For centuries, women on the golf course have been forced to adapt to a wardrobe that was never meant for them. But the team behind the rising golf attire brand STUART is ready to completely change the game.  

Named after Mary Stuart (Mary Queen of Scots) — who dominated the fairway in 16th century France all while laced in a corset — the brand is built on a foundation of beautiful defiance. It’s a feeling the co-founders, Lexi Tollefsen Eberhart and Margot Tollefsen, know intimately.

The sisters grew up golfing during hot summers between Oklahoma and Texas with their father, falling in love with the sport but dreading the pro shop, where the only options were ill-fitting, boxy men’s apparel. Deciding it was time to shift the lens, they set out to build a new kind of green: one defined by modern heritage, true inclusivity, and a vision for golf as imagined by women.

How are you moving away from traditional, outdated golf aesthetics to make the sport appeal to younger female consumers?

For a long time, golf has been looked at entirely through a male lens, leaving the apparel space feeling a little dated and stuff. When legacy brands did try to design for women, it usually followed a pretty uninspired formula: shrink it, pink it and call it new.

By pulling from vintage sport and classic American style, we are creating pieces you genuinely want to wear even if you aren't playing a round of golf. The goal is to make golf feel less like something women have to force themselves to fit into and more like a game that finally feels like them.

Do your designs translate into girls’ everyday lives? Is that a consideration?

This is the core principle of our design language, actually. We don’t want to create pieces that only make sense on the course; we want them to feel like essentials that you can mix and match with the rest of your wardrobe – from the silhouette to the color palette. 

When we talked to hundreds of women about their experiences playing and getting dressed today, we realized the way the next generation approaches the sport has completely shifted. It is way more creative and transitional. Girls aren’t trying to isolate themselves at a rigid country club for a grueling 18 holes anymore. They are squeezing in 9 holes between meetings or hitting the driving range right after work. 

Because of that, a polo needs to look just as good with denim. A skort should work perfectly with a sweater, a tee, sneakers or a swimsuit after a round. We think the best golf wear should move naturally between the course, lunch, travel, errands or a weekend away. Golf is inherently a lifestyle sport, so the clothes should reflect a full life — not just the hours you happen to spend on the green.

What styles do you find consumers gravitating toward most?

We are seeing a massive pull toward pieces that feel classic but elevated – polished and sporty, but still effortless and down to earth. There is a definite shift away from hyper-athletic synthetics toward cleaner silhouettes, natural fabrics and quality pieces with real longevity. 

We’re all about bridging heritage sport with modern lifestyle, and our reference points for our first drop that blend of eras. We really leaned into classic '70s Americana for the core of the collection. Think: vintage Ralph Lauren country club style, which is where the inspiration for The Club Polo comes from. It’s made with ribbed cotton and a boxier collar and wide placket, which is super ‘70s and differentiated from the jersey or polyester polos you see today with a button-placket. The Wrap Skort was heavily inspired by the understated, tailored lines of '90s Calvin Klein and Prada skirts. The duality creates a canvas that allows women to completely make the pieces their own through personal styling. Ultimately, girls are gravitating toward tasteful staples that look intentional anywhere. 

Has there ever been a “golden age” of golf for women? Does that factor into your aesthetic?

We don’t know that women have ever had a true "golden age" in golf in the same way men have. There have always been incredible, singular forces in the sport – icons like Judy Rankin, Althea Gibson, Michelle Wie West come to mind – but culturally and aesthetically, golf has historically catered entirely toward men. For centuries, women were either outright excluded, treated as secondary or handed a very narrow version of what golf style was supposed to look like.

That systemic erasure definitely factors into our aesthetic. We are deeply inspired by the raw heritage of the game, but we are not interested in a copy-paste recreation of a history that never fully welcomed us. Instead, we are taking the elements that feel timeless and reworking them through a modern, female lens. We like to think of STUART as creating “new traditions.”

Golf has a reputation for being exclusive and intimidating — have you found that apparel gives girls a sense of belonging?

Yes, apparel can be surprisingly powerful in that way! Golf has so many rules –  what to wear, where to go, how to act, what to bring. When you’re new to the sport, clothing can either make that intimidation worse or help you feel more confident trying it out. 

When someone puts on something that feels more aligned to their style or who they are, it can make the whole experience feel more accessible. It’s not about pretending to be someone else to fit into golf. It’s about feeling like there’s room for you in the sport as you already are. That’s really important to us.

Where do you see girls’ golf heading over the next decade?

We think women’s golf is going to become much more culturally relevant and much less one-dimensional over the next few years. A lot of younger women are coming into the sport through different entry points than previous generations. Some are learning through friends, partners, family, social media, events, driving ranges or simulator bars. Some want to compete seriously. Some want to play nine holes and get lunch after. 

That’s what makes this moment exciting – women are bringing their own taste, values, friendships and sense of identity into the sport. So the culture around women’s golf is becoming more expressive, more social and more accessible.