This summer I decided, out of simplicity, to mostly have a uniform at work: a solid color polo and shorts or other pantaloons. I augmented this lineup with more formal buttondowns and the like, but polos are easy and not a big hassle. I ended up buying polos from three different places, and found that the polos handled the rigor of frequent wear in different ways.
The bulk of my polos, as is the case with most of my basics, were from Lands’ End. These ended up being the most consistent and durable overall, with only a bit of color fading. They also held up well to baby spit-ups. But the collars on almost all of them curled quickly despite the alleged presence of no-curl collars. Opps. Nevertheless these were my winners, and at $15-$25 I’m sure I can get another season or two, at least, out of them.
I bought a couple of polos from Target. These were much brighter and were appropriate for summer only, really. The good news is that they did pretty well with wear similar to those from Lands’ End; the bad news is that the colors faded pretty badly on one shirt. But, hey, they were $10. I can get one more season out of at least one of them.
Finally, there’s the polo I bought at Kohl’s. A bummer: it shrunk, the color faded, the collar curled, and the thing is pilling like there’s no tomorrow. I can’t wear this to work pretty much ever again, so it’ll be relegated to “around the house” status. Fifteen bucks.
All told, I think going with this core lineup for clothing made choosing what to wear for work way the hell easier. I’ll likely shoot for it again next summer. Coming up next on the Ping: fashion tips from Carson Kressley!
Posted in Everyday Life