Today's example:
- Preppy Fashion Is Back (With a Twist) <https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/t-magazine/preppy-spring-fashion.html>
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Muffy Aldrich, Editor of Salt Water New England: The Thing Before Preppy, since 2010. And a 12th Generation New Englander.
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That "with a twist" covers an awful lot of ground.
ReplyDeleteBecause the reason it's "preppy" is that it never, ever comes with a "twist."
ReplyDeleteIn my 13 year old daughter's cohort, "preppy" means pink and girly
ReplyDeleteBecause marketing is about selling things. Any description that will attract the attention of consumers is fine.
ReplyDeleteTrue preps don't care about articles about preppy clothing with a "twist." That's why they're preps. They know what they like and are not lead by the fashion industry.
ReplyDeleteThe reason, I think, is that nearly everyone conflates two senses of "preppy." The first sense is what Ms. Aldrich calls "the thing before preppy." It refers to the actual clothing and lifestyle of the people who attended prestigious East Coast prep schools in the early- to mid-twentieth century. The second is the popularized, commodified, self-consciously packaged version of that clothing and lifestyle, which became popular largely through Ralph Lauren and "The Official Preppy Handbook" beginning in the 1980s.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the first sense, there is no such thing as "preppy fashion," because "the thing before preppy" didn't follow fashion except at the very fringes. My dapper "thing before preppy" grandparents wore, in the 80s and 90s, the same garments from the same vendors that they did in the 50s and 60s.
Regarding the second sense, I would submit that it's impossible to get it wrong, because there is nothing to get wrong. It's passing, consumerist fashion, which takes inspiration from various fragments of cultural memory, including the "Preppy Handbook" and its descendants.
In a sense, "preppy fashion" is a contradiction. The clothing of "the thing before preppy" was modestly tailored, made to last, and virtually unchanging. It was a kind of anti-fashion.
Brilliant.
DeleteFor the same reason they get so many other things wrong: They think sounding cool is more important than using words precisely. I used to be a news editor, and the writers working under me would routinely write things that weren't true because those things sounded cool to them. Ever notice that any outer garment that isn't knee-length is now a "bomber jacket"? A knit cap is now a "beanie." A new garment that is retro in appearance is "vintage." Any shirt that buttons up the front is a "buttondown." To answer the question succinctly: Publications get "preppy" wrong because they're staffed by people who are shallow, lazy, ignorant, and immature.
ReplyDeleteWhat did I even just see?!
ReplyDeleteDifficult to unsee, isn’t it?
DeleteWith a very few exceptions, fashion journalism is an oxymoron unworthy of your anger.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Anonymous at 10:57 is correct, but I think there is a third definition that has arisen. It is what high school kids with affluent living situations are adopting as their cohort's uniform. It is very much tied to specific brands, but they are ever changing. Abercrombie to Vineyard Vines to Southern Tide to Filson to Lululemon and so on. Leading edge middle schoolers and their moms often jump quickly on the trends, but dads remain oblivious.
ReplyDeleteAbsurd! Troubling at best!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think this new "Preppy Fashion with a Twist" is fantastic, gorgeous, sophisticated, brilliant, and absolutely A+ attractive!
ReplyDeleteOh wait ...wait ... I just got a little confused, and meant to say the EXACT opposite about this low-life trash. Sorry.
I kind of always took the word “Preppy” to be a gentle insult, more a slam at the whole Prep School mindset/culture than specifically the clothes. Do you think maybe that is the point of this ad? I’ve been wearing khakis and OCBD’s all my life, way before Ali McGraw used the word in the movie: “Love Story”. I’ve never even set foot on the grounds of a Prep School. I always thought of it as “Collegiate”, if I thought of it at all. It’s just what I wear. I think the writer was trying to appear ironic, and failed to get the point across
ReplyDelete"Preppy" is the direct descendant of "collegiate," which, while more middle-class, was the descriptive at the time.
DeleteYes. During the 1960’s (and likely before but I’m not quite old enough to remember), York Street fashion was called “collegiate.” Barrie’s shoes, not always acknowledged, was without peer.
DeleteBarrie’s (RIP) was without peer: Barrie’s to Bass was Rolls to Rambler.
DeleteArnold’s Boot Shop of Chapel Street ought to be mentioned here. They sold high quality footwear, some of it private label English made. Their quality was excellent but was looked at as a cut below Barrie’s. Their prices were also lower. They sold Bass Weejuns which were considered strictly a knock around casual shoe. One might wear them to school but that was about as high on the food chain they got. You would never wear them to impress at a “mixer.”
DeleteBarrie's was, indeed, wonderful. They reminded me very much of Alden. As to Weejuns, until the release of Sgt. Pepper, they were ubiquitous, even appearing at mixers and other social occasions. Bass, very briefly, upped its game with the release of the Sportocasin, and then it began its descent. The Sportocasin was a terrific walking shoe.
DeleteAll these Anons know their New Haven shoes. Barrie’s cost 2x what good quality American made shoes would cost at Thom McCann. Who knew what parents were thinking (in those days of big families) when they shelled out for Barrie’s. The thought of that never occurred to me. Starting at age 11, shovel the snow, mow the grass, rake the leaves. My pockets were always full of dollar bills. I never cared how much Barrie’s cost. I paid for them myself. And yes, Perhaps there were some who wore Weejuns to mixers. The Wildweeds were the house band at St Mary Sunday night mixers on Hillhouse Avenue. Their leader Al Andersen later formed NRBQ.
DeleteHe might even have worn Weejuns.
I bought my pair of Barrie loafers in 1965 for $17, a comparable pair of loafers from Arnolds Boot Shop at the time cost $13, I believe. I bought the exact same loafers from Barrie just before the closed for $125. In between al my shoes purchases were from Barrie and I got to know the brothers fairly well. Does anyone besides me remember the classic "Barrie Boot"? or the Hunter Haig shop on Broadway just about halfway between J. Press on York St. and the old Yale Co-op?
DeleteThé “Barrie Boot” might have been a very fashionable chukka height boot that was a had to have back in the 60’s. I recall the oversize tongue of the boot was not sewn separately to the toe but was a single piece of leather. It lay outside the upper leather and was fixed with a single strap that crossed the instep. We called them “gonga boots.” I vaguely recall Hunter Haig. It must have been across the street from David Dean Smith, on the same side of Broadway as the Co-op, and Joe LoPresti’s barber shop, maybe downstairs from Eveready Whitlock’s book store? Anyway… we always lunched at Yankee Doodle. Young punks enjoying our meal at the counter with Yalies standing patiently behind us waiting their turn.
DeleteHunter Haig was indeed approximately across from David Dean Smith and did not sell suits, only sport jackets, pants and various accessories.
DeleteBecause they’re almost no preps left. Even in the preppiest areas there are very very few preps left.
ReplyDeleteI would think "preppy" dress is a moving target just like most fashion. Today's prep school kids may or may not want to dress like grandpa or grandma did at Choate and Winsor.
ReplyDeleteIt's also about the setting. A pair of boat shoes and a Ralph Lauren polo does not a ‘preppy’ make. We love our dogs, sailing and our old Volvo. We are involved in the community, care about animal welfare, are polite and decently dressed and don't vote for weird people...
ReplyDeleteIt is NOT about clothes.
ReplyDeleteMarketing departments need a hook--click bait. It's all illusion and no substance. Next.
ReplyDeleteBeyond repair…
ReplyDeleteAll smoke, and mirrors!
ReplyDeleteWow... That article/fashion spread was more clueless than a vegan activist applying for a job at an abattoir.
ReplyDeleteThis is what happens when societies and cultures lose sight of the social order. Example: Jonas Wilkerson and Emmie Slattery entertaining the "notion" that they could be the master and mistress of Tara. Collars up !!!
ReplyDelete