Fabric
Pique or jersey: what the surface of a polo is doing
Two shirts can share a cut and play completely differently because of the knit. What each surface is for, and how stretch fits into it.
Pique, the textured one
Pique is knitted with a raised waffle surface. The texture holds the cloth a fraction off your skin, which is why a pique polo feels drier in heat than its weight suggests, and why it hides a damp patch better than a smooth face.
It is also the more formal surface of the two. Clubs that care about dress read pique as a collared shirt without a second look.
Jersey, the smooth one
Jersey is the flat, t-shirt-like knit. It is lighter, it drapes closer and it moves with less resistance, which is why most of our slim cuts are jersey. The trade is that it shows what it is carrying: moisture, a hem that was never pressed, a print pulled slightly off grain.
Where stretch comes from
A few percent of elastane in either knit is the difference between a shirt that follows a shoulder turn and one that shrugs against it. More is not better past that point; too much and the collar loses its spine.
How to choose between them
Hot, humid, walking: pique. Cool morning, cart round, layered under a quarter-zip: jersey, because it sits flat under another piece. If the shirt has to go from the course to a dinner table, pique reads dressier by a clear margin.
Written in the studio. If something here contradicts what a piece actually does when it arrives, flag us down and we will fix the note.