Originally posted by you be betty:
exhibit A: Voxtrot
You show me one guy in a polo shirt, who you happen to think is dreamy, and that proves you're right? He could be wearing something hideous and you would still adore him. I would like to point out that the other 4 guys in the picture are not wearing polo shirts! They are actually much better dressed than your McDreamy boy.
Ok, I will title this essay:
The Polo Shirt Phenomenon Who Plays Polo and Why Haven't They Been Shot? Let's start with the basics. Who wears polo shirts:
(1) Preppy, mostly white males, ages 16-25, mostly on the eastern seaboard in megalopolis between DC and Boston
(2) A handful of Canadians on the East Coast influenced by fashions of neighboring US cities
(3) Golfers
(4) Tennis players in England who still use wood rackets
(5) A smattering of guys in the south of France who have their collars up and sweaters tied around their necks
(6) Frat Boys in colleges across America
(7) Kids in private schools as part of their required uniform
(
Guys on yachts
(9) Guys who actually play polo
Now, who on this list has ever been considered cool? After Pony Boy and Johnny (and I guess the city paper article), I think we can rule out 1 and 6. OK, there's a much longer reason why preppy's and frat guys are not cool, but I will just use "The Outsiders" as Exhibit A.
The Canadians have never been cool, save for their moustaches in the 70's - that spread like wild fire. Too bad they still have the 70's version.
3,4 and 5 are basically your dad at one point or another while you were growing up. Admit it.
8 and 9 are the same person. And nobody really likes him.
So that leaves us with 7 - and a good rule with only one exception:
if the article of clothing is part of a required school uniform, it cannot be cool. The only excpetion, of course, is the Catholic Schoolgirl Skirt, which is always appropriate.
I've never understood why the polo shirt is so accepted on the East Coast. Betty, next time you come to LA to buy fabric, look around and tell me how many polo shirts you see. Do the same in SF, Seattle, any other major city in America that is not in megalopolis (excpet for Chicago, they tend to copy anybody). When you get to Europe, look around and tell me how many polo shirts you see. Asia, do the same.
And here's the real kicker, something you're completely over looking: How many gay guys do you see wearing polo shirts in public?
If gays won't wear it, it can't be good fashion. So gentlemen, I implore you, when you get your J Crew catalog in the mail, throw it away immediately (after you check out the cute red head with the freckles in the bathing suit section - I just adore her...). It's bad fashion. I used to make an exception for a polo shirt with the Penguin logo on it, but even now, I can no longer do that.
I'm sorry to ruin your entire up bringing by dropping this knowledge on you. You've become accustomed to it by virtue of your surroundings so it's not your fault, but I'm sorry, Polo Shirts are bad fashion.
And just the fact that someone would ever consider putting a blazer over a polo shirt, well that is just an amazing faux pas that I didn't even think existed. But then again, I haven't lived on the east coast in years....
