Dress like a bear
Ralph Lauren, the Polo Bear, and masculine style archetypes
No disrespect to modeling legends Buzzy Kerbox, Tim Easton, and Tyson Beckford, but Ralph Lauren’s true menswear icon might just be the Polo Bear.
The history of the nameless bear has been written about at length, as has Polo Ralph Lauren’s hot-and-cold relationship to hip-hop, the Lo Life subculture, and even the legendary “Infinity Bear,” a recursive design featuring a Polo Bear wearing a sweater with a Polo Bear wearing a sweater with- well, you get it. The bear has legions of fans, famous and otherwise, and at least one Facebook group where collectors share their bears, post Polo fits, and chat all things Ralph.
In my Jan. 10 piece on shearling coats I talked a little bit about what appeals to me about my two favourite designers, Ralph Lauren & Daiki Suzuki:
“…they work in permutations and combinations, variations on a theme. Each use a palette of aesthetic elements taken from a small pool of postwar masculine style archetypes: labourer, soldier, athlete, and aristocrat, and combines coherent elements of each into a new but recognizable whole.”
This pick-and-mix approach is also used styling Ralph’s stuffed mascot. Here are some of my favourite Polo Bear looks, broken down through those archetypes of Labourer, Soldier, Athlete and Aristocrat.
The “California Tuxedo” (khakis and a navy blazer) is an easy look to put together at any price point, and looks great on just about anyone. The bear’s version incorporates a white oxford shirt with button-down collar, repp tie, navy blazer with applique PRL crest, loose-fitting pleated & cuffed khakis, brown penny loafers, and a red Shetland sweater tied at the waist. It’s classic “American Traditional” that derives its style cues mostly from a sort of East Coast country club iteration of the Aristocrat archetype. There are also Soldier references in the tie, as repps were derived from British Regimentals, Athlete associations with the button-down collar (an innovation borne from small-P polo), and UK/European Labourer cues in the Shetland sweater.
This bear’s outfit is based on one of Ralph’s go-to styling moves, denim and a herringbone tweed jacket overtop. It’s a look he wears often, perhaps most famously in this shot from a Polo Fragrances ad. The jeans, cowboy boots, big belt buckle, bandana, plaid shirt, and denim jacket all root this look in the ranching version of the Labourer archetype, while the blazer adds an English countryside Aristocrat element. Incidentally, while it can be tricky to make jeans and a sport coat cohere, choosing a heavier texture like tweed takes out some of the guesswork since it reads less formally than a fabric like worsted wool.
This bear’s look is a really fun one. Elements like brown corduroy and windowpane tweed evoke an English countryside, hunting and equestrian-oriented version of the Aristocrat, while heavy boots and a bandana evoke Soldier and Labourer, and there’s also an interesting bohemian element introduced by the patterned shirt, worn open, and the beret.
This bear is wearing a dress shirt with a banker’s club collar, navy & yellow repp tie, Fair Isle knit, patched jeans and a brown field jacket. The shirt and tie evoke Aristocrat, the tie and field jacket read Soldier, and the repaired denim, heavy leather belt and Fair Isle knit are rooted in American and European Labourer cues. Interestingly, this bear actually has a reference mannequin with nearly identical styling, though the bear has a hunting jacket with a padded shooting shoulder instead of this sort of combination barn jacket/Trialmaster, as well as a narrower belt with an engine-turned buckle instead of the wide belt with buckle and stud fastener. The pattern on the knits are also slightly different, but it’s still fun to see how the bears get updated each year wearing pieces from the contemporary collection.
So the next time you’re getting dressed, think about our friend the Polo Bear (or Ralph himself) and how you can mix and match different classic masculine style archetypes into exciting new combinations. If you want to know more about what archetypes suit you, and how to combine them into a brand new personal style all your own, why not work with an Image Consultant? Book a free 30-minute Style Goals consult via email or through my website today and learn what I can do for you.
Do you have a favourite Polo Bear look? Tell me about it in the comments!
Jordan Lane, CMIC
Fresh Eye Image Consulting
thefresheye.net
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