Photo by Muffy Aldrich
The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Ferd Week: What men should wear on Graduation Weekend

Ferd Week continues with a comment left by Ferd, April, 2011:  

If these SA folks want to really fit in and make the proper prep statement, here are the rules for men:

Around campus before the dinner. Him: very faded polo shirt, no insignia or brand design; shorts from Murray's with a few fish oil stains; three hundred year old Alden loafers with a very high polish; no socks.

Dinner: very faded polo shirt, no insignia or brand design; your father's Mark Fore and Strike pants from 1965 and a blue blazer; three hundred year old Alden loafers with a very high polish; no socks.

At the race: very faded polo shirt, no insignia or brand design; shorts from Murray's with a few fish oil stains; three hundred year old Alden loafers with a very high polish; no socks.

The appearance set by the foregoing attire can be enhanced by arriving very late to all functions in a 1993 County Rover with your son's hockey equipment in the back and 21 stickers from the Nantucket beach. Also, for God's sake don't appear to be actually interested in anything, don't touch your son at graduation and don't drink until 5:01 and thereafter drink seriously. 

6 comments:

  1. Oh, yes. The good old genuine Chemise LaCoste from France.
    All-cotton. Sizes such as Patron in French. Short 2-button placket. Ribbed collar. Banded sleeve. Tennis tail.

    I believe this classic staple was available in white only for the first decade or so.

    The placket on the photo of the handsome gentleman on the top appears to be a bit long and the sleeves are hemmed rather than banded, so I doubt it's an "original."

    As I recall, some would inaccurately refer to the shirts as alligator shirts, perhaps because Rene LaCoste carried alligator luggage. I believe LaCoste's nickname was crocodile due to his manner of dealing with opponents.

    I enjoyed wearing this classic frequently during the 60s.
    For quite a while now, I have been a bit portly to don this favorite.

    About two years ago, I gifted a "special edition" of the current shirt that included a Snoopy with the crocodile. My grandson was delighted.

    Thanks, Muffie, for stirring the memories.
    You always do that so well.

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  2. I am showing my ignorance: who is Ferd?

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  3. Ferd must be (or must have been) a fraud, because no real ice hockey parent would drive around with their kids' hockey gear or gloves in the truck - unless it were stowed on a duffel bag with an interior coating to seal in the malodorous contents. Hockey (and lacrosse) gear smells like a corpse left out in the sun on a hot summer day, and soccer cleats and goalkeeper gloves aren't far behind.

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