They're everywhere - Hang Ten, Bossini, Giordano. Polo shirts are a staple fashion piece of the General Election season. But what sets a party's polo shirt apart from the rest? How do they reinvent the classic polo tee into a political statement? What's hot, and what just looks really uncomfortable? Leia and Megan evaluate the looks that our candidates are serving this season and rank them according to our four self-made categories: Design, Colour, Perceived Level of Comfort and Versatility.
Design: How interesting is the polo shirt design? Does it stick to conventional polo T-shirt standards or break out of the norm?
Colour: How striking is the colour selected for the polo shirt? Does it draw attention?
Perceived Level of Comfort: Do the political candidates look comfortable in these polos? Or do they look like those uncomfortable stretchy dri-fit polo shirts?
Versatility: Are these outfits versatile? Could you go straight from Kopitiam to casual friend gathering in these outfits?
*Note: We made up all these categories, criteria and arbitrary scores. The rankings given to the polo shirts worn by the parties are in no way indicative of any of our political leanings.
So let's begin with our top scorer, Singapore People's Party (SPP)
Singapore People's Party (SPP)
Design: 3.5/5
Colour: 2/5
Perceived level of comfort: 4/5
Versatility: 4/5
Score: 12/20
Megan's Comments
Looking at my score now, I feel like I only gave it such a high score because their uniform vaguely reminded me of a baseball shirt which I thought was quite hip. Versatility is its strong suit and weakness in this case because I’m pretty sure I know a few 40 year old men with shirts like these.
Leia's Comments
I don’t like the fact that the colour distribution makes it look like they’re all wearing a red cape over their white shirts….. Having said that, the polo does look comfy both tucked in and out. You could probably wear this to a gathering of uncles without anyone batting an eyelid. Another question: how does this look on a woman?
2. People's Action Party (PAP)
Design: 4/5
Colour: 4/5
Perceived level of comfort: 2/5
Versatility: 1/5
Score: 11/20
Megan's Comments
The choice to not wear a polo immediately gives their uniform a classy factor. The daring choice to go white-on-white really draws the eye, or draws the eye to any stain that might be left on your shirt. I think that this outfit is only versatile if a) you go to RI, or b) you were invited to a National Day Costume Party and don’t have anything creative to dress up as.
Leia's Comments
I actually love this look, but governing a country is such unglamorous business that I don’t think you can/should do it in white pants. The only other trouble is you always have to distinguish between a PAP politician and an RI boy, which is difficult to begin with.
Coming in third place, a tie between The Worker's Party and Red Dot United.
3. The Worker's Party (WP)
Design: 3/5
Colour: 2/5
Perceived level of comfort: 2.5/5
Versatility: 3/5
Score: 10.5/20
Megan's Comments
It’s just a tad bit too pale for us, but I think it’s balanced out by the emphasis it draws to the WP logo on their shirts. However, this causes it to drop a little bit in the versatility category, because unlike SDP with their removable badge pins, the logo remains affixed to the shirt. Again, I think choosing a non-red colour is really a winning choice for parties because it really distinguishes the look.
Leia's Comments
The formal analogue to this look is GREAT, but since this is a polo ranking: we both agreed that the colour was just slightly too pale. The sleeves for the men’s version are quite long, making it look a bit baggy, but good on them for having a separate women’s version that seems to fit well.
3. Red Dot United (RDU)
Design: 3/5
Colour: 0.5/5
Perceived level of comfort: 3/5
Versatility: 4/5
Score: 10.5/20
Megan's Comments
If their goal is to sneak up onto your kopitiam table unnoticed, I think these inconspicuous black polos do the job. I think that the level of customisation both works in their favour and against them. Colour just gets a low score because it’s not striking, but I have to argue that perhaps blending in is the winning point of this look. I’d like to see a more distinguished badge presentation, perhaps an iron on or an enamel pin?
Leia's Comments
Firstly, they’re not even wearing the same shirts! But that's a smart way of bringing attention to the show-stealer: the red compass. This logo is a vibrant splash of colour on the black - it’s neat, understated, and super versatile, but this could work to their disadvantage because would you know a political party is approaching you, or think that Pull&Bear branched out into polos?
Again we reach another tie between two parties - Singapore Democratic Party and Progress Singapore Party.
4. Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)
Design: 1/5
Colour: 3/5
Perceived level of comfort: 4/5
Versatility: 2/5
Score: 10/20
Megan's Comments
Unfortunately, the combo of red shirt and khaki pants bears too much resemblance to the All-American symbol of the eponymous Target worker for me. Points for comfort since these look like their own polo shirts, thus worn in enough to not be a typical scratchy polo.
Leia's Comments
The on-the-nose reference to the Singapore flag is actually acceptable here because it’s the literal GE that this combo is trying to alert you to. I do wish their badges were sewn on, though, because with pinned badges they look a bit like they’re working for the SDP Corporation.
4. Progress Singapore Party (PSP)
Due to a difference in opinion, we had to split the scores for this particular evaluation.
Megan's Scores:
Design: 2/5 Colour: 2/5 Perceived level of comfort: 3/5 Versatility: 1/5
Leia's Scores:
Design: 4/5 Colour: 3/5 Perceived level of comfort: 4/5 Versatility: 1/5
Average Score: 10/20
Megan's Comments:
Political party member or SPC petrol kiosk assistant? The discomforting strip of white that runs across the chest is not made any better by the printed logo that they sport. I hate to be the bad guy in this scenario but Leia’s being too kind to this golf shirt/petrol station crossover.
Leia's Comments:
I don’t know why Megan is being so harsh because I find this very cute and endearing. Its only drawback is not being versatile because you wouldn’t wear this unless you’re a member of PSP or you work at a high-end petrol station.
5. Reform Party (RP)
Design: 2/5
Colour: 2/5
Perceived level of comfort: 3/5
Versatility: 2/5
Score: 9/20
Megan's Comments
The colour of the shirt bears uncanny resemblance to the pale yellow paper you find in those cheap multicoloured paper packs. It lacks the intensity to truly pack a visual punch. But at least it’s not another red shirt, I guess.
Leia's Comments
Well, if the goal is to be spotted among the crowd, then it has been met. However, this is a few shades off from being truly radiant and thus gives more of a Bananas-in-Pajamas vibe.
Finally, coming in last in this admittedly low range of scores, is National Solidarity Party.
5. National Solidarity Party (NSP)
Design: 0/5
Colour: 1/5
Perceived level of comfort: 2/5
Versatility: 1/5
Score: 4/20
Megan's Comments
I struggle to give this outfit points because I don’t know why they are cosplaying as mandarin oranges. The black stripe on the orange background... whew...
Leia's Comments
I’m speechless. A positive integer for colour because there is really no doubt that this is a political party trying to get your attention and your vote.
That has been Leia and Megan's completely un bell-curved, unsolicited judgement of the various polo T-shirts sported by our politicians. Now you know which fashionistas and fashion-has-beens to look out for as they go on their walkabout campaigns.
Till next time!