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Polo Shirt under a blazer?

28K views 40 replies 35 participants last post by  Tom72  
#1 ·
I was just asked by a buddy to recommend some decent polo shirts to be worn when he meets with some clients down at a convention (he’s in sales). My initial reaction was polo shirts don’t belong in business, but regardless, they certainly don’t belong under a blazer. Then I thought for a second, is that a general convention, or is that just a personal bias? I think polo shirts look silly under a blazer, but I noticed that Jos A Banks web site (not that they are the best place to seek sartorial advice) notes that their polos are “great with khakis or under a blazer”. Is there a general consensus on this particular get up?

Also suggestions are welcome on the shirts. I suggested Lacoste or Polo at Marshalls or TJMax - or Banks or LE (at sears) on the lower end of the price scale.
 
#6 ·
Nothing wrong with polo/sport jacket or blazer. But it's pretty commonplace now and not the nicest thing for business.
 
#7 ·
I think it demonstrates a certain sartorial lazziness.
The look requires a minimum of effort and the blazer makes
it look like you've bothered to dress for business.
I recently went to a business meeting in Charleston where the still very warm weather caught me off guard, I was wearing a summer weight wool suit and sea island cotton FC shirt and tie. Wish I'd worn my seersucker suit.
Many of the people I met with where sporting the polo/blazer combo, it just looks bad.
 
#8 ·
I also don't care for the look but don't care what others are wearing. However, I would strongly urge your friend to wear something else when conducting business, even if most of his clients are dressing like this. It's like showing up to an interview at a dress-casual company without the suit...it's just safest to avoid.
 
#15 ·
I think it may be helpful to understand that the "correctness" of the polo+blazer combination may vary from one geographical region to another. In the southeastern U.S., where the temperature and humidity can be unbearable sometimes, a polo and blazer is considered perfectly appropriate for just about any client site I have visited. In fact, when I arrive at the site, I often find that I am the one who is "dressed up" in my polo and blazer. My vote is that there is nothing inherently wrong with this look, and in fact, at social functions, I am the one getting complimented by other men's wives for doing so. It is all relative. In 95% of my business, if I were to arrive in a suit and tie, I would be regarded as presumptuous.
 
#16 ·
Many golf and country clubs require a jacket in the club house dining room or any where outside the locker room.

This holds true to some yacht clubs, tennis and squash clubs and so on.

Step off the boat, grab a blazer and throw it on over a polo and you are set.

Some people can make anything work,
almost everything works in certain situations.

A blazer and polo shirt downtown...
no thanks,
but hey,
I am not JFK!
 
#20 ·
I believe that conductor Pierre Boulez wears merino polo-collar sweaters buttoned up. Of course, he's a pretty buttoned- up guy.
 
#21 ·
When I was in consulting ties were almost taboo (Ok, board pshrinks, I know where you want to go with this, just let it go) but my attitude toward wearing a sport coat was pretty much akin to the popular NRA bumper sticker - when you peel it off my corpse I'll go out without one.

My 'compromise' was light, crewneck (polo collar gets screwed up by jacket) silk and silk/cashmere sweaters. If you are not wearing a tie (God forbid) it is a nice, neat look and it doesn't look as though you put on the jacket just so you could enter the dining room. Comfortable too.
 
#22 ·
My 'compromise' was light, crewneck (polo collar gets screwed up by jacket) silk and silk/cashmere sweaters. If you are not wearing a tie (God forbid) it is a nice, neat look and it doesn't look as though you put on the jacket just so you could enter the dining room. Comfortable too.
Yes. That's it. That's precisely what bugs me about the polo/jacket look.
 
#23 ·
Yes for casual-NO for business.:(
This summer i started doing it as I had no polo shirts I bought some in summer colors (pink, purple, apple green, strawberry red) to wear them with a white linen suit or a khaki cotton jacket.

However I couldn't make me like it. I felt the polo shirt didin't had shape enough. the open collar was allways out of place and i feel the fabric spongy... Off course this is in comparison with a good shirt.

So I ended buying some colorful short sleeve shirts for the summer in same colors ( orange, apple green, purple, bright yellow, pink )... they do the job much better than the polo shirt for me and keep the same spirit.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I think it may be helpful to understand that the "correctness" of the polo+blazer combination may vary from one geographical region to another. In the southeastern U.S., where the temperature and humidity can be unbearable sometimes, a polo and blazer is considered perfectly appropriate for just about any client site I have visited. In fact, when I arrive at the site, I often find that I am the one who is "dressed up" in my polo and blazer. My vote is that there is nothing inherently wrong with this look, and in fact, at social functions, I am the one getting complimented by other men's wives for doing so. It is all relative. In 95% of my business, if I were to arrive in a suit and tie, I would be regarded as presumptuous.
Interesting. He (and I) were born and raised in a subrb of NYC, he is now working in Upstate NY and the convention is in FL. FWIW.

I have to agree with Chuck, though. The look just gives me the vibe that someone thought a polo shirt was "dressed-up", and had to wear the blazer only so that he may enter a restaurant or what have you. It's just not for me. I wear polo shirts all the time when I am not working, but even on the occasion I dress casually at the office or around clients I just go without the tie, maybe swap the pants for khakis.
 
#26 ·
This summer i started doing it as I had no polo shirts I bought some in summer colors (pink, purple, apple green, strawberry red) to wear them with a white linen suit or a khaki cotton jacket.

However I couldn't make me like it. I felt the polo shirt didin't had shape enough. the open collar was allways out of place and i feel the fabric spongy... Off course this is in comparison with a good shirt.

So I ended buying some colorful short sleeve shirts for the summer in same colors ( orange, apple green, purple, bright yellow, pink )... they do the job much better than the polo shirt for me and keep the same spirit.
Thanks for stating, so clearly, my issue with this combination.
None of my polos have the shape to fit appropriately under a blazer.
I've eschewed this look for the nice linen or cotton short sleeve shirt (whether a short sleeve version of the guayabera or a tucked in shirt) without a blazer. I just don't like the look.