I am unsure whether the pairing of rollneck sweaters and tailored clothing in the 1960s should be credited to Steve McQueen, who wore it in the movie Bullitt, Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, the celebrity photographer who was for a while married to England's Princess Margaret, or more likely some combination of them and others. However it came about, the rollneck, or turtleneck as it is sometimes called in the hinterlands, remains the best way wear tailored clothing without a necktie.
Now I fully expect that statement will cause me to be deluged with protests favoring the sloppy open shirt collar, the faux mock turtleneck and Tiger Woods' famous buttoned polo shirt (the only one of the three for which a case can be made but one that is best limited to odd jackets). Let us concede however that the necktie's contributions of neatness, vertical line and contrast are not duplicated by any of the alternatives, and what we most need is something authentic, clean looking, and quickly donned. Those criteria leave only the one choice.
Have your rollnecks in navy, gray and cream unless, like a certain Réginald-Jérôme de Mans, you need every color in the rainbow.
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4 comments:
I was influenced by David McCallum in the 1964 US television show "Man From U.N.C.L.E."
I fully concur with the belief that a rollneck works well with a suit, though I do admit to favoring it under a tweed jacket. In any event, count me in the corner with M. de Mans. Every color in the rainbow? Oh, yes!
I have always known them as polonecks. Wasn't Noel Coward one of the first to sport them in the 1920s?
Not good with suits, just ok with odd jackets, never replacing a scarf, and boring - never a substitute for a neckerchief, ascot or scarf.
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