spruced by marlene

What’s this about? The polo neck. Also known as the turtleneck. Although I’ve never quite understood what’s supposed to be attractive about a turtle’s neck.

What else is there to dislike about them? Only every polo neck I wore as a child. Fine, it might’ve only been one. But it always itched, was too tight – and did any of the cool kids in school wear one? Of course not. When I took responsibility from my mama over how many colds I would have in the winter, I stopped wearing them – and got quite a few colds.

Why wear one now? This picture of Phoebe Philo. And this one. There’s also this one. I chatted about her to a colleague a couple of days ago. The conversation in brief: Me: „You want to wear everything she makes.” Colleague: „You want to wear everything – and look like her in it.” For me, Phoebe has single-handedly freed the polo neck from its stuffiness and made it look grown-up and laid-back instead. It helps to wear a sublimely confident expression on your face with it. Should that not be available to you, she demonstrates another advantage of the polo neck: you can hide in it on crappy days. Oh, and test how your hair would look cut into a short bob.

What else? Not all polo necks are created equal. A thin cotton one in white belongs under a ski jacket for me, even if Steve McQueen might disagree. A cable-knit with a loose fit might be nice, one made from thin wool might be even nicer. Turns out that it goes very well with a pair of pants flared at the ankle, which I think I also wore last when I was about 12.

Another reason for the polo neck? Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face. Every time.