Merino father's polo shirt in navy

Model wears size 40/M for a slightly more relaxed fit. He measures: chest circumference 36" (92cm); height 6"2 (188cm).

• Fits true to size. We recommend taking your usual size. Please see size chart at the top of the page.
• Knitted in a slightly more generous fit than our other crew necks and polo shirts, to bring it closer in line with the original vintage version.
• Body of sweater tapers slightly from the chest down to the hem to give a more fitted look by minimising excess fabric often found around the waist of sweaters.
• Saddle shoulder construction to accommodate a wider range of shoulder widths than set-in shoulder.

Our merino father’s polo is, as the name suggests, inspired by the made in Scotland polo shirt that Colhay's founder got passed down by his father who bought it with his first pay check back in the 1970s. It was one of the garments that inspired the Colhay’s project.

In homage to the original and for a vintage look, the polo shirt boasts saddle shoulders, a deeper front placket, longer ribbed cuffs and hem, and a slightly more generous fit than our usual cut. It is also knitted in an extrafine merino “superwash” yarn from Italian heavyweights Zegna Baruffa, a beautifully soft and slightly crisper variation to the standard extrafine merino used for our sport shirts and henleys. The use of this yarn is deliberate, as it most closely resembles the original yarn that was used in the founder’s father’s polo shirt that inspired this piece - it was then called “virgin new wool”.

The slightly longer cuffs also means that you can turn them back if you wish, or just wear them normally.

The collar is knitted with a half Milano stitch technique to give the collar some structure so that it won’t flatten under a blazer jacket but it is not too stiff, allowing it to remain a casual piece. 

It is the perfect all seasons weight, and particularly great for transitional seasons when it is starting to warm up, but it can still be chilly in the morning and evenings. The extrafine merino has great temperature-regulating qualities and doesn’t make you as hot as cashmere as it is a lighter, airier fibre that results in a very breathable and comfortable knitted fabric. 

It is a special piece, close to the founder’s heart, as it is designed in as many respects as possible to be a tribute to his father's made in Scotland polo shirt - one of the garments that inspired him to start Colhay's. Impressed by how long his father's polo shirt lasted and how beautifully it aged, it spurred him on to begin a brand that would bring back the age old value of championing the dignity of craft and the return to an older philosophy of garment making which put quality above all else, enabling the wearer to cherish the item for a lifetime and then passing it on. Read more about the founder’s father’s sweaters here. 

We are confident in bringing you the world's finest cashmere knitwear because we only use the very best at every stage of manufacture:

Quality of fibre: 100% extrafine merino wool of the highest quality, sourced from a special breed of Australian sheep that yields some of the world’s finest merino wool fibres, with a fibre diameter of c. 19.5 microns (the world's finest, hence softest, merino wool). By comparison, most ordinary lambswool averages 21 - 24 microns in fibre diameter. Fibre length is c. 58 – 60mm - the long staple length keeps the sweater in shape and avoids pilling.

Quality of yarn: the world’s best extrafine merino wool yarn produced by world renowned spinners Zegna Baruffa at their famous wool mill in Borgosesia, Northern Italy. Italian specialists in the production of fine, light weight yarns since the early 1800s, Zegna Baruffa had been known in particular for their prestigious Cashwool® collection – merino wool yarns that are regarded as the world’s softest merino, hence “Cashwool®” – the hand feel being so comparable to the softness of cashmere itself, except that it is breezier than cashmere, making it the perfect yarn for lighter weight knits. 

Quality of knit: knitted, hand-finished and washed by fourth generation heritage knitwear specialists in Hawick, the Scottish Borders, a region whose expertise in the trade is without compare. Garments are knitted tightly to minimise gaps and to ensure longevity.

Quality of finish: there is a high degree of hand-finishing. The sweater is "fully-fashioned", as signified by the faint-dotted lines along the sleeve-head of the jumper. This makes the garment more well fitted, much like a bespoke suit. Individual pieces of the sweater are “hand-linked” - a meticulous process by which each tiny knit-loop at the end of each piece of the sweater is linked together by hand, ensuring the seams are the straightest and strongest. 

Quality of wash: the finished product is carefully washed in pure Scottish waters with the precise balance of minerals, so that the garment is given its famous soft handle without compromising the integrity of the fibres. Scottish knitwear may feel a little stiff to begin with but will soften naturally with age.

Find out more about the quality of our garments here.

Hand wash or dry clean only. Click here for more detail.