At the Greenwich Polo Club, crowd has a flair for high society fashion - Danbury News Times

Some people associate polo with horses.

Others, as Bryan Gulyas^[1] observed, think of pretty girls in nice clothes.

"Wait, there's a polo match going on?" the 31-year-old Stamford resident joked as Airstream and Heathcote Polo took the field for a recent Sunday afternoon contest at the Greenwich Polo Club^[2] . "Everyone's dressed to the hilt."

Of course, there's no dress code in polo, except for the players, who wear protective helmets, riding boots, white trousers and a colored shirt. But for many in the crowd, a swanky outfit is as essential as the champagne, the picnic blankets, the sunshine -- even the match itself.

That means flaunting your freshest finery: flowing dresses, wedge heels and floppy hats for women and bow ties, loafers and linen suits for men.

"This is a classy atmosphere," Gulyas said. "I went with the vest and bow tie. It's a strong statement."

He wore a straw derby hat, a Hermes pink bow tie, an off-white vest, a white button-down shirt from Express, tan linen pants from Banana Republic^[3] and Cole Haan^[4] brown loafers. His girlfriend, Ashley Snyder^[5] , wore a blue eyelet dress with a woven hat and blue scarf.

"You don't want to show up in sweats," said Lindsay Olzerowicz, 28, of Weehawken, N.J.

"That would be awkward," said her friend, 27-year-old Cate Liverman^[6] , of Virginia.

Olzerowicz and Liverman sported game-day ensembles that would've made Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts^[7] ' character in "Pretty Woman") jealous. Liverman wore a black-and-white chevron dress with three-quarter length sleeves, black peep-toe kitten wedge shoes by American Eagle, Stella & Dot^[8] gold bangles and Tory Burch sunglasses; Olzerowicz donned a white Armani Exchange dress, a Tiffany Kiss bangle and woven wedges by Steven Madden.

"We're Ultimate Frisbee players; usually, we're throwing a disc around in the mud," said Greenwich resident Erin Ivers^[9] , who came with Gulyas and a cadre of 20- and 30-somethings. "This is a great chance to wear a cute dress."

Like Olzerowicz and Liverman, Ivers wore wedges -- the proper footwear for the stomping of the divots, a halftime ceremony in which spectators push the patches of grass and dirt torn out of the field back into the ground (the rough equivalent of the zamboni in hockey).

So did Stamford resident Elizabeth Mroz^[10] . It's best to leave your heels at home anyway, she said, "since you'll end up sinking into the ground."

Scott.gargan@scni.com; Twitter: @scottgarg

References

1. ^{^} Bryan Gulyas (www.newstimes.com)


2. ^{^} Greenwich Polo Club (www.newstimes.com)


3. ^{^} Banana Republic (www.newstimes.com)


4. ^{^} Cole Haan (www.newstimes.com)


5. ^{^} Ashley Snyder (www.newstimes.com)


6. ^{^} Cate Liverman (www.newstimes.com)


7. ^{^} Julia Roberts (www.newstimes.com)


8. ^{^} American Eagle, Stella & Dot (www.newstimes.com)


9. ^{^} Erin Ivers (www.newstimes.com)


10. ^{^} Elizabeth Mroz (www.newstimes.com)