Polo Shirts in Bond Novels?

Parallax

Hello all,

Does anyone know in which novels Bond is described as wearing a short-sleeved polo shirt?

I am sure that I've read this somewhere before, but having recently re-read a number of the novels, I cannot find a mention of it!

Many thanks,
Joe

Liam

From what I can remember Bond doesn't wear polo shirts in Fleming's work. And this is not as strange as it might seem initially. While Bond's shirts are described as short-sleeved this generally refers to short-sleeved button down shirts with a dress shirt collar so you can wear them with a tie.

In Fleming's day polo shirts still were known as 'tennis' shirts (it originated in tennis, see René Lacoste, Fred Perry and Ben Sherman) and were used primarily as sports dress. Usage as leisure apparel was mostly confined to mods. The universal triumph of the polo shirt as everyday wear only came during the 70's with Ralph Lauren including them into his line.

At the moment the only occasion Bond did wear explicitly a 'polo shirt' IMO was in Raymond Benson's A Blast From The Past short story if I'm not mistaken. Might be that Gardner let Bond wear polo shirts from time to time but I can't remember right now.

thesecretagent

Strange that they're not mentioned - I seem to conjur up mental images of Bond in them when I read the novels, but you're right with the button down short sleeve. Sean Connery wore a few in Thunderball, so maybe the polo shirt took from there.

Liam

The polo shirts really took off only during the 70's, when sportswear gradually seeped from stadiums and tennis courts into mainstream apparel and translated as "preppy" style. The wave came from the US and was quickly picked up by teenagers. But people could get asked by their teachers where they had left their tennis rackets for some years before the shirts had lost their athletic air in public perception. Say around 1980 or thereabouts.

Sights of monstrous beer bellies, male breasts and love handles above fattened hips, all covered by garishly coloured Lacoste polo shirts as you can see practically everywhere today, were next to noneexistent back then. The polo shirt was apparel for active and athletic people and I doubt the XXXL-and-beyond sizes were even available back then.

But as an item of casual wear I could well see Bond wearing polo shirts. I daresay the casual style and clean cut would have appealed to him, although I think he'd have detested the subsequent logo culture that came with them. After all, before manufacturers decided to vulgarily display their brands and logos over the whole space of clothing the "logo" fashion was started by the Lacoste crocodile.

Had Bond seen literary adventures during the 70's he might well have relaxed between assignments in polo shirts. Perhaps bought in bulk from a well-known manufacturer who agreed to remove his logo from Bond's order? Something like that.