# Izod Lacoste polo shirts **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** fashion-clothing\ **Created:** [April 9, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811 "2025-04-09T00:31:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/1 "2025-04-09T00:31:38Z")
We’re watching _The Killing_ (1956), and one of the characters is wearing an Izod Lacoste polo shirt with the crocodile on the tit. Have you ever had one of these shirts? (I’d make a poll, but I don’t know how to.) I have never had one. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/2 "2025-04-09T00:34:10Z")
Those became very popular in the early 80s when the whole preppy craze was going on. My sister got me one. It was a great shirt but I cut off the alligator to avoid the affiliation. I remember that there were knockoffs that had a dragon in place of the alligator. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/3 "2025-04-09T00:36:49Z")
Not me but Weird Al has. Sorta. > **[Buy Me a Condo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G80QKjPh6m0%2F)** > > Provided to YouTube by VolcanoBuy Me a Condo · "Weird Al" YankovicIn 3-D℗ 1984 Volcano Entertainment, III, L.L.C.Released on: 1984-01-01Arranger, Composer, L... > I gonna buy me a condo > Gonna buy me a Cuisinart > Get a wall-to-wall carpeting > And get a wallet full ‘o credit cards, eh > I gonna buy me a condo, never have to mow de lawn > I gonna get me da T-shirt wit’ de alligator on ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/4 "2025-04-09T00:37:56Z")
Yes, I’ve had several. Just last night I was thinking I need a new bright pink polo. Forever preppy. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/5 "2025-04-09T00:40:15Z")
Oh, yeah. We were po’ folk who lived in a very affluent area in SE Michigan (Birmingham Groves, for the Detroit area Dopers) during my high school days – early-80’s. It was Izod (collar turned up half the time) and Sperry Topsiders all the way down. Side note: anagramatically, is this thread connected to this thread? > [@Lactose intolerance in non-human animals](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lactose-intolerance-in-non-human-animals/1016806/1): > > Lactose intolerance causes problems for some folks. AIUI, it’s something that develops as/after one ages into adulthood, the theory being that back in the days of cave men, once you were no longer a nursing infant, there wasn’t a compelling reason for your body to continue producing lactase (the enzyme that helps break down lactose during digestion). OTOH, there wasn’t a strong evolutionary advantage to ceasing production of lactase - so some folks develop lactose intolerance, and some folks … Because in high school, I was strongly Lacoste intolerant. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/6 "2025-04-09T00:47:10Z")
I had an Izod bikini that my sister passed down. Very cute, pink with a big alligator on the butt and the classic applique on front, right. I wore it once. (Now I know why my sister didn’t wear it) When wet, the pink allowed for too much not left to imaginations. 😱 ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/7 "2025-04-09T00:53:11Z")
I don’t know that I was ever a preppie, but I had a few. You could wear them in places where t-shirts were frowned upon, and if you hung them up right after they came out of the dryer, you didn’t need to iron them. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/8 "2025-04-09T00:58:13Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > It was Izod (collar turned up half the time) and Sperry Topsiders all the way down. I went to a private high school in New England in the 1970s, and that was pretty much the uniform. I myself didn’t wear Izod shirts that I recall, but the only shoes I ever wore were Sperry Topsiders. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/9 "2025-04-09T00:58:44Z")
[meme] You liked wearing them because they were preppie and in style I liked wearing them because I was a dorky kid who thought alligators were neat We are not the same. [/meme] Owned a number of them in the 80s. Match with your Member’s Only jacket for extra style. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/10 "2025-04-09T01:09:20Z")
Sure but you could just wear a generic polo shirt without the stupid alligator logo. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/11 "2025-04-09T01:15:13Z")
By the way, the cool kids at my school wore two layered polo shirts. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/12 "2025-04-09T01:15:18Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Sure but you could just wear a generic polo shirt without the stupid alligator logo. - But it’s a fashionably _overpriced_ alligator logo. Obviously, you don’t understand the importance of that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/13 "2025-04-09T01:19:07Z")
If I wore one in High School, I would have had to find new friends. The only polo shirts I have ever worn were part of a uniform provided by an employer (pizza delivery and cable TV) so I’m not a fan. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/14 "2025-04-09T01:51:52Z")
I checked not that long ago and the Lacoste shirts were about $120 vs a third or a quarter of that for other brands. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/15 "2025-04-09T01:59:32Z")
FWIW, it is a crocodile, not an alligator. It was the nickname of René Lacoste, a French tennis champion who started the Izod clothing line. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/16 "2025-04-09T02:00:29Z")
One year in middle school (early-mid 80s) I got an Izod shirt in every color, even pink (especially pink!). I wore them with my Members Only jacket and Kaepa shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/17 "2025-04-09T02:42:11Z")
Yes, I had some back in the day. > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > …and Sperry Topsiders all the way down. Trash! Sebago Docksides, all the way, baby! > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I checked not that long ago and the Lacoste shirts were about $120 vs a third or a quarter of that for other brands. I’m convinced that little polo player is made of gold thread as that’s the only justification I can see for them being so much more expensive than non-Polo brand polo shirts ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/18 "2025-04-09T03:03:21Z")
Wait. Izod is a polo type shirt. Made by a tennis player. (Lacoste) _Polo_ is a Ralph Lauren menswear line. One has an alligator (crocodile) one is a guy on a polo horse. I believe they’re different. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/19 "2025-04-09T03:11:00Z")
Wow! That is way way overpriced. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811/20 "2025-04-09T03:25:00Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Wait. Izod is a polo type shirt. Made by a tennis player. (Lacoste) > _Polo_ is a Ralph Lauren menswear line. > > One has an alligator (crocodile) one is a guy on a polo horse. > > I believe they’re different. While they are different, the Izod Lacoste polo was every bit as popular in the late 70s and 80s as the Ralph Lauren version has been in recent years. Also same basic concept. Well made, but still wildly overpriced shirts (My RLs today last far longer than my various Swag polos that I got from conferences or employers). As others have said, it was part of the preppy uniform for a while. I wore Lacoste shirts, 501 jeans, and either Topsiders or Clarks Desert Boots from Junior High on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/izod-lacoste-polo-shirts/1016811.md?page=2)