Friday Polos available again – with new brown colour!

Wednesday, October 12th 2016
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*Many sizes are now sold out. For a breakdown of remaining stock, please see the shop page*

 

With excitement and not a little relief, given how many people have been asking, I'm glad to say the Friday Polos are now back in stock. 

You can place your order here, on the Permanent Style shop. Please don't forget to include in the Notes what size and colour(s) you want. 

We have one new colour this time, a dark brown that you can see me wearing in Japan in the images above. It's a nice, deep chocolatey brown that I find works nicely with grey or tan trousers. 

(The top image was shot at amazing knife-maker Sasuke. Separate post coming on that as well as one or two other Japanese craftspeople.)

Elsewhere, we have the classic navy, green and white, plus the lighter grey that we ran the short-sleeved Friday Polo in back in July.

brown-friday-polo

I'd also like to put in a special mention for white, which I find is underrated in the range.

It's often the least popular colour, yet it functions particularly well for that role we talk about regularly - subverting the assumptions of formal clothing, by for example replacing a classic white button-down under a grey or navy blazer. 

Adam wears it well below, but it is even more useful with conservative tailoring.

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One other change this time is that due to the popularity of the Friday Polos, we have hit the UK VAT threshold and will need to charge people in the EU tax on top of their orders. This is stated in the details along with postage, and added in the order summary at the end. 

Those outside the EU can simply order as normal, and will not be charged VAT. 

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As to the rest of the details on the Friday Polo, they are the same as always, and likely most readers will not need reminding. 

But for those that are new to the site (hello!) here is the background and all the details:

  • The project was started last year with Neapolitan bespoke shirtmaker Luca Avitabile, who has been making my shirts for a few years.
  • The idea was to use the best materials (a soft Caccioppoli fabric) and as much as possible make them in the same way as Luca’s bespoke shirts. Everything is hand cut, and there are five points of handwork: hand-inserted sleeves, buttonholes, buttons, gussets, and ends of the cuff placket.
  • We sell at below the normal retail price. With a standard retail mark-up these would be closer to £250.
  • Five colours are available: Navy, Green, White, Brown and Grey
  • Four sizes: Small, Medium, Large and Extra-large (see table below for dimensions)
  • Shipping by FedEx, from Naples
  • Returns and refunds available if the product is in a resellable condition, although we do not cover the cost of return postage
  • Buy from the shop page here

perfect-polo-shirt

Product details

  • Mid-weight Caccioppoli pique-cotton fabric, good for three months of the year (in England!)
  • Hand cut and partly hand sewn, all in an atelier in Naples that makes for several big designer brands
  • Cutting and work overseen by Luca Avitabile, bespoke shirtmaker
  • Mother of pearl buttons
  • Stand collar, like a shirt, to help it sit under tailored jackets
  • Slots in the collar for shirt-stays
  • Half buttoning
  • Long tail and front, like a shirt, as the polo is designed to be worn tucked in
  • The shirts will not shrink when washed, but should expand slightly in the waist. Do wash cool and line dry

Sizing

  • The shirts have a moderately slim fit
  • In the images we are all wearing mediums
  • If you are unsure about fit, we recommend comparing the measurements below to a polo shirt you currently own. They are in centimetres.

            Chest      Waist         Yoke        Sleeve         Body

S           102            92              40                  61                 75

M          106           96               44                  65                 76

L           116            106             47                  69                 81

XL        124           114              48                  69                 81


Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

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John Chong

Are the measurements for the chest and waist around or across the polo?

Anonymous

Hi Simon, very good that you have re-stocked, I love my Friday Polos and I already have ordered another one here. However I am wondering why the shirts are so much cheaper in Luca Avitabile’s own online shop and in The Bespoke Shop (180€). VAT can’t be the reason for my understanding, as these are professional stores too? Thanks for clarifying!

Anonymous

Thanks for your reply. I am looking at the final prices for European customers which seem to be 180€ there and which are 172€ plus VAT = 206€ here. Maybe the other webshops are misleading and they charge VAT at a later point in the check-out procedure, I haven’t tried that. Looking forward for the shirt!

Matt

It’s not clear whether the € 180 charge on Luca’s website is inclusive of VAT. If is then it is 20% cheaper to buy direct, although it seems as though a number of the colours / sizes are still listed as ‘Sold Out’.

Neil

Congrats with the success of the Friday Polos, Simon.
Even though I have two long sleeve (navy and green) and one short sleeve (navy) already, the new brown looks very tempting.

Johnnydevore

I ordered myself a navyblue and a brown one with Simone Abbarchi last July.
First I wanted to get a green one instead of Brown, but since he hadn’t green I thought that Brown would be a nice choice. When I see the Pictures of yours it seems like it was a rather good idea. Anyway I just orderd a green one from your shop too.
(Simone takes always so long in shipping…)

Michael Cloutier

Simon,

Yours is a great site. I have been waiting eagerly for the Polos to return.

I ordered two ( in brown and green) and may have forgotten to include my size. It is medium. would you make note, please. Thanks.

Mike

Gonzague

Discovering this product, I believe focusing on one such garment as polos is a very good project. Indeed it is very hard to find satisfying polos in RTW. I bought Tom Ford polos, nice but not totally satisfactory while very expensive. By the way, is your collar fused, inside (TF’s is, annoying)?
For what it is worth, below a positive (subjective) criticism of your polo line:
– I’d rather have collar ends pointing downward, not sideways.
– while the slots in the collar is a good idea, the opening (button(holes) area) looks messy, i.e. lacks rigidity. Kind of shocking when worn under a jacket.
– the shoulder patch seam is too visible on the front.

Anonymous

Fused collars? Dear, dear, dear.

Ian

Hi Simon,

What cloth are the shirts made up from? A waffle-stitched cotton?

Jamie McP

Another recommendation for the white, It’s my go to Friday shirt. I’ve just ordered a blue as well.

Nick Inkster

Simon

Looking at the comments above on fusing collars, do,you have fusing on your formal shirts? I have always found fusing, no matter how light, trends to create a very flat , one dimensional collar when compared with unfused. A good unfused collar is of course much harder to make, but personally I think the end product looks much better

Nick Inkster

Interesting. I have my collars made to very precise measures; 1.9/16″ rear stand, 3.25″ points, 6″ spread and 3/8″ tie space. They are unfused but with a heavy interlining. I find that this shape sits very well with a tie, but will also stand proudly when worn tieless under a coat

Matt

Any idea when they’ll start to ship?

Phil

Can I ask about the splendid looking watch in the first picture?

Anonymous

Just a general question, where would you buy, in London, a silver signet ring?

Chris H

Just ordered the brown. Can hardly wait. I have been debating the last year whether I should order one from overseas, being nervous about the sizing. Curiosity finally got the best of me, they look stunning. May I ask if you plan on more of the short sleeves next year?

Chris H

Received my brown polo a few days ago. Very nice quality. The fit is slim. I wear a M in OB and this is just as slim. Appreciate everything you’re doing. Thanks again.

John Mayman

Hi Simon.

I’m having trouble purchasing a Friday Polo. After I’ve submitted my details it won’t connect me to the secure payment site. Is there some trouble with it today or is it something on my end?

John Mayman

Many thanks for your advice Simon, the purchase has now been accepted. One green and one brown. I’m very much looking forward to their arrival.

Thomas

I just have a question about the sleeves. As someone who exercises a fair amount in the gym, I have rather large arms so I was wondering if your sleeves might be comparatively slimmer than other makers with the same chest measurement.

Thomas

Thank’s for the reply. That’s quite reassuring then. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been eyeing a great piece of clothing only to find out that they make their sleeves extra slim or the armholes excessively high to create a more streamlined appearance. Which of course, might work out fine for the average customer, but will prevent me from being able to wear them.

John Baxter

My green and grey arrived in Sydney today. Kudos for the speedy delivery.

After trying them on, I went straight to the shop to order the brown. Sold out!

No real surprise there. The quality’s superb and post-Brexit value for money even better.

Martin

Since I have been wearing polos by O. Brown after reading your very helpful recommentation, I am surprised how much fuller these Friday ones are cut. It seems to me that the difference in the chest of size M is 8 cm.

Fashion Bags

I love the brown

Sam

Hi Simon, I received a purchase confirmation but no notification of shipping – is that normal?
Cheers,
Sam

Charlie

Simon – I’m curious why the light blue was axed considering how versatile the colour is.

Jonathan

Thank you very much ! Two earthy (reads wonderfully woven cotton fabric) and exotic (reads custom cutting and hand assembly) Friday long sleeve polos arrived earlier today. This is a wonderful peek into Italian tailoring. Much applause for doing another run of these shirts Simon.

Courtney

I ordered Navy, Grey and White. Looking forward to trying these. It seems I’m forever in search of the perfect polo. I am/was considering a bespoke set made from the Loro Piana jersey shirt cloth bunch.

What is the recommended collar stay length for the Friday Polo? I assume the polo does not come with collar stays.

Simon, do you have a preferred brand / material (metal, bone, horn, plastic, mother of pearl, etc.) for collar stays?

David

Simon, do you have any plans to come up with any more cloth collaborations similar to the PS tweed you worked on a few years ago? I was not really up to speed with your blog at that time so did not participate but would be very interested if you were to do something like that again (depending on how it came out, obviously. I’m a big fan of the colour of your oatmeal jacket from Caliendo and various tweeds for instance but, alas, not so much of your corduroy A&S suit!). Thank you.

Courtney

I always appreciate when you provide the mill and number for a cloth in your articles. I recently received a bespoke based on the Loro Piana oatmeal jacket. All your observations were spot on. Although, you may not have given enough praise to the cloth.

Kristian

Any plans for a restock of medium size long sleve polos?

Dan P

Just received my first Friday Polo. Before I commit to this specimen, I had a couple questions about the fit:

1.) Are you happy with where the shoulders are landing? Or should they be slightly wider? I’m happy with the slim fit of the shirt, but wanted to check: comment image?dl=0)

2. Are the sleeve cuffs meant to close right around the wrist? They are not “tight,” but they certainly don’t leave a gap the way my dress shirts do. They are comfortable, but if that isn’t the intention, perhaps I should size up, when the next batch are ready. I couldn’t wear a watch under the left cuff, for example—it would have to sit forward of the cuff.

Thanks—it looks great and I’m looking forward to wearing it.

Dan P

OK—thanks. Next round, I might experiment with a medium, as I suspect I’m in-between and either would be fine on me.

Dan P

I usually don’t ever hang polos, on account of their stretchability (same with knitwear), but these have more tailoring. How do you fellows store them? Hung or folded?

Richard

Just wondered what you currently have in stock for the Friday Polos?
And when might you have the blue medium back in stock?
I am 6ft and 40 in chest. Would either the medium or large fit best?

Richard

Just received my first polo, blue in large and could not be more delighted. Fits like a glove and now want another one! Do you have white in large in stock?
Many thanks.

Chris Finch

Hi Simon,

Had my eyes on your Friday polo’s for a while and keen to now purchase one!

Being 6ft 2 and a fellow cyclist, I’m rather tall and slim. I’m a slim 38-inch chest and should fit the small in the body, but then the arms would be too short. However, the medium with its 64cm arms would be the perfect fit underneath my jackets.

Would you think it would be possible to buy one in a medium size, then ask my tailor or someone you recommend such as Graham Browne, to alter the polo and make it much slimmer?

Many thanks,

Chris

Jordan

Heavily leaning toward the navy, though the brown and green are both very tempting… 5’8″, 150 lbs – small would be the way to go, I assume?

Dan

Jordan, I’m 5′ 8 1/2 and 152 lbs and I can happily wear either the small or the medium. Medium is perhaps slightly better for my shoulder width but the small is fine also. There’s not a huge difference between those sizes in my experience. My shoulders measure 17.5″ — FYI

Laurent

Simon,

Received my brown long-sleeve polo recently but unfortunately the sizing is wrong. Immediately shot you an email about it, following the return instructions, but have not heard back from you yet. How do I return the item?

Cheers, Laurent

DKP

Any plans to bring back the long-sleeved version in white?

Dennis

What’s changing in the new design, if I may ask?

Dennis

Totally understand! I decided to order the current design in green and received it today; fast shipping and it fits like a glove! Couldn’t be more happy and am definitely going to order other colours!

Andrew

Hi Simon ,

Appreciate the great service; ordered the polo on Saturday, and it arrived in Singapore by Wednesday afternoon. A nice touch with the bag. What does Luca use on the fabric? The polo has this fantastic fresh soap scent.

Sigurd

OK – so new polos are not due until October then? Will the new batch include the brown version (hoping that it will)?

David

Hi Simon, about the Friday Polo: is the main difference between the original and the one-piece collar the fact that the latter’s is more like a shirt collar and less like a traditional polo collar? (That said, I don’t think I’m doing justice to how elegant they both look. They both find that casual/elegant sweet spot between shirt and garden-variety polo.) For someone like me who’s aiming to wear it on a casual Friday under a cotton sports jacket (in a New York summer), the original’s material seems to be less thick? I mention this because the description for the one-piece collar mentions “heavy pique cotton”. Could one get away with wearing the one-piece (which I think I’m gravitating towards) in a summer like New York’s?

David

Thanks for clarifying that Simon, that’s very helpful. David