The biggest style surprise of the season? A sporty polo: How to dress like an adult with SHANE WATSON

Those of us who rely on a mid-weight polo collar (goes with everything) in the winter are now looking for a good spring alternative.

A little more relaxed than a crisp cotton shirt, but not as chic as a blouse, to wear under a blazer or on its own with a skirt or trousers.

Once upon a time, a good quality T-shirt would have done the job, but there comes a time, and it's sooner than you think, when T-shirts look damp and uninspiring on women over 50.

A striped T-shirt can look chic under a jacket, but overall it looks much better if you wear something with it that camouflages your neck, even if that's the sleeves of a cardigan with draped shoulders.

What we all need now is some sort of collar, to define and frame the face and to soften the neckline. Which brings us to the return of the top that is a bit of a sweater and a small T-shirt and comes with a small collar: the polo shirt.

To be honest, I don't like polo shirts. They remind me of gym days at school, the crew on fancy yachts, or Sloaney boys in the 80s (or 90s or 00s) in their uniforms of pink polo, chinos and boat shoes.

In addition to the negative associations, polo shirts made of thick cotton and with short sleeves are two major undesirables in my view.

Emma Raducanu could undoubtedly make a polo shirt look good, but if you're old enough to be Raducanu's mother, with the elbows to prove it, a polo shirt probably isn't at the top of your list of useful, new-season refreshers .

Or it wasn't, until Gucci got their hands on it and made it for spring/summer in a delicate ivory crochet knit with dashing striped green and red piping on the collar and sleeves.

Chanel made a luxurious version of the polo shirt in cashmere, omitted the buttons and covered the open neckline with a few sequins. Elsewhere, on catwalks from Miu Miu to Marni, there were sleek polo shirts paired with straight leather skirts and buttoned up under smart blazers.

This season, fashion has gone into full swing, sporty with bells on, and the polo shirt – the new basic that goes with everything – can be in plain cotton and as ready for a game of tennis as ever, or more like an elegant, languid knitted top with floppy collar to wear with a midi skirt or over the waistband of pinstripe trousers.

The revelation is that it doesn't have to have buttons (although it could). It doesn't have to be short sleeves: I would recommend the three-quarter sleeve that covers the elbow, which will solve the sagging elbow problem mentioned earlier and will work now and into the summer. There are also plenty of long sleeve options. And it doesn't have to be made of breathable Aertex cotton, or white or navy blue.

The plain navy blue polo shirt with Miu Miu logo is at the top of the wish list of young fashionistas, with a mini ruffle to match, but for our purposes, the more feminine and polished, the better.

Cream: Isabelle Huppert at the Cannes Film Festival in France

India Rawsthorn at Veronica Beard's Summer Fair party at The Serpentine Pavillion

This means plain wool polo shirts without buttons in soft colours, such as those from Marks & Spencer in cappuccino or cream (£39.50, marksandspencer.com) or in sleek plain black (Marks & Spencer again) or even in a silvery metallic knit ( £195, ganni .com). It's also, and just as importantly, about wearing it in a non-sporty way – with evening wear (a light gray polo shirt with a pink pencil skirt); with tailoring (a black polo shirt with black pants) or perhaps tucked into the top of a straight suede or leather skirt.

Adding a bit of athleisure is still the way to give smart clothing a modern touch and since we (at least most of us) don't feel like wearing a little white ribbed cardigan, the polo shirt is perfect to inject some sportiness.

Wear a cream-coloured, buttonless polo sweater like Massimo Dutti's (€49.95, massimodutti.com) with a tailored suit or try a bright green polo with a knee-length A-line skirt. Cefinn makes a long-sleeved wool polo shirt, on sale now (£170, cefinn.com) in emerald green or navy blue.

The last thing you want in a polo shirt is a sloppy shape, but Massimo Dutti's relaxed purl-knit polo jumper in light gray (€69.95) looks perfect for wearing over a cardigan or lace camisole now. It would also work over a fresh shirt. All the way from here it's polos.