The drive from Cape Town to Val de Vie is forty minutes if the N1 cooperates. Most Sundays in season, it does not, and the queue at the gate is already three deep with G-Wagens and the occasional vintage Mercedes by the time the players are walking their ponies out.
There is a particular Lullu woman who attends Val de Vie. She is rarely the loudest at the chukka tent. She is often the one whom photographers ask, quietly, who she is. She will be wearing a single strand of South Sea pearls at the throat, a white linen shirt unbuttoned to the second pearl, and almost nothing else of consequence.
What Polo Asks of a Wardrobe
Polo is one of the few remaining South African events that still respects an unwritten code. Heels are useless on the lawn. Hats are encouraged but not required. The dress is not the point. The point is the divot stomp at half time, and being seen doing it gracefully.
We have always thought pearls belonged on this lawn more than diamonds ever did. A pearl carries the same lineage as the sport itself. Old, decorative, somehow unaffected by the century outside the gates.
Pearls are the only jewellery that survive a divot stomp with dignity.
The Recommended Strand
For an afternoon at Val de Vie, our recommendation is a 7-8mm Akoya at princess length. Long enough to escape the linen, short enough to stay still as you walk. If the day is the Veuve Clicquot Masters Polo, scale up. The crowd dresses harder. The strand should answer.
Pearl bracelets are underused at polo, in our view. A single-strand, knotted bracelet at the wrist will catch the eye of the photographer as you raise a flute. It is the kind of detail that ends up in the lifestyle pages without anyone asking it to.
After the Final Chukka
Most of our clients linger past the polo. The Polo Village restaurants at Val de Vie are quiet by seven, and they are precisely the kind of place where pearls were always going to end up. A glass of something white. The husband loosening his tie. The conversation slowing.
If you have not yet been fitted for a Lullu polo strand, write to us. We will arrange a viewing at our Cape Town atelier, or at home, depending on which is easier.
