Can Polo Shirts ever be nice?

[VictoriaVictoria]

I’m really drawn to the Beaucroft Polo Shirts on Joules website. They seem pretty colours and I think they look good on the model!
I have seen people say Polo Shirts are a no-no before, and look very frumpy. Which is making me hesitate to try them! Can they ever look nice?

Honestly...no. I think they are dreadful.

I like ones that are sleeveless , slightly fitted , not too many buttons and a silky material.

The Joules one looks a bit "equine" , some look too School Uniform . ( which I suppose is the origin of them)

I love them , but I'm a bit of a retro dresser anyway so it works.

However, I only feel like I can wear black or navy ones otherwise my large boobs just look ridiculously enormous.

No.

They always look a bit, um, "garden centre uniform" to me...

I wear them a lot - Joules ones - at the stables.

For "around town" I look far too matronly (big bust) - but tbh I'm of an age where I don't give a shiny shite.

A very thin friend looks good in them, but I am not thin so wouldn’t go there.

My Italian friends look marvellous in their (mainly Lacoste) polos. Effortlessly stylish, at the casual end. I think the tanned arms count for a lot!

They’re not just good on skinny people, but a med big to big bust is not great in them, for mine. You can be broad shouldered, but big bust just doesn’t work. A really good bra is essential even with small-med busts.

I suspect brand and quality cotton counts for a lot too. Not good for me, cos as a pear shape I need my tops to end a bit lower down than my waist (which polos tend to do). It just cuts me in half visually and emphasises my bum & tum. But I see lots of people rocking polos with great success.

Some mixed opinions here - I expected that! I think I might order one as I have a 20% off code anyway. I’m fairly slim, but I’m also quite short so I don’t know if they’d word - I reckon I just have to try and see. Yes my main worry was the ‘uniform’ look!!

ZigZagZombie - are the Joules one good quality in your experience? Is the sizing true to size?

Skittles - I always see women wearing them in the summer and they manage to look effortlessly stylish , despite it being such a simple outfit!

No. My son wears them but he’s 17, all angles and lean limbs...and while he does look sharp in it, he also looks like a wee toerag.

I think they are great as a primary school uniform staple but other than that, I never see anyone, man or woman, in a polo shirt and think ‘oooh nice polo’. I don’t like them.

It’s a taste thing and therefore entirely subjective though...if you think they can look effortlessly stylish then go for it.

I think they always look absolutely terrible on women / even the models - sorry!

Noooo!
I had a polo shirt years ago, some designer name, and I looked bloody awful in it. Wore it once and that was it.
Dd has Fred Perry polo's and she looks nice in them, preppy/casual, but she's 18 and very slim.
They're hard to pull off without looking silly.

Victoria The Joules ones I've had are good quality - thick enough so that you don't need to wear a vest underneath - so many modern tops require that. I'd say true to size - I normally get the more fitted ones rather than the straight up and down. That way they hug my boobs and go in rather than looking like a tank. I have found though that the ones with fixed embroidery on the arm can be quite tight and my arms aren't overly massive. I did get a gorgeous Joules one which was baby pink with a cotton floral under-collar... which ran terribly in the wash - but given it was only for the yard I wasn't bothered. Slightly annoyed mind!

I've bought some from TK Maxx that are women's golfing brands and whilst "prettier" I've found the fabric to be wafer thin.

Someone up there talked about Lacoste, they're good - as are Ralph Lauren. Esprit used to be excellent but they are going wafer-thin now. Generally you get what you pay for!

Ds’s polos are Lacoste or Fred Perry and the blackest of black with only a small logo on the chest for detail. He looks like a mod in them.
If i wore one I’d look like a darts player.

I wear long sleeved soft polos (fruit of the loom are really sort) as part of my ‘pj/at home lounging around’ ‘wardrobe’. On occasion when I’ve worn them out - only ever just shopping etc. Wear them for gardening/long walks etc. Never ‘out out’.

Thank you for your responses! I am glad the quality is good for the Joules polos.

I think I am tempted to try one and see how it looks. I will update you when it arrives and let you all know if it looks truly terrible

Both John Smedley and Cos have done ones that are a silk/cotton blend and fairly fitted. I like those. Otherwise, not so much.

I saw a Joseph one in a silk knit recently and I couldn't decide whether I was being a fashion victim or whether it did really did look good. Objectively I can't think of any reason why they should look worse than, say a crew neck T shirt, and yet I find they don't hang very well. The fabric tends to be bulky and I think there's something off about the cut - as if it's still designed for a male body. But I also suspect there's a bit of fashion snobbery going on in my head: T shirts are cool but polos are not.

I think they can look amazing on polo players.

I think they can look ok on people who are sporty looking - slim and tanned helps too. But otherwise I think they look frumpy and the opposite of stylish.

I wear them a lot and I’m large of nork. But then I’m a yachtie & in Oz, so it goes with the territory. But they do look frumpy. Especially with the room-to-move-around-thunder-thigh-accommodating shorts. I’ve never worked out how to marry practical and stylish/flattering. Hints welcome

I love Fred Perry polos - they cut VERY well for small-chested petite women. Most button-front shirts are far too big in the chest for me but a polo looks smart.

Polo shirts are a staple of some uniforms at work so I would never wear one.