The Best Polo Shirts Are a Lot Sexier Than You Remember

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In 2023, no wardrobe is complete without at least one—if not several!—of the best polo shirts on the market close at hand. They’re as laid back and versatile as a T-shirt, only with the addition of a face-framing, respectability-enhancing collar. You can trust ‘em to help you look handsome in a host of situations—with shorts on the weekend (think deep ’70s energy), with denim at the bar, with a blazer at an outdoor wedding. And let’s not forget that they’re a cornerstone of the most essential dress code of our time, Zoom Casual. Truly nothing masks the chaotic energy of your hybrid work situation quite like a relatively wrinkle-free polo shirt. 

The key to selecting the right polo for the occasion you have in mind largely comes down to fit and fabric. If you’re in the market for a polo that skews more casual, boxy and loose works just as well as pec-grazing and bicep-hugging (naturally, how you define casual is important here); any event that requires some variation of cursed office-appropriate attire likely demands a less dramatic fit instead. Cotton is always a safe bet for year-round wear, but for extra oomph, a knit polo cut from a hardy-but-soft wool—or even an extremely ritzy cashmere—will keep the bitter chill at bay and help you look handsome-as-hell in the process. 

All that’s to say, you don’t have to stick to the dull polos you wore when you were younger. Like you already have with the rest of your wardrobe, get weird! We’re talking abnormal colors, vintage details, and yeah, oversized—but not Phil Mickelson oversized—proportions. Here are 21 of the best polo shirts for all tastes and comfort levels to get you reacquainted with—or just heavier into—the casual Friday hall-of-famer. 

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The Best Polos Shopping Guide

• The Legacy-Defining Polo: Polo Ralph Lauren custom fit mesh polo shirt, $85
• The No Buttons, No Problem Polo: Orlebar Brown “Bruno” open-collar polo shirt, $445
• The Top-of-the-Line Polo: Sunspel cotton piqué polo shirt, $145
• The Surprisingly Affordable Retro Polo: Abercrombie button-through sweater polo, $70
• The Polo That Makes Everyone Hotter: Todd Snyder cable knit long-sleeve polo, $268
• The Fashion Guy Polo: Wales Bonner black sun polo, $495
• The Links Legend Polo: Radda “Gundam” polo, $85

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The Legacy-Defining Polo

No designer has done more to bolster the polo’s pedigree than Ralph Lauren, the Bronx-born Americana obsessive who scaled the highest echelons of the schmatte business off the strength of his pristine shirting alone. 50 years after their debut, the brand’s reputation-making polo shirts (cut from a luxe cotton fabric, adorned with the now-iconic pony on the chest) still set the standard. Today they come in every color under the sun, but the crisp white OG version will help you carve out a legacy of your own—as the slickest dresser around. 

The No Buttons, No Problem Polo

Think of the open-collar polo as the shirt equivalent of kicking back with your arms behind your head, soaking up an achingly beautiful sunset while you ignore whatever work shenanigans are going down in your inbox. Orlebar Brown’s screaming red riff takes that relaxed vibe and cranks up the sex appeal exponentially, rendering its buttonless polo in an oh-so-soft mesh knit with a trim cut that’ll temporarily lend you the physique of a man who spends waaay more time in the gym. To paraphrase a Drake bar (probably): in this polo, you stopped trying to be that guy because you are that guy. Get it?

The Top-of-the-Line Polo

Sometimes you want swervy tones and bold graphics and weird fabrics. And sometimes you just need a clean, crisp polo shirt to cleanse the palette. When the latter mood hits, you’d be hard-pressed to find one executed quite as flawlessly as this joint from Sunspel. Part of that just comes down to reps: the English label has been churning out top-notch basics since 1860, and it lays claim to producing some of the first T-shirts ever made. In other words, Sunspel has had more than enough time to nail everything from the soft-yet-sturdy pique cotton to the flatteringly tailored fit to the shine of the shell buttons. Like a Burberry trench or a pair of Stan Smiths, it’s simplicity you can count on.

The Surprisingly Affordable Retro Polo

Call it the Ripley effect or chalk it up to camp shirt fatigue, but knit polos—especially retro-leaning, stripe-y styles—are everywhere right now. A lot of our favorite versions cost a pretty penny, but riding the new wave of La Dolce Vita-drenched style doesn’t have to mean dropping big money. Luckily, Abercrombie—a brand riding a revival wave of its own as of late—dove headfirst into the trend this season, offering up a version of what they dub “sweater polos” for around 70 bucks. This option skews particularly casual thanks to its full-placket design, so you can wear it like a true mid-century wise guy: open, over a tank top, with pleated trousers and loafers.

The Polo That Makes Everyone Hotter

If you’ve ever wanted to look powerful, like a bigshot CEO on their day off or an A-List actor at a press junket for their new blockbuster action flick, the long sleeve polo is the one-way ticket you’ve been hoping for. This one from Todd Snyder hits all the right notes: the tasteful tipped collar, the knit construction, and the goes-with-everything navy blue color that will look even better when you push up the sleeves to flash your timepiece. We can’t fully explain it, but everyone just looks like their hottest selves when sporting a classic long sleeve polo like this, and we’re not here to argue the data.

The Fashion Guy Polo

How do you follow up one of the most important fashion shows of 2022? Easy: If you’re Grace Wales Bonner, you continue to solidify your brand as one of most vital in the industry. Guided by a distinctly Afro-Caribbean perspective, Bonner weaves together rich color palettes with familiar silhouettes, altered ever-so-slightly and imbued with a startling new relevance. Her Black Sun polo mixes brown and caramel tones with navy stripes and cream trims, a combination that, in aggregate, evokes a deep sense of warmth. Her vision doesn’t come cheap, but it tends to yield the type of menswear you’ll want to own for decades—provided, of course, you can keep your grandkids’ hands off of it when they start sifting through your closet. 

The Links Legend Polo

Perhaps you’ve heard: golf is really, truly cool now—and that extends to the sport’s oft-maligned clothes, too. At the forefront of the movement are new-age enthusiasts like the folks at Radda, the brand co-founded by Jason Fields and Ivan Dominguez. After the duo decided they had enough of the performance-driven schlock dominating the genre, they set out to design the gear they wanted themselves, and the rest, as they say, is history. Radda specializes in polos exactly like this one: lightweight, moisture-wicking, and, most important, cut to chilled-out perfection. Basically, a polo that looks just as rad on the course as it does off of it—because on top of playing golf you also enjoy doing, like, plenty of other cool things. 

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