‘Ralphcore’ takes over: See the fashionistas obsessed with dressing like Ralph Lauren’s posh teddy bear
They’re looking bear-y chic.
Ralph Lauren’s hallmark Polo Bear has suddenly become something of a style icon among fashionistas — who are curating outfits inspired by the teddy.
Lindy Goodson has spent the last 10 days recreating looks based on the many iterations of the Polo Bear, using pieces from her own closet — or her mom’s — to transform into a spitting image of the emblem of the New York label.
“My best outfit in…possibly years I fear,” she captioned a now-viral video that launched her style series and quickly spiraled into a TikTok trend dubbed #dressinglikepolobear.
Now, the cuddly teddy has become more than an eponymous logo, it’s a way of life — or of dress, at least — dubbed “Ralphcore.”
“I’m not messing around when I say the Polo Bears might be the key to inspiration and testing out new things that I have needed,” Goodson added.
From a casual teddy donning an American flag knit and jeans, to a Western-inspired bear complete with a suede, fringed jacket and a bolo tie, Goodson uses images of the “adorable” bears emblazoned on her own Ralph Lauren sweaters as a reference, sharing her impeccably polished outfits with her 297,000 followers.
“When I put a Polo Bear on screen, people are able to imagine themselves in a similar outfit made up of their own pieces,” Goodson told Town & Country, calling the bear a “neutral model.”
“The Polo Bear doesn’t showcase a specific body type or look, just the outfit on an animal—making them universally inspiring.”
Known as “The Best Dressed Bear,” the concept of the Polo Bear was derived from the story of former President Theodore Roosevelt, who refused to kill a bear on a 1902 hunting trip. That incident inspired the moniker “Teddy” bears, which were created by New York shop owner Richard Steiff.
Decades later, the annual Steiff bear gifting tradition between brothers Jerry and Ralph Lauren catalyzed the creation of the 1991 Polo Bear — and the rest is history.
“The fashion that these teddy bears have — mind-blowing,” TikToker Kelsey Leiter said in a video while mirroring her look of the day after a bear dressed in yellow sandals, khakis and a sky blue sweater layered over a striped oxford.
“Trust in the teddy bears,” she said after the outfit was complete.
Creator Elliot Duprey also borrowed from one of the bear’s “hard fits” (read: cool, fashionable, stylish) in a TikTok clip, pulling on a near-identical royal blue knit and khaki trench.
He told Town & Country that many of the outfits can “be emulated with what you already have in your closet.”
“What makes the Bear so good is that Ralph Lauren is so good,” he said. “Ralph encapsulates a ton of different American styles; it’s an aspirational brand in a lot of ways, and it’s accessible at a lot of different levels.”