ah yes, I see the buttons are on the other side. Maybe it has loops instead of buttonholes too? I have seen this loop collar polos in old Sears catalogs.

about the homburg thingy.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Long placket and low breast pocket.

 

[Fastuni]

I don't think this is a Homburg... it appears to have no trim on the brim.
Either a fedora with brim turned up or the trimless cousins of the Homburg, called "Camber" or "Lord's hat".

Here BTW a German Charmeuse shirt I recently found:

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

James Cagney at work in his garden, 1936

or maybe he just buried a dirty yellow-bellied rat!

 

[Two Types]

It's difficult to tell if this is a polo shirt, but something tells me it is. It's my father in the late 1940s:

In about 1955 Dad went on holiday and bought himself two polo shirts, one was plain blue and made from a very heavy knitted cotton, the other was (if I remember correctly) made from a towelling fabric and was in blue and white hoops. These things were really made to last. The earliest photo I could find was 1962 (on its sixth summer):

Here it is again in about 1970:

Even in the 1970s my mum would laugh about how old these shirts were - but Dad kept wearing them.

It was still going strong in the 1990s:

Here is the plain blue one in about 1976:

Eventually they were too far gone and my mother threw them away, but they were part of Dad's summer wardrobe for nearly 50 years.

 

[Metatron]

That style was very popular in the late 50s, you see them everywhere in photos and films of the time.
Your dad aged very well.

 

[Two Types]

Never changed his holiday shirts and never lost his hair!