The polo shirt needs no introduction. It’s a mainstay of the American summer wardrobe, offering all the comfort and ease of a tee, but thanks to its collar, looks perfectly at home at golf clubs and fancy restaurants. The problem becomes what happens when the mercury drops, the hair on your arms stands up, and that pique fabric becomes a little too breathable.
Enter the long-sleeved polo. It doesn’t just add some warmth and coverage to the polo style—it gives it a whole new mature, adult energy. If a guy wears a short-sleeve polo to date night? He’s doing the bare minimum. If he’s wearing a dark, long-sleeve polo, that emphasizes his arms and flatters his jawline while still letting his waistline breathe? Bullseye.
This is why the long-sleeved polo isn’t just the official shirt of worldwide Hollywood press junkets, but also a style that almost every menswear brand offers up its own interpretation of, in fabrics that run the thickness gamut from cotton to cashmere to mohair. While you can’t really miss with any of the picks below, a quick note on sizing before we get started: Even as recommended menswear widths get wider and wider, this is one category where some snugness is welcome.
