Ralph Lauren

It's great if you like hip hop.

Purple label stuff is great. Anything else is equivalent to any other dreck one would find in a Target.

Geeze, Miss OP’s pix is so good looking, it makes my eyes water. Life is so unfair.

[quote]It's not "LAU-ren."

Yes, it is.

Whoops, I mean it's not "Lau-REN" lol.

The gay son Andrew aged so quickly. Dear god.

I'm sure he doesn't care, because anything is better than Lipschitz!

Fey.

Is r8 Michael Ives?

Andrew's new pad is fit for a queen.

Andrew is so discreet. No pics with young actors or boyfriends etc.

So how is it pronounced? For those of us who don’t care.

Since OP royally fucked up this thread.

LAU-ren, R12. Like the girl's name.

I coveted the high end blueblood lines in the Madison Avenue store in the 80s but by the time I could afford it I preferred Italian and English clothes. My favourite pair of khakis of all time were RL Polo and they lasted forever and each stage of their disintegration was perfectly realised. I also had a ridiculously costume-y tennis sweater that was nevertheless perfect and got me laid many times. Like many lines, the 80's were the last time average mass-market upscale clothing used really great fabrics and materials. By the 90's you had to move up price points and even then it was no guarantee.

It's 'Lorn', obviously.

Quality is shit.

My husband wears the classic polo shirts. Nowadays the body of the shirts is noticeably thinner fabric. Just deleted a rant about how inferior the new shirts are.

I have three cashmere cable-knit sweaters from their Black Label line. One has held up well. The other two have become so pilled that it’s hard to see that they’re cable-knit. I faithfully de-fuzz them after each wear and it’s futile. They look terrible and I wear them as “grubbies” now.

Generally, clothing seems to be made to be disposable. L.L. Bean and Brooks Brothers are the same way; brands that used to be dependable for excellent quality and long wear but fall apart after a year or two.

Maybe I notice because I shop at thrift shops, and see new and vintage items side by side.

I liked their short-lived Rugby brand. It was cute.

At around 2000, lots of oldy worldy sweater shops and shirt shops were going out of business around Europe and I bought a fair amount of cashmere and other wools that don't exist anymore or are priced in the many thousands. As an aside, it must have been in the early 90's I bought a bunch of boxers and t-shirts at SULKA and I'm still wearing them, they are indestructible. Was it magic? I mean really, dafuq happened to our clothes.

R3, another one.

Oprah really likes the brand. Glad it makes some people feel good. Looking forward to hotels from them - they'll be fun.

Ralph Lauren himself owns a resort in Jamaica, but it's not overtly branded, except for one suite.

2 years ago RLPolo was making a synthetic "performance" polo - wicking. I snagged 4 at Marshall's, they weren't cheap even there. In Geneve they were 230 bucks. They have a great close fit and perform as they should and the color held fast. The black is still black.

I took a course in Consumer Behaviour at Cornell in the early 80's and wrote a paper on RLPolo branding. They weren't subtle (my paper nor the brand image) - it was quite gross in fact. They toned it down eventually.

It's Lipschitz. He a Jew.

That sounds fucking sexy, R22. They have pics of them, but none where they're tight on the model, which of course would be better.

They kind of ruined themselves in the 90s, selling brightly colored stuff, Frisbees, and cheap water bottles - all at Macy's. Gross.

Strangely, they're doing a retro line this season, reimagining the 90s crap.

America's greatest designer. LOL.

I know its sacrilege to an older aesthetic but I don't know why anyone would wear cotton polos now in today's burning climate. You can get stylish stuff with sun-protection and wicking and be a lot more comfortable. I buy high altitude hiking shirts as well and they are Swiss and Austrian. They dry instantly and you don't burn. I just bought a high-tech Chesterfield at an Italian shop on dramatic sale - its a combination of cashmere and recycled plastic and its waterproof. Its very soft and looks like an aged classic Chesterfield.

I think they should figure out how clothes can produce electricity to power our electronics.

R27 really NOT great. Jewish tailor who sold a WASP (dancing with fascist) aesthetic. Also his contemporary Calvin Klein was much more inventive in his entire design aesthetic. For awhile of course.

R14, r18, my husband’s family was in the garment business for decades and we concur. There was a sharp decline.

Now I shop at thrift shops and get beautiful clothing (I’m a woman). Some of it is new, but I especially love older things. It’s sort of a hobby. I live on the Upper East Side and find absolute treasures. A lot of times the pricers don’t realize that a yellowed Pringle of Scotland label on a cashmere sweater means “premium” price, so I can nab one for $4. There are also Madison Avenue brands they don’t recognize, so I get $$ and/or quality clothing for a song.

Perry Ellis and Calvin Klein were better at the same time Polo had its great success. I think most Polo is costume design more than fashion.

interesting. gritty

Ralph Lifshitz made up the brand name, so please feel free to make up your own pronunciation. There is no one to offend, as in this case, there are no Lauren ancestors or history to respect. It's just a brand name.

I was in London in one of the depressions of the early noughts. Pringle had relaunched itself as a fashion brand to compete with Burberry. Oh that was a disastrous season for many newly upscale "fashion" brands. The sales were 85%! Miyake and Westwood at 85% becomes interesting to a middle class shopper. I was told there was a powwow of fashion mandarins who declared that 85-90% discounts must NEVAH happen again. Oh - Pringle - yes there is the old stock - which you love. And the new - sad! I gave my Pringle to some young fashionista a few years ago.

The switch from Scottish and Austrian wool to Chinese wool and mills was a disaster.

[quote] A lot of times the pricers don’t realize that a yellowed Pringle of Scotland label on a cashmere sweater means “premium” price, so I can nab one for $4.

I had so many Pringles once upon a time. Not even cashmere. Just Shetland or lambswool. But I grew out of them, about which, enough said.

Is Andrew really gay? I see a lot of pics of him with Laetitia Queyranne, are they lovers?

Speaking of old wool, we just opened an old blanket chest at my late ILs house and found a treasure trove of wool sweaters from the 70s. Some were so thick and well-knit they could be raincoats. Unfortunately they’re also very boxy. I’m thinking of selling them on eBay. I don’t think you could find anything like that today.

"It's not "LAU-ren." I hate when people say that - gross."

How old are you, OP? TEN?

All these billionaires are focused on more more more profit. Pride in workmanship across the board has gone out the window so you'd better learn to spin wool, sew, make furntire, pour silver, bake china etc etc if you want to have nice things

Ralph Lawrence.

Is he a Jew?

It’s pronounced like this

[quote]I'm sure he doesn't care, because anything is better than Lipschitz!

Tell me about it.

Ive been in the fashion business for over 30 years and never owned anything from Ralph Lauren or Tommy Hilfiger. All that branding, who cares?

When Perry Ellis was alive the line was finding colors, patterns and cuts that were modern and "American" but not preppy. Marc Jacobs took it a different direction for a few years and then it lost any identity at all. I seem to remember there were down years when it was all baggy clothes for blacks.

Correctly, it is pronounced "Ralf Cheapshitsuckerdumper."

Personally, I won't wear any kind of shirt with either graphics or logos.

The branded items are obviously meant for certain kinds of people.

The purple label is quality stuff, but I get things tailor-made for me for less. Of course, I choose the precise fabrics I want. Buying Ralph Lauren Purple Lable is for people with more money than discernment. Or perhaps they're just lazy, since having things made requires judgment, taste, patience, etc.

They tried Polo/Ralphie Lipschitz. Didn’t move.

I love preppy colorful clothes - but nowadays I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. I have begun feeling like anything well branded (Polo, Vineyard Vines, etc) screams "White Privilege" - not that I give a rat's a$$ - but why become a target? And then there is the grungification (my word) of NYC. When I go to midtown I dress down to fit in with the men in wife-beaters and gym shorted touristas (I, however, don't stoop that low) - when I am at the opera or uptown restaurant I will get dressed and I enjoy doing so. Bring back Maxim's where I can where a tux to dinner and not feel foolish.

R9, that's not Michael Ives. I think his name was Andrew Smith, maybe. Had a model brother whose first name was Saint John (Sinjin).

I guess all malls are dying now, but the Polo store at the Cherry Creek store in Denver closed last year and the Brooks Bros. store just did a major downsizing.

Vineyard Vines is so over, and is now for Mexicans and trash at third-tier schools.

Please don’t embarrass yourself by wearing it.

[quote]Personally, I won't wear any kind of shirt with either graphics or logos.

Me either, unless it's gym clothes. I was raised that graphic/logo clothing was lower-class prole wear.

R49 is typing from his Mother’s basement, stealing his neigbor’s’ Wi-fi, and is on SSI, right?

I helped to launch Nautica back in the mid 80's, they started doing really well, then they got upset when the urban blacks started to wear their clothing. Not the direction they wanted to go.

r56 that's happened to several designers, Tommy Hilfiger being the biggest example. No matter what they say publicly, they are all PISSED beyond belief when that happens to their line.

I worked in the corporate office for much of the 90's, and still have some great friends from there. I absolutely loved working there -- Ralph was accessible, his right hand woman Buffy was smart and creative, and it was a time of great growth and excitement. Plus, the clothes were fantastic. It is no longer the company that I worked at, but that, I think, is mostly the result of it going public, which happened shortly after I left. When it was privately held and tightly controlled by Ralph, there was great emphasis on quality, costs be damned. When a company goes public, all unnecessary expenses are eliminated, and the designers have to start playing it safe. They also became too big to be as well-focused as they once were. They had to be all things to all people, and they took their eye off the ball. Clothes from there might have tried a little too hard, but there was always something special about them. Now? there really is nothing special, and there is little consistency from item to item. I prefer a smaller company where I know what the clothes will fit like, but Polo's sizes are all over the place. Some of the shirts are too trim, some too boxy, some fit short, some long, etc. It is too unwieldy for me now. I prefer to just find a company that fits, and know that most items within that line will work for me. Polo WAS that company, but no longer is. It's a shame. It was an incredible place to work, and I miss it -- and the people I worked with-- all the time. And it's pronounced like the girls' name.

Never liked these clothes.

I have to admit I’m a a Polo snob. I like his classic designs and I even wear Polo T-shirts. (But I buy most of them on EBay.............I’m not gonna pay $35 for a T-shirt)

I miss Alexander Julian/Colours! (Before they reintroduced the cheaper, less colorful versions, which I've only seen at Burlington Coat Factory--itself only good for when you need a business shirt cheap and in a hurry).

I think you can still find some good Alexander Julian clothes at his store in Chapel Hill, R61

Some RL merch is still great quality, albeit over priced. The better quality items never had logos or ponies. The linens at the higher end are still amazing. Not too many American brands sell sheeting made of Italian fabric (450 & higher TC) sewn in USA. The hems and seams never fray or unravel. Last set I purchased was Poets Society. The fabric is now eight years old and still retains a sheen. At the same time I had purchased dark navy paisley pillowcases and shams, also of Italian fabric, and they too retain an almost chintz like lovely sheen, like old mercerized sea island cotton.

So what is a good brand good priced brand now?

I bought ten sets of Alissa sheets in sage at Marshall's in 1999. They lasted until a couple of years ago. The best sheets I ever owned. Not available anymore. They were a nice, soft, wrinkly jacquard without that "no iron" crap that gets sprayed on sheets. I can only find them now in cream, on eBay, at around $30-50 per sheet. I might spend it if they were sage, but cream, I'm just not a brown/beige person.

Sferra and Frette do not justify the price, but Pratesi does IMHO. You'd better have hundreds to spend though.

The current company is a shitty place to work. They are ultra stingy and they really screw the employees over. Ralph Lauren offers minimal compensation and benefits. They treat the employees like shit.

But hey, let's revere public corporations.

only in America could a nice Jewish boy from the Bronx make a fortune purveying Chinese-made "old money' WASP schtick to the plebian wannabes.

It wasn't always Chinese-made.

R68 if employees don't like it they can move on. That's the way it works. When turnover gets too much the Company will figure it out and adjust accordingly

Does r71 imagine I didn't already know "if employees don't like it they can move on"?

Yes R70, once a part of The British Empire! Very good skilled labour for the textile industries. I agree about RL not having respectable labour, though I love the brand. My dentist's wife told me he runs sweatshop style factories in Italy, where no Italians work. The US workrooms rely heavily on Filipino and other immigrants for cheap labour. It is the way of the entire world sadly though.

Model at OP is Dusty Lachowicz

R51: Don't you have any backbone?

Also, I like some of the menswear but a lot of the fabric often feels like sandpaper, even the shirts made (reportedly) from cotton.

One of the things, I like about Polo, is that they are one of the only brands of shorts, I can find, that has some with short inseams. I have nice legs and if I wear shorts I want to show them off.

Goldman Sachs owned about 30% of the company pre-IPO, Not sure how much they own now.

R77 Land's End has newer shorter shorts... I believe they are in Canvas collection. Rise is rather short if you happen to be packing though! Briefs may help with that.

Listen to the sluts on here talking about showing legs. Girls, boys don't buy milk when the cow comes presenting it's hole.

Lauren's a name-changer..what goddamned difference does it make how you go about pronouncing his name?

OP completely fucked this whole thread up with his misinformation in his post.

He’s pathetic.

Agreed, R82. It's an annoying phrase, granted, but "check yourself before you wreck yourself" seems apt.

R77: Aren't you concerned about sun damage?

Whenever I hear someone pronounce it "Lah REN" the dormant snob in me reemerges and wants to snap at the rube.

My favorite college shirt was by him....it was a bold black and red plaid, cut just right.

I think a decade later I looked at that one and a few other shirts and realized they were somewhat dated. (Tho Ralph Lauren’s stuff doesn’t tend to do that as a rule, as it’s pretty classic.) I passed them on.

I bought a lot of his clothes when they were good both in terms of style and quality (the 80's - 90's.) and some I still have: a Purple Label tux, three or four blazers, suits made in Lawrence out of amazing Italian wool, a camel's hair topcoat and a Loden coat, cashmere cable knit sweaters that didn't pill, the loafers,) and some of it still fits so it's given good value, too. It was what it was: useful and durable and a little distinctive because you couldn't wear jeans all day everyday back then. But no one dresses like that now so it's all in the closet on proper wooden hangers in tan cotton garment bags. Worn maybe once a year these days.

and R79 Wouldn't "no briefs" help even more?

BTW -- a few people have mentioned that they shave down the sweaters to eliminate pills. That has the exact opposite effect though: pilling happens when the stray ends of the fiber become disengaged from the thread. Shaving the sweater increases the number of stray ends, and, therefore, increases the likelihood of a pill.

Another interesting fabric fact: the reason Goretex and material of its ilk are rain resistant, is because the thread used is extra long, with fewer filaments. (It's also the same fabric used for Glide floss!) Because the thread is longer, the holes in the weave are smaller, making it hard for water to penetrate the fabric.

R84 Have you not heard of sunscreen?

R87 I normally freeball in my short shorts.

R90 And I, R87, thank you from the bottom of my heart every time you do.

I used to like this brand. Then I bought a set of sheets, NOT CHEAP, and the darn things simply worn apart in less than 3 months. They went in the trash and I went shopping for another brand. For good. Why would I put a dollar in his bank account for crap quality?

I'm curious about your pick R92. Do you by chance recall the name or thread count? Where were they made? I have been buying them since the 80's, and have not shared this experience. I never buy seconds at discount stores though. Did you? My oldest set are khaki sheets from 1990... Safari collection. They were a low TC too, but quite durable.

They just want to be rich. They just make overpriced crap. Their logo is hideous.

He's. a Jew with a fake name.

Yeah so what R95. Half of Hollywood has anglicized a less than melodic name.

Ralph Lauren, like Tommy Hillfiger, has simply become too inner city for my taste. Pass.

Seems there are implicit racist objections here on this thread, rather than legitimate gripes regarding quality or value for money. R94 You do know the majority of the items on offer carry no logo?

I like their Custom Fit Polos. They really flatter the male body slightly tighter chest area and around the arms make you look muscular if you have any kind of a decent body. The quality seems a lot higher than the regular ones, thicker fabric is defiantly noticeable. And they did invent the Polo that everyone else copied, thats what they are known for. Only downside is the custom fits are almost always around $100.

R93, I have a controversial observation that a friend corroborates. Higher thread count may be softer, but it’s not durable.

I love the Ralph Lauren bedding.

True R100. Nothing controversial at all about it, as the fibres have to be twisted tighter, to achieve those counts above 350-400, resulting in a more fragile or delicate fabric. The hand and the sheen are what are most luxurious and desireable about them. The trade-offs begin around 700-1000.... One cannot or should not tumble dry them, and delicate cycle with cold water only for longevity. The other drawback with higher thread counts is they do not breathe as well, retaining more heat. Best to switch to 230-350 for spring/summer.

R89: Is sunscreen edible?

I have noticed a great inconsistency in the gage of fabric in their polo shirts. I think it is a function of where they are made. Even though they might have rigid specifications, I'm sure that a factory here or there does not follow the guide on occasion, and the product slips through.

And R99 --Lacoste really popularized the polo shirt, not RL, and they were also one of the first to put a logo on the front. (Rene Lacoste was a tennis player who was nicknamed "the crocodile" because of his tenacity and speed on the tennis court, which is why he used that for his logo.) I have noticed the fabric of Lacoste shirts getting progressively thinner over the years, and the body is shorter. The tail used to be significantly longer, but now it no longer is. That would use more fabric, so they probably eliminated the longer tail in an effort to lower costs. Their shirts are EXPENSIVE! but I prefer them to Polo's; they don't feel as mass-produced, although, of course they are.

[quote]I have noticed a great inconsistency in the gage of fabric in their polo shirts.

"Gauge," not "gage."

[quote]Lacoste really popularized the polo shirt, not RL, and they were also one of the first to put a logo on the front.

Yes, I started buying alligator shirts, as I called them, in the early '70s. I didn't even hear of Polo until a few years later, and that was mostly for their dress clothing (I needed suits, shirts, ties). FWIW, their ties and lapels were just as wide as the tackiest ones available in 1975-76. I think I may have bought my first Polo polo shirt in the early '80s. My favorite was a black one with a red pony.

Were Chemises Lacostes known specifically as [italic]polo[/italic] shirts thenadays? They were actually tennis shirts.

R93, they were not seconds. Purchased at a nicer department store. I, too, was shocked. Who knows, maybe they were bootleg? It happens. They were washed only on delicate cycle cold water and tumble dried only on low. They were not used much so they were not laundered much. They did have a high thread count. The observation that high thread count is weaker may be correct.

R1 don't let trashy people taint good brands.

[quote] don't let trashy people's taints sit on good sheets.

Purple label stuff is great. Anything else is equivalent to any other dreck one would find in a Target.

Nonsense.

Buy a RL Polo shirt and one from Target. Launder both an equal number of times. You'll see the difference by 5 washings.

The ones I've bought from La Martina in Buenos Aires are still great in terms of fit, fabric, and workmanship but looking at their site, they seem to have succumbed to the "BIGGER is, if not better, at least WAY WAY BIGGER" design philosophy that has tainted the RL designs as well. One does not need to wear a logo at all, but if we must, I want that logo to be one visible to someone next to me (if that) and not from fifty feet away whether it's a penguin or an alligator or a polo pony and rider or two swinging their mallets.

That and their prices seem to have skyrocketed since the last time I was in BA in 2015. The Patio Bulrich store on Posadas was the flagship; not sure if that's still the case as they appear to have opened a lot of new stores all over BA and in several other Argentine cities as well.

R105-- Yes, they were alternately known as tennis shirts or polo shirts. I think they might have become more known as polo shirts, though, because of the popularity of RL's shirts, but they were called "polo" before he started making them.

A little trivia: Polo players traditionally wore regular button front shirts, but the president of Brooks Brothers noticed that the players' collars kept pupping up and getting in their face. His solution ? He invented the button-down collared shirt! Brooks Brothers applied for a trademark on the name "polo shirt" to describe a button down collared shirt, which is why all of Polo Ralph Lauren's shirts have "Ralph Lauren" on the label of his button down shirts, and not "Polo Ralph Lauren." He is not legally-allowed to put a "polo" label in his button-down shirts.

Polo players eventually switched to the knit shirts that we now all polo shirts, because they were more comfortable and offered better movement than the woven fabric shirts they were wearing.

I wonder if polo shirts would have entered the mainstream anyway, without the efforts of Rene Lacoste?

[quote]And they did invent the Polo that everyone else copied

those R59 who are ignorant of history are susceptible to making ignorant comments

"In 1933, Lacoste founded La Société Chemise Lacoste with André Gillier. The company produced the tennis shirt, also known as polo shirt, which Lacoste often wore when he was playing, which had a crocodile (often thought to be an alligator) embroidered on the chest . Ralph Lifshitz was born 6 years after the polo shirt was invented.

I remember many years ago Sandra Bernhardt created an uproar when she was hosting some fashion awards and said something to the effect of “I like your sheets Mr. Lipshitz” when introducing him.

R113: Really? She would address him that way? She must be as mean as she was in that Will & Grace episode.

She does have a way of going a little (or a lot) too far...

Childhood issues, I'm sure, but she's still working them out.

R115: At nearly sixty years of age? No, I suspect she's just a mean person like Ellen Degeneres. Ralph Lauren seems a very kind man. He appeared on Oprah's talk show once several years ago and was just charming.

R116. I worked for Polo years ago, and Ralph IS, indeed, a kind man. He is open, thoughtful, and approachable. He is also very considerate of his employees.

R88 you are a know nothing. Goretex is a membrane and not fabric at all. the outer shell is treated fabric.

R118. According to wikipedia, it IS a fabric. "Gore-Tex is a waterproof, breathable fabric membrane..." I suppose calling it a fabric or not is based on how you define "fabric." I didn't realize the patent on the fabric has run out, which explains why there are so many other waterproof fabrics. There are some things I know, and a lot I don't. I'm always open to learning something new.

So no real Gay gossip on him then?

I worked for him for years. He is completely straight. He is also incredibly caring and considerate of his employees.

Ralph L'Wren.

I don’t see anyone wearing polos nowadays

R123 most of the people I see wearing Polo shirts are usually newly arrived Asian people here in Canada who are a bit older, maybe 30s or 40s. I guess for them Polo was the status clothing they aspired to.

Of course as a teen in the 80s, every prep douchebag was covered in the shit, including the cologne.

I just realized that I still have a copy of the book, Ralph Lauren: The Man Behind The Mystique.

I do love the polo shirts, I own 10 of them in different colors.

R110...if you noticed on the front page, you can catch former ANTM contestant Mikey Heverly. And, the blonde guy with goatee looks so much like actor Finn Jones from “Iron Fist”.

God I used to love his stuff, but this was way back in the 80’s, almost 40 years ago. He was a game changer, presented a whole way of life which was perfect for the times. These days I love Uniqlo.

[quote]I prefer a smaller company where I know what the clothes will fit like, but Polo's sizes are all over the place. Some of the shirts are too trim, some too boxy, some fit short, some long, etc.

AMEN! This is Polo's biggest problem today.

Way back in the 90s, I worked part time at Macy's selling home linens, including three designer brands: Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. RL linens were the most of expensive of the three by a little, but much better quality by far. Straight guys would go straight for the CK linens; I think they preferred the subdued colors. CK linens were junk. They were returned for quality issues constantly, more than any other brand, designer or not. Tommy Hilfiger was reliable, a decent buy. It's a shame the Ralph Lauren sheets didn't work out. Once that was the brand I would have steered you toward if you liked color and pattern.

I third the Polo sizing issues. It’s ridiculous. The custom fits are too small and the classic fits are huge and square.

Stingy company, horrible to employees

It was not, R132, when I worked there. They pay less than other companies because they can -- everyone wants to work there, so they don't need higher salaries to get employees -- but I found that they were nothing but kind and generous and thoughtful to employees.That might have changed a little when it went public-- they had stockholders to answer to, so they couldn't run business the same ay as when it was private -- but it probably changed to a larger degree when that Swedish guy from H and M took over for a brief time. He was cold and not kind to the employees, which could be one reason his tenure was so short.

Never really understood the appeal of it. it's all just a tired riff on traditional English and Scottish and Western European upper class clothing, and Argentinian polo wear.

If you want fair isle or cashmere cable knits order them from a Scottish knitwear retailer, such as Johnstons Cashmere, or Dicks of Edinburgh. If you want tweed jackets, order them from the UK, made from Harris tweed.

If you want a vicuna or camel hair coat, go to Max Mara.

If you need a polo shirt, go to La Martina.

You might be missing the appeal of Polo's clothes, R134. He took those European influences, and made them American, and, thus, more appealing to the average American. Sure, there are some of us who wear what inspired Ralph, but the majority would not be comfortable in it. At the time, European clothing was cut much trimmer than American, and Ralph was wise enough to tailor the look to suit American's bodies.

A lot of buyers of Ralph Lauren's clothes aren't familiar with the original styles and makers. The genius of RL is that he introduced those materials and styles to the American public.

The biggest Polo heads are people who have never even sat on a horse or been skiing. Polo hasn't really been a gateway to other labels. It's the exaggeration of the characteristics of the classic brands/styles that is appealing to collectors.

That's L-I-F-S-H-I-T-Z to all you label hounds.

r137 = Con Yo Shenty, yo.

[quote] If you want fair isle or cashmere cable knits order them from a Scottish knitwear retailer, such as Johnstons Cashmere, or [bold] Dicks of Edinburgh. [/bold]

How can it be that's this is the first time I heard about this retailer? That business should be HUGE!

Sorry, how can it be that this is the first time I hear about this retailer?

I grew up wearing this brand among others. I hate that the polo logo is now so big, I haven't bought it.

We also used Ralph Lauren's sheets and towels, they were all made in the USA back then...sigh....such good quality. I still have them! I just love the prints and design of the sheets.

The purple label is worth buying for sure! very expensive but worth it.

All the top brands have a super expensive but good line and "regular" lines made in china cheap crap. They used to be all good quality for decent prices but now if you want the same quality, gotta pay extra.

According to my mother, who cares about this sort of thing, RL's genius was to take the sort of brands mentioned at R134, which were typically sold at small high end stores and make them accessible to the new "yuppie" class that was emerging in the 80s, a class that was enamored with status and visible labels.

The downfall was when they "started doing all those cheap outlet stores" and "your cleaning lady would show up wearing it" and the whole hip-hop association didn't help either.

I know it was very popular in the 80s and 90s and there are pictures of me as a toddler wearing Polo shirts in the early 90s, but TBH, I couldn't tell you the last time I saw someone I know with one. Vineyard Vines seems to have taken that niche, at least with upper middle class white people.