The Transeasonal Period Is Upon Us, so Here Are the Best Polo Shirts for Men

Too hot for a sweatshirt; too cold for a T-shirt. Welcome, lads, to the most difficult season in menswear. As if getting dressed wasn't hard enough…

But there is a balm to this strange window made of cold mornings and sticky afternoons, and it's called the polo shirt. Once bastardised by Noughties teenagers who thought it appropriate to make like their favourite Chad from The OC and layer up four at once, this time-honoured piece of menswear has now been saved. And rightly so. It is one of the most versatile items in your wardrobe, transcending its roots on polo pitches and tennis courts to become a go-to of presidents. Yes, Biden included. But we'd rather point you to photos of JKF sailing in The Hamptons, and Obama being Obama.

Recently, the polo returned as part of the prep-goes-skate wave launched by the Lower East Side brands like Noah and Aimé Leon Dore. Think wild colours, streetwear-influenced prints and patterns, and boxy fits that afford plenty of room for backside tailslides.

That all means there's a second (or, by this point, more like twentieth) coming for the polo shirt. But there's a reason why it never left the horsier postcodes: the polo shirt was, unsurprisingly, designed especially for horsey types. John Brooks, the early president of Brooks Brothers, noticed English polo players using buttons to prevent their collars from flapping around in the wind. Ingenious, he said, and began producing the piece en masse in 1896.

Still, that's a far cry from the polo shirts of today. It was in fact a certain Jean Rene Lacoste (yes, that Lacoste) who is largely credited with the invention of the modern iteration: short-sleeved, unstarched collar and made of pique cotton. That makes it great for playing tennis. And also holidays, summer, workouts, cricket, house removals and everything else. But not layering above or below other polo shirts. Leave that madness in The OC.

Keep scrolling to discover our edit of the best polo shirts around, featuring picks from Jacquemus, Loro Piana, Tombolo and more.