polo shirt

Classic '70s Country Club Polos by Boast Reborn

Filed under: Apparel, Sports, Men's Style

Boast, the iconic, exclusive polo shirt brand founded in 1973 by Bill St. John, the tennis pro at Greenwich, Connecticut's famed Field Club, is being relaunched this month with a modern spin. Boast polos, featuring the notorious Japanese Maple leaf logo which many assumed to be a pot leaf, were originally sold only by Saint John from the back of his station wagon at country clubs across the Northeast. He designed the shirts in homage to the rebellious tennis stars of the day like John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, the intentional pot leaf confusion adding a subversive touch.

Now John Dowling and Alexander Tiger, major racquet sports devotees and longtime fans of Boast, have revived the brand and updated the fabric and fit of the shirts, and are making them available outside country club pro shops for the first time. Dowling and Tiger have brought in Jack Spade designer Andy Spade's creative studio Partners & Spade to help breathe new life into the brand. The super soft and durable Boast pique cotton polo, offered in a range of colors in a classic ﬁt, is now available for $68 via BoastUSA.com. There's also a beautifully hand-tailored navy blazer with eye-catching details for $1,200.

Gallery: Boast Reborn

Tags: Andy Spade, Connecticut, country club, Field Club, Greenwich, Jack Spade, John McEnroe, mens style, Partners Spade, polo, polo shirt, shirts, sports, tennis

The Polistas Polo Dress

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Sports

Polistas, the first true polo lifestyle brand made for polo players by polo players with a chic boutique in London's Burlington Arcade, has come out with a fetching polo dress for sportswomen and sexy spectators.

Priced at £100.00 and made of 100% cotton, the dress is a longer, form-fitted version of the classic Polistas polo shirt as worn by the likes of England's Prince Harry and Prince William. It features an an embroidered number 3 and a Polistas logo on the chest.

Officers of Her Majesty the Queen's Life Guards, part of the Royal Household Cavalry, are also customers of Polistas, which outfits the Royal Jordanian Polo Team, the Sultan of Brunei, and members of the Kuwaiti Royal Family for the sport of kings as well.

Tags: Burlington Arcade, BurlingtonArcade, dress, equestrian, Polistas, polo, polo shirt, PoloShirt, UK

The Classicist: Lacoste's Elements of Style

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Sports, Books, The Classicist

Lacoste: The Element of Style, a smashing new book dedicated to the famed French brand about to be published by Assouline, covers much more than just sport shirts; it's about savoir vivre and savoir faire, literally "how to live" and "how to be" with plenty of style. It's designed to illuminate the contemporary relevance of the legacy of René Lacoste, the brand's founder who was the best tennis player in the world at the end of the Roaring Twenties. Nicknamed "Le Crocodile" for his tenacity on the court he began sporting an alligator patch on his blazers starting in 1927, which then became the basis for the sportswear brand he founded in 1933, one of the first labels to marry American functionality with European elegance. He also designed tennis rackets and other equipment, filing 25 patents during his lifetime.

The logo was applied to the easy breathing piqué sports shirts Lacoste favored, which helped him to cope with the heat on American tennis courts. It was a major revolution for players, who until then had worn starched, long-sleeve dress shirts even on the hottest days. The book comes in various different colors, a nod to the fact that Lacoste began producing its shirts in dozens of different shades well before anyone else caught the color bug. Until the 1950s, only white polos and shirts were allowed on tennis courts, but beginning in 1951, the company dared to add contrasting elements in navy blue, then red. That helped revitalize fashion both on and off the courts and presaged the color explosion of the 1960s.

Gallery: Lacoste: The Elements of Style

Tags: Assouline, books, Lacoste, polo shirt, PoloShirt, Rene Lacoste, ReneLacoste, shirts, style, tennis

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Claseo, Shopping By Invitation

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Piggybacking on the idea of exclusive boutiques is Claseo , an online closed shopping community that sells an invitation-only line of clothing. The Claseo fashion items which include polos like the pink one shown here, are limited and equipped with a visible identification code. In order to be able to purchase Claseo apparel, you need to be invited by a current member of Claseo. The snob appeal is high here, Claseo members choose the people who are eligible to wear Claseo designs. You can also apply for membership online.

The shirt shown here, which regularly sells for 79 euros but is currently reduced to 55 euros comes with a Claseo shirt bag, five business-card-format invitation cards, five email invitation privileges, a lifetime online community membership, free shipping within the EU and free replacement if you chose the wrong size. The inviting member also gets a discount on their next purchase.

[via Springwise]

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Tags: claseo, polo shirt, shopping, social network