How to Look Like a Player

1950s

The man in the gray flannel suit turned into a peacock as '50s golf clothes were ablaze with color. The knitted golf shirt, based on the Lacoste shirt invented for tennis, was matched with increasingly colorful trousers and shorts, ushering in an era when golf style became an enduring joke. However, the emergence of Arnold Palmer changed the game's look. The King was all coiled muscular energy, and his clothes—cotton shirt, lightweight tan trousers, oxford shoes — emphasized his athleticism.