Polo, Polartec and Plastics
My favorite place to shop for vintage clothing in Chicago is the discrete and sprawling warehouse run by Andy and Jim of Found Indiana Vintage. I don’t visit with a list of things I want to buy, but rather keep an open mind as I walk through the aisles and piles of clothing. During my last trip, I found an interesting fleece zip-up on their racks: a red and black plaid oversized piece with a turn-down collar.
Until I saw this fleece jacket, I’d never really gotten into this item of clothing before. Sure, I’d been aware of the hype around vintage Patagonia Synchilla Snap-T pullovers — it even made the Wall Street Journal — but I’m not really into Patagonia as a brand. They’re great, but it’s also the unofficial uniform of my neighborhood — worn by couples walking their dogs, pushing strollers, and drinking to-go Starbucks. And until recently, the “patagucci” fleece vest is a common sight on office workers as part of the “Midtown uniform”. It just feels like Patagonia is the brand everyone else is already into and liberals like to wear because they called Trump an asshole — and I feel a little late and behind the curve to get into the brand.
But the label on the inside of this plaid fleece had a label from long-time favorite Polo Ralph Lauren that touted it was also “Made in the U.S.A.” — which struck me as quite rare. And on the inside along the zipper, another label explained the exclusivity of the fleece:
This jacket has been crafted of an extraordinary Polartec (tm) fabric that is lightweight and comfortable. Polartec (tm) provides superior thermal insulation without added weight. The plaid pattern has been developed exclusively for Polo.
Polartec is a trademark for the fabrics made only by Malden Mills.
I wonder if this was one of Polo’s first collaborations that involved naming their supplier and partner fabric mill? (If there’s a Polo historian out there, let me know!) I love a garment that’s unique and old enough to be a rare find and this fleece ticked all the boxes. An exclusive pattern to Polo, made in the USA, and it even featured an embroidered logo of a golf club in Indiana on the sleeve that must have sold it in their club shop.
Immediately after buying this fleece I began to do some more research on Polartec and searching online for more vintage Polo fleeces made in the USA. My deep dives into eBay and Grailed to find vintage Polo fleeces were quite fruitful. Let me be clear: vintage Polo Ralph Lauren fleeces are incredibly slept on! You can find them relatively cheap and there isn’t much competition for them, unlike Patagonia pieces. I picked up several of them to wear over the fall, winter and early spring.
I noticed a few re-occurring themes. A lot of turn-down collars with contrasting cotton on the underside and often a throat latch in either a snap or button. YKK zippers that sometimes had a leather pull tab. Always the signature embroidered Polo pony logo on the left chest. Elasticated cuffs and hem. And a nice oversized fit so you can easily layer under it.
I find the full-zip style to be the most versatile, allowing you to quickly temperature regulate and wear them over tees, dress shirts, and jersey knit turtlenecks. They’re a perfect mid-layer beneath oversized overcoats and raincoats. I wore them with slim-straight denim, Blundstone boots, and museum dad cap merch.
As for Polartec’s history, they began as Malden Mills, based out of Lawrence, Mass., and founded in 1906. After a series of bankruptcies that began in 2001, the company re-emerged as Polartec, LLC in 2007. Malden Mills first developed a synthetic fleece in 1981 and it’s been used by virtually every clothing maker and brand to some degree ever since. If you’ve bought a fleece by any outdoor brand, odds are good that Polartec is behind the fabric.
There is a downside to Polartec and most fleeces, however, in regards to microplastic shedding when washing them. This simple fact is the reason why the founder of Noah, Brandon Babenzien, stated during an interview on an episode of Blamo! that he refuses to do Polartec fleece even though he knows it would be a big seller for the brand as it goes against their ethos in regards to the environment. Several studies have been done looking at the shedding of microfibers from washing fleece and it’s not good. In fact, it’s downright disturbing.
A study published [in 2016] showed that while wastewater treatment plants remove more than 98 percent of plastic fragments from wastewater, they still send an estimated 65 million pieces of microplastics into watersheds each day. Polyester, the main fiber used in fleece, makes up the largest share of the plastics that get through—even though it only accounts for 10.8 percent of the plastic in influent wastewater (water that enters the plant). Also, many fibers that do get captured often end up in environmental sludge, which is sometimes added to fertilizer.
To Polartec’s credit, they’ve worked to develop fabrics that shed up to five time less (their current offerings feature over 400 types of fabrics) and their newest owner is making microplastic shedding an area they’re trying to research and improve.
Regardless of where fleece technology heads, those of us who like picking up vintage pieces still will want to launder and clean older fleeces. I had one come in smelling like it sat in garage full of cigars. Eco-friendly dry cleaning is the option I took, which was the easiest and most convenient. If you’d prefer to do laundry at home, consider getting a Guppyfriend bag that can help catch microplastics and keep the out of the water treatment plants.