A polo shirt is the most worn and least thought-about thing in most Irish wardrobes. It does duty for work, golf, a warm afternoon and a pub lunch, and men tend to buy the same one repeatedly until it goes shapeless. A few things are worth knowing, because they explain most of the price difference on the rail.
Piqué or jersey
This is the main one. Piqué is a lightly textured cotton weave with a waffle-like surface. Jersey is the smooth, flat knit a t-shirt is made from.
Piqué breathes better, holds its shape instead of clinging, and — the part that matters — keeps a collar standing up. A jersey polo feels softer in the shop and looks tidier for about six washes, after which the collar starts to curl and never really recovers. That is why the traditional brands stayed with piqué for ninety years.
René Lacoste designed the original in 1933 for exactly this reason: tennis players were wearing hot, stiff woven shirts, and he wanted something that breathed without going limp. The weave is still the point.
Jersey and interlock polos have their place — they drape closer to the body and read slightly smarter under a jacket. Just buy them knowing they are the shorter-lived of the two.
How it should fit
Four checks, in order of how often men get them wrong.
The shoulder seam should sit on the edge of your shoulder. If it has slid down your arm, the shirt is too big, and nothing else about the fit will rescue it.
The sleeve should end around mid-bicep and sit close without gripping. A sleeve that flaps at the elbow is the single clearest sign of a polo that is too large.
The hem should cover your belt and finish somewhere around mid-fly. A polo is designed to be worn untucked — if it is long enough to tuck comfortably, it is too long to leave out.
The collar should sit flat against your neck with room for a finger. Worn open, always. A buttoned-to-the-top polo is a specific look and not an accidental one.
Sizing across the brands we stock
Lacoste uses French numeric sizing rather than letters, which catches people out: 3 = Small, 4 = Medium, 5 = Large, 6 = XL, 7 = XXL. The classic fit is cut generously through the body; the slim fit is noticeably closer. Shop Lacoste polo shirts.
Tommy Hilfiger runs true to size in a regular fit, but the pique holds its shape rather than giving, so if you are between two sizes take the larger. Shop Tommy Hilfiger polo shirts.
Barbour is cut roomier through the body than either, in keeping with the rest of the range.
The washing mistake
Tumble drying. Heat is what shrinks a piqué collar and takes the stand out of it, and once a collar has curled there is no fixing it — no amount of ironing puts the structure back. Wash at 30, dry flat or on a hanger, and a good polo will outlast three cheap ones.
The other habit worth breaking is hanging a wet polo on a narrow wire hanger, which pulls two points into the shoulders that stay there.
What to wear it with
Chinos and clean leather trainers is the default and it is hard to beat. Under a sports jacket a long-sleeve polo does a job a shirt cannot — smart without being stiff. Once it turns, a polo under an overshirt or a fine-gauge jumper carries well into October.
Browse all men's polo shirts, or come and try a few on across our four floors on High Street in Ennis. Free delivery on orders over €89 across Ireland, and click and collect on everything.