I was skeptical when Lands’ End sent me one of their shirts to review. They said it was their best polo shirt ever and I thought, “we’ll see about that.” At that price point how can they possibly make a shirt that fits well and survives wash cycles without the collar curling (one of their claims), the color fading fast or the collar fraying. So when I got mine I decided to wear it by day and wash it by night. I wanted to punish it and see how it held up also because I was only given a week to review it and I wanted to get some idea of how it would hold up over time.  So far I’m impressed. Really truly impressed by how it performed.

First things first, though, the polo shirt that we know today was commercialized by René Lacoste in the 1930’s as a tennis shirt after he retired from playing tennis professionally. He had designed it himself to create a more comfortable and breathable shirt in which to play with a longer tail to avoid the shirt becoming untucked while chasing after the ball. It was soon adopted by polo players who until then had worn long-sleeved oxford shirts with button down collars (to avoid the flapping that was inevitable when riding horses) which Brooks Brothers introduced in their store after John Brooks in 1896, grandson of the founder, attended a polo match in England. In the 1970’s Ralph Lauren (who on a somewhat related note had worked as a salesman at Brooks Brothers), then in the early stages of building his brand, added polo shirts to his line to adhere to the preppy look he was going for and added a logo of a polo player on a horse. This visual reference has become so strong that today most people refer to this type of shirt as a polo shirt despite its origin in the tennis world (which many of us would agree is still well within the preppy realm).

Needless to say it is hard to find a reasonably priced good quality polo shirt and Lands’ End was a very nice surprise for me. I also learned that they have been making it since 1981 and this is just a tweak and update on their classic. I never owned one, but after having received my complimentary navy polo from them and trying it out I can say that I will. I use polo shirts on a daily basis during the warm months (on their own) and occasionally during the winter months as well (they work great under a button down oxford with the collar popped up) and they do not usually last me more than two or three seasons depending on the quality. I have always worn Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren and J Crew, but at half the price Lands’ End will be placed in the rotation.

After a week of wearing and washing I can confirm that the collar does stay flat and the color so far has not faded nor did the shirt shrink or fray in any way. My compliments to Lands’ End for a quality shirt at a very affordable price.

If you would like a chance to win one of these polo shirts let me know in a comment below how often you wear polo shirts during the week.

For additional entries you can*:

– Like The Dapper Dad on Facebook

– Like Lands’ End on Facebook

– Follow @TheDapperDad on Twitter

– Follow @LandsEndChat on Twitter

– Tweet about the giveaway using the following text: @LandsEndChat polo shirt #giveaway @TheDapperDad http://bit.ly/jl2zee

*Please give me a heads up in a separate comment below that you have done so otherwise I will not be able to count it as an additional entry.

No more entries will be accepted after June 22nd at 12am EST (date and time stamp on the comment). The winner will have 24 hours to claim their shirt before I pick another winner.

PLEASE NOTE:

– The giveaway is open to US residents only.

– The winner will not be able to choose the color of the shirt (only the size).

– Lands’ End will ship the shirt directly to the winner so please make sure you leave a valid e-mail so that you can be contacted for a shipping address.

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of Lands’ End and received a polo shirt to facilitate my review, one to giveaway, and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.