the ReaLL CoLLectors

To the best of my knowledge, I’ve been rocking, sporting, wearing, flamming, Collecting Polo Ralph Lauren for as long as I can remember.Once upon a time, I wore an XL, and would be able to rock the hottest ‘Lo pieces. Everything, from cookies, scribbles, p wings, teddy bears, flags, stampede horses, etc. Thing is, Theres been people ‘collecting Polo pieces much longer than I have. I guess, that’s HOW I got up on the brand. There were polo crews, teams, legions, families, of Polo rockers. Growing up in Bed Stuy Bklyn, and attending Boys & Girls High school in the late 80s/early 90s, I got to see a daily fashion show from all areas of Brooklyn. From Albany ave, from Franklin ave, Flatbush came through and represented, Crown Heights and Brownsville showed up, even seen a sprinkle of Bushwick and Fort Greene in some ‘Lo wears.

When Crown Heights (St Johns place ) and Brownsville (Marcus Garvey Village ) came together, a beautiful union was formed…almost like when Lacoste formed with Izod, but MUCH BETTER…..LO LIFES….with ‘LO being the 2nd syllable in the word ‘POLO’ it was no SECRET who was the predominate LABEL….Now, coming up on the 25th anniversary of the LO LIFE’S existence, I happened to stumble upon an article, http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/11/09/fashion-the-new-magic-of-vintage-ralph-lauren.html about classic , or as many people call it…Vintage, pieces of Ralph Lauren’s POLO coming back. Now just because a 1992 POLO STADIUM windbreaker came out in 92, doesn’t mean you wont SEE it again. I have the pleasure to know a few people that are STILL COLLECTING. People whose collections are very huge. I see them with pieces I had, wanted, or never even seen. With the help of e bay , social networking or just Plain networking, It wont be unbelievable to see vintage pieces circa ‘88 on someone’s back now in 2012. I am glad to see some of the old pieces come back. I prefer the ‘older LO ‘ anyway. Thing is, when I read the article, True, there are a lot of collectors, and yes, a lot from all over the word, not just Japan. Even though, your oldest cousin from Delaware has been wearing Polo since 85, it just doesn’t hold any weight (to me) if you wasn’t from Brooklyn ….Yeah I SAID IT , and even though BK was mentioned in the article, they neglected to mention the ReaLL CoLLectors…Them Brooklyn Boys who had mini Polo mansions in THEIR BEDROOMS!!,

THESE CATS TO ME ARE THE ReaLL CoLLectors…
BIG UPS TO LO LIFES , RLPC , STEAM TEAM , FRANKLIN AVE, BED STUY LO DOWN , LO PROZ , LO RANGERS, ALL DA LO ROCKERS FROM THE PROJECTS (TOO MANY TO NAME)
…and IF I FORGOT U AND UR PIC, FORGIVE ME…..
2Ls