.

London - Think Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face, all gamine in skinny trousers and ballet flats, French women in trenchcoats ambling down the Left Bank, and Marilyn Monroe shimmying around in a skin-tight pencil skirt and pointy bra. What do these three style moments all have in common? A polo neck.

Having spent 27 years in the fashion wilderness, the sweater is back. It’s been spotted on Elle Macpherson, Kylie Minogue, Carol Vorderman (pictured) and Pippa Middleton, worn with skinny jeans and flat shoes in the classic Sloane style, or accentuating the hourglass silhouette with a pencil skirt a la the Fifties bombshells.

And it’s not just celebrities who have fallen back in love with knitwear. Last autumn, Marks and Spencer sold a whopping 400,000 polo necks, 125,000 of which were in black. ‘The black polo neck is a staple for every woman’s wardrobe,’ says Neil Hendy, head of M&S Woman & Accessories. ‘It’s extremely versatile and can be used as a layering piece or just teamed with a great pencil skirt for a sophisticated look.’

But is it REALLY a look that suits everyone? While online fashion giant Asos currently features nine polo neck tube dresses and Whistles has a Lurex polo neck, the truth is nothing shows off a perfectly honed body quite like this. Nothing shows off a short neck, full bust, and rolls of tummy fat quite like this either.

Angela Gilbey, design director of Coppernob, a major British High Street supplier to Dorothy Perkins, New Look and BHS, says while polo necks may separate the blessed from the cursed, there is a solution. ‘You can always layer a tunic over a polo neck then wear tapered trousers or a pencil skirt,’ she says, ‘You can even fake a polo neck with an Hermès-style scarf and string of pearls.’ - Daily Mail