Back in the late 1930’s, American businessman Vincent De Paul Draddy, who worked for David Crystal Co., wanted to find a name for his menswear.
As the story goes, while vacationing in London, Vincent met Jack Izod, a well-respected tailor who happened to be retiring. Izod, who was known for producing bespoke shirts and creating the Windsor tie-knot for King George V, accepted Vincent’s offer for the rights to use his name for Vincent’s meanswear.
And in 1938, A.J. Izod of London clothing company was born.
But Izod would become popular when Vincent licensed the Lacoste polo shirt in order to bring prestige to the Izod line and gave his shirts to high profile names such as John F. Kenned, Bing Crosby, Dwight D. Eisenhower and others. And the shirts that were known as “IZOD of London” would become known as “IZOD LACOSTE” and thus, many people believing from 1952-1953 that the crocodile was an IZOD logo, when it fact, it was a LACOSTE trademark.
But in the 1990’s, Crystal Brands would separate the names with IZOD being re-introduced to the market as affordable, while Lacoste would be re-positioned as a luxury lifestyle brand.
While Sportloisirs S.S. purchased the Lacoste brand in 1993, IZOD was sold to Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation 1995 and the corporation would be purchased by Tommy Hilfiger in 2010.
In 2015, while all IZOD retail outlets were closed, the name and clothes exist as menswear and are still sold at department stores and retailers.
Recently, I had the opportunity to try and review the IZOD Men’s Striped Essential Woven Shirt. The color I was trying on is called “American Dream” and features vertical light blue and white pinstripes with the IZOD logo embroidery on the pocket.
The long-sleeved shirt is made of 100% cotton and is imported, with a button closure and is machine washed.
While I typically wear large (16.5 x 33/34), when purchasing online, you never know if the shirt would fit to size or if it will be tighter or looser.
So, the review version that I received was XL because while I like tight fitting of an large, I do have muscular arms and chest, so it’s somethings a catch-22, whenever I order shirts, so I wanted to see how the XL would work for me.
Wearing the shirt, I can tell that it fits to size for those who are XL or a little looser. The shirt wasn’t tight and for the most part, I feel that those who wear size 17 or 17.5 can pull this shirt off. But because I have it tucked in and because it is hot during this time, I usually roll up my sleeves during work. so, I was able to pull this shirt off. But I do recommend that if you are large ala 16-16.5 33/34, go large. If you are a 15, you may want to try a medium.
Loved the feel of the 100% cotton shirt, felt comfortable and it really looked great while wearing chinos or even black pants, it just felt right and it was no doubt very comfortable.
I’ve read a few people who complained it was thin. Personally, I disagree.
I own a lot of dress shirts, expensive dress shirts and those are much thinner than the IZOD Men’s Striped Essential Woven Shirt. The texture feels durable and because it is 100% cotton, it was very comfortable and I felt good wearing it.
I also have to say that this is my first IZOD shirt that I have worn, since wearing IZOD LACOSTE long ago. So, for the most part, I was quite pleased giving this shirt a try and I definitely recommend the IZOD Men’s Striped Essential Woven Shirt to men looking for an affordable, stylish 100% cotton pinstriped dress shirt.
