Sometimes when Ralph Lauren Polo Bear sweaters or shirts are released, some are inspired by the actual designer Ralph Lauren.
If you have read Ralph Lauren books or have followed interviews, one thing that Ralph Lauren has often been seen in is western clothing while around his ranch.
Ralph Lauren is pretty much a cowboy, looking dapper with the stetson, denim jeans, denim shirt and the western jackets with fringe. In fact, whenever I see an interview of Ralph Lauren at his ranch, I feel he’s at his most at peace and always smiling when he’s in his western wear.
While many identify Ralph Lauren with the polo or oxford shirts, herringbone jacket, tartan or plaid shirts, ties or jackets, etc. He is also known for creating Denim & Supply which feature all things denim and part of that western wear culture (as well as bohemian and military style as well).
In 2016, under new leadership at the Ralph Lauren Corporation, Denim & Supply has now been incorporated into the Polo brand and is known as Polo Denim & Supply as part of the drive of the company to focus on their three core brands: Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren and Lauren by Ralph Lauren.
Now, as for the sweater I’m about to review, one of his most popular cowboy photos is from 1978 and sure enough, Ralph Lauren Polo Denim & Supply has released a knit sweater featuring the Polo Bear inspired by that cowboy photo.
Ralph Lauren – 1978
With this sweater, you have to admire the craftmanship. So, I’m going to go ahead and break this sweater down.
The sweater is in rustic navy heather, with the rib-knit hem and RL hand-embroidered at the left hem. It features a crewneck, long sleeves with rib-knit cuffs and of course, features a Polo Bear intarsia-knit at the center front.
RalphLauren.com said this cotton knit sweater should be hand washed or dry cleaned.
You have to love the design around the boots, the detail around the belt buckle to make sure there is similarity to the 1978 photo but also have Polo Bear sporting a Polo Bear watch which looks like a Denim Flag Polo Bear watch, the closer you look at it.
Now, there is something that concerned me and that is the Polo Bear’s denim jeans area. Primarily the color differences.
As you can see from my photo above, the denim jeans are colored in light blue threading. But if you look at the shop photo, the denim jeans are different and features a darker shade of blue in the denim area and the shadow patterns are noticeably different.
ralphlauren.com shop photo
Was there a change in sweater design or was this based on a first photo of the Denim & Supply Cowboy Polo Bear sweater? I’m not really sure, but If you were to look at designer Ralph Lauren’s 1978 photo, he is wearing lighter-colored blue jeans, so perhaps there was a change in how the color was to be interpreted on the denim portion for the Polo Bear.
If you look closely at the shop photo, the denim jeans used the original sweater blue fabric for its denim interpretation with some spots of dark blue colored shadows. So, in the final version, you do get more, because now the denim location for the bear features a lighter blue threading on the Polo Bear, granted it’s a lighter shade of blue.
But I can understand if there are some people who are caught off guard that the denim that buyers will notice on their sweater, looks much different than the shop photo.
But I have contacted RalphLauren.com, to find out if there was a change in the final release of the sweater.
Now to take a look at the fringes from the jacket. Quite frankly this is awesome. A western jacket with fringes at the arms and it being featured on the sweater is fantastic! While there are differences from the 1978 photo as there are fringes located on that jacket’s shoulder area. Nevertheless, that would probable be too much for a sweater, so, I’m quite content with how the fringes are utilized and that there are fringes towards the bottom area on the left and right side. Personally, the fringes are a wonderful addition to this sweater!
Let’s now take a look at the waistcoat. Light brown with intricate design with darker brown floral patterns. Wonderful details. Especially around the button areas, two buttoned, one not buttoned at the top and the bottom. So cool!
And now the concho button ala concho bolo tie is a welcomed addition. This is an actual brass concho button. I am assuming there is a finish that prevents rusting on the concho button. But nevertheless, I love the detail and the addition of a brass concho button is a plus!
And of course, Polo Bear wouldn’t be complete without the blue denim shirt (a staple of Polo Denim & Supply) which also features detail of the lining around the shirt collar and buttons…Very cool!
And last, let’s take a look at the design of the Polo Bear head. There is quite a bit of detail around the facial area. I like the gruff look. But looking on top of the bear’s head, the detail around the stetson. Look at that detail of the rim.
So, my final thoughts.
I knew I was going to get this sweater because as a Ralph Lauren fan and having read his and his wife’s books and seeing the cowboy photos, the fact that this was inspired by Ralph Lauren, the man, the legendary designer. It was already going to be a must buy for me!
I also know that you don’t see Polo Denim & Supply Polo Bear sweaters being released, especially with so much detail and the brass concho buttons and the fringe, that’s already a major plus for me.
While there are differences from the actual shop photo and the actual final product when it comes to the denim pants coloring and shadows, there are far too many positives than negatives about this knit sweater.
And also, it is among the cheaper polo bear sweaters to find on the ralphlauren.com website at $298 which is another plus!
But this is a very awesome, unique polo bear men’s knit sweater which I highly recommend!
