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Polo neck
Garment with a close-fitting collar that folds over and covers the neck

A polo neck, roll-neck (South Africa), turtleneck (United States, Canada), or skivvy is a garment—usually a sweater—with a close-fitting collar that folds over and covers the neck. It can also refer to the type of neckline, the style of collar itself, or be used as an adjective ("polo necked").

A simpler variant of the standard polo neck is the mock polo neck (or mock turtleneck), that resembles the polo neck with the soft fold at its top and the way it stands up around the neck, but both ends of the tube forming the collar are sewn to the neckline. This is mainly used to achieve the appearance of a polo neck where the fabric would fray, roll, or otherwise behave badly unless sewn. The mock polo neck clings to the neck smoothly, is easy to manufacture, and works well with a zip closure.

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History

Europe

Turtle neck–like garments have been worn for hundreds of years, dating at least to the 15th century. They were originally designed to protect the necks of knights wearing chainmail. Royalty adopted high-neck fashion, with the height and volume of the neck ruffle indicating status.2

From the late 19th century on polo necks were commonly worn by fishermen, manual workers, athletes, sailors and naval officers.3 Since the middle of that century, black polo necks have been closely associated with leftist radical academics, philosophers, artists and intellectuals.45 The polo neck jumper became an iconic symbol of the French philosopher Michel Foucault.6 Polo necks also became a big fashion for wealthy young men after they were worn by European film stars Marcello Mastroianni and Yves Montand.7

Greta Garbo often wore polo necks and trousers privately, as later Audrey Hepburn would do in official photographs.

Vladimir Putin8 of Russia, Andreas Papandreou9 of Greece, and Emmanuel Macron10 of France are examples of European leaders who are fond of wearing polo necks.

United States

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries the high neckline blouse became a fashionable option for young women as part of the emergence of the Gibson Girl.11 Their adoption by Noël Coward in the 1920s turned polo necks into a brief middle-class fashion trend, and feminists made them into a unisex item. Absorbed into mainstream American fashion by the mid 20th century, the polo neck came to be viewed as an anti-tie, a smart form of dress for those who rejected formal wear. Senator Ted Kennedy, pianist/conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor Seiji Ozawa, philosopher Michel Foucault, shipping tycoon Stavros Niarchos, singer Barry Manilow, scientist Carl Sagan, Oracle Corporation co-founder Larry Ellison, and Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs were among those often seen in polo necks.12 Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes deliberately copied Steve Jobs' style in wearing a black polo neck.1314

Over time it became a fad among teenage girls, especially in a lightweight form that emphasised their figures. It was not long before Hollywood was also exploiting this image as part of the sweater girl look.

By the late 1950s the "tight turtleneck" had been adopted as part of the preppy style among students, a style emphasising neatness, tidiness and grooming. This would become an important aspect of the polo neck's image in the United States.

Turtlenecks were also famous in hippies in 1960s and 1970s.

Very elegant polo necks of silk or nylon knit, especially made with French cuffs for formal dress affairs, have also seen success in American fashion.15

As an alternative to the necktie

Polo necks have been used as substitutes for a shirt-and-tie since the 1920s.16 This was sometimes frowned upon in upscale restaurants and at weddings.

John Berendt wrote in Esquire17

the turtleneck was the boldest of all the affronts to the status quo. It was the picture of masculine poise and arrogance, redolent of athletes, sportsmen, even U-boat commanders. The simplicity of its design made neckties seem fussy and superfluous by comparison

The designer Halston said18

turtlenecks are the most comfortable garment you can wear. They move with the body, and they're flattering too, because they accentuate the face and elongate the figure. They make life so easy: you can wear a turtleneck to work and then afterwards throw on a jacket, and it becomes very dressy. You can go anywhere you like.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Turtlenecks.

References

  1. Chilvers, Simon (2011-08-23). "Man-trend: Roll-necks | Fashion | guardian.co.uk". Guardian. Retrieved 2013-03-14. https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/fashion-blog/2011/aug/23/man-trend-polo-neck ↩

  2. Bucci, Jessica (2017-01-10). "Fashion Archives: A Look at the History of the Turtleneck". Fashion Fabric Sourcing. StartUp Fashion. Retrieved 2020-04-02. https://startupfashion.com/fashion-archives-a-look-at-the-history-of-the-turtleneck/ ↩

  3. "The Radical History & Psychology of Turtlenecks". The Good Trade. 26 November 2018. Retrieved 2020-04-02. https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/history-of-turtlenecks ↩

  4. Mary Ann Frese Witt, The Humanities and the Modern World, 2000, ISBN 9780669154269, OCLC 254520256, pp. 463–464. /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  5. Deirdre Bair, Simone de Beauvoir: A Biography, 1990, p. 360. ↩

  6. Eribon, Didier (1992) [1989]. Michel Foucault. Translated by Betsy Wing. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-571-14474-7. 978-0-571-14474-7 ↩

  7. Guido Vergani, Dizionario della moda, 2009, p. 348 (in Italian). ↩

  8. Zbigniew Brzezinski, Putin's Choice, 2008. ↩

  9. Theodore C. Kariotis, The Greek Socialist Experiment: Papandreou's Greece 1981–1989, 1992 ↩

  10. "What's Emmanuel Macron's Turtleneck Trying to Say?". Vanity Fair. 10 December 2019. https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/12/emmanuel-macron-turtleneck ↩

  11. "The Radical History & Psychology Of Turtlenecks". The Good Trade. 26 November 2018. Retrieved 2020-04-02. https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/history-of-turtlenecks ↩

  12. Warde-Aldam, Digby (15 October 2019). "How the black turtleneck came to represent creative genius". CNN. Retrieved 2020-04-02. https://www.cnn.com/style/article/black-turtleneck-genius-artsy/index.html ↩

  13. Warde-Aldam, Digby (15 October 2019). "How the black turtleneck came to represent creative genius". CNN. Retrieved 2020-04-02. https://www.cnn.com/style/article/black-turtleneck-genius-artsy/index.html ↩

  14. O'Brien, Sara Ashley (May 21, 2018). "'Bad Blood' explores the culture inside disgraced startup Theranos". CNN. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020. https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/21/technology/theranos-bad-blood/index.html ↩

  15. O'Donnol, Shirley Miles (1989-08-22). American Costume, 1915-1970: A Source Book for the Stage Costumer. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253113733. Retrieved 2013-03-14. 0253113733 ↩

  16. Hoffmann, Frank W.; William G. Bailey (1994). Fashion & Merchandising Fads. Haworth Popular Culture. Binghamton, N.Y.: The Haworth Press. pp. 267–268. ISBN 9781560243762. OCLC 27225478. 9781560243762 ↩

  17. Hoffmann, Frank W.; William G. Bailey (1994). Fashion & Merchandising Fads. Haworth Popular Culture. Binghamton, N.Y.: The Haworth Press. pp. 267–268. ISBN 9781560243762. OCLC 27225478. 9781560243762 ↩

  18. Hoffmann, Frank W.; William G. Bailey (1994). Fashion & Merchandising Fads. Haworth Popular Culture. Binghamton, N.Y.: The Haworth Press. pp. 267–268. ISBN 9781560243762. OCLC 27225478. 9781560243762 ↩