As the roar erupted across beer gardens up and down the country on Wednesday evening, when England scored a late goal against the Netherlands with minutes to go, there was one item on our screens that stood out for its quiet yet potent presence – Gareth Southgate’s soft power polo top.
The £45 knit is designed by Marks & Spencer as part of its M&S x England collection. But the specific style has been deliberately chosen by the England manager because it’s less formal than the constrained tailoring he once wore on the sidelines.
“This year, it will be more short-sleeved knits than a suit and tie,” the 53-year old told GQ before the Euros began. “We’re trying to create a relaxed environment. When you’re working with young lads, you don’t want to be too stiff in what you’re doing or wearing.”
Perhaps there’s something talismanic about the distinctive clothing that Southgate chooses to wear during important football events. During the World Cup in 2018, his tailored waistcoat became a national fixation, with sales of the style at M&S leaping by 35 per cent. He then pivoted to a knitted tie, occasionally tucked under a sweater, for the 2021 World Cup.
This time around, it’s the perennial polo shirt, worn instead of a shirt and tie, its soft, creamy butteriness at odds with the sweat, blood and swear words of the football environment.
It’s clearly resonating with British football fans; that particular polo shirt, which is now sold out in all sizes, has sold 55 per cent ahead of M&S’s buying forecasts and sales of short sleeved polo shirts across the board have increased by 30 per cent. Menswear brand Jacamo saw a 42 per cent rise in searches for polo shirts after Southgate first wore the style at the start of the Euros. “The iconic wardrobe staple has been epitomised most recently by Southgate, showcasing its timeless appeal,” says Mitch Hughes, director of menswear at Marks & Spencer.
Southgate’s polo shirt chimes with the current shift towards “soft power dressing” in menswear. Just as he’s relegated the polished three-piece suit while promoting the comfortable but just-smart-enough polo shirt, so too has there been a move away from the crisp, constrained tailoring towards a more casual approach.
It’s a move straight from the playbook of Succession; the 0.001 per cent alphas don’t wear fussy suiting anymore; in its place are gilets, padded jackets, knitwear and polo shirts. At this level, the brands are Brunello Cucinelli and Loro Piana rather than the best of the British high street, but the sentiment remains – suiting is middle man, while the real power players opt for something softer and easier. It’s a style pivot exemplified by Jeff Bezos, who shifted from awkward shirt-and-tie wearing executive to a stealth wealth wardrobe of baseball caps, gilets and polo shirts – short-sleeved styles being all the better to show off those freshly pumped biceps.
It’s an item with a chequered political past too, according to Dr Elizabeth Kealy-Morris, the senior lecturer in dress and belonging at the Manchester Fashion Institute. “The polo shirt originated in India during the Colonial period when Indian men would wear these types of shirts during polo matches. The style was then adopted by the British army but it was really popularised by tennis players like René Lacoste and Fred Perry,” she notes.
“Perry brought the style to Britain where it became the uniform of subcultures including the Mods and later football hooligans, so it’s interesting to see Gareth Southgate almost reclaim the polo and wear it in a very grown-up, professional way. It’s described as a ‘performance’ style, which gives it a sense of athleticism and competitiveness: it’s a very masculine choice.”
The polo is also a great halfway house between formal and casual. Its popularity rose during the Twenties in the sporty environs of tennis but today it works as harmoniously with a suit as it does on weekends with jeans. In fact, it’s rather dynamic and sleek to wear it with tailoring.
Today men need a work outfit that will take them from Lime biking to the office to client meetings and after-work drinks – the polo shirt ticks all the boxes. Personally, despite the ubiquity of Ralph Lauren in this arena, I’d steer clear of a logo-ed variety in favour of something plain and classic, like Southgate’s style. Although it’s sold out, M&S has plenty more iterations of the soft power polo as does Percival, another Southgate favourite.
Wear yours with above-the-knee shorts on your Mediterranean sojourn this summer – very Talented Mr Ripley – or slip a smart blazer over the top for something more formal, such as a wedding. Women might have the Little Black Dress, but as Southgate proves, the Sleek Little Polo can work just about anywhere. Whether it has the Midas touch to defeat Spain, we’ll see.
Three of the best soft power polos
Sage, £110, Reiss
Cream, £315, Sunspel
Air Force Blue, £40, M&S
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