Polo Shirts a.k.a. Polos: A bit 'o history!
The first gentlemen and ladies who sported the earliest polo shirts [over 100 years ago], riding atop a well-trained horse, would hardly recognize the hundreds of polo shirt styles and fabrics being sported around "town and country" today. Constructed initially of knitted wool, this later gave way to white wool pullover “jerseys”, designed with a turned-down collar, long sleeves and typically with 4 or 5 button placket extending down from the collar. The polo shirt, it should be added, was also used by athletes other than those engaged in polo matches – soccer, rowing and quite possibly the early rugby players.
Polo shirts, or polos for short, can be found almost anywhere nowadays – the casual work place [where the polo may be the designated “uniform”], the golf course, tennis court, or practically anywhere around town! In case there was doubt, the polo is produced by numerous mills other than Ralph Lauren’s, and the polo itself – as one might deduce from the introductory above, has no relationship to the explorer Marco Polo, Polo Towers on the Las Vegas strip, the game of water polo, snow polo, canoe polo or bicycle polo [except by extension], the Palm Beach Polo Golf and Country Club [although a very loose equestrian connection here], or the vacation-travel club, Club Marco Polo! Quite obviously, “polo” has a ubiquitous useage that has given the term wide currency, spanning not only English but Spanish, French and other language-cultures as well.
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