Mercer Shirt Arrival - Crisp Stripes and Checks

Photo by Muffy Aldrich

Mercer shirt arrival!

• 3MM Nile Blue Bengal Stripe <https://mercerandsons.com/collections/stripes/products/3mm-nile-blue-bengal-stripe>

• Blue Bold Check <https://mercerandsons.com/collections/larger-checks-plaids/products/blue-bold-check>

 

Around The Fourth of July Weekend

Photos by Muffy Aldrich

 

New from Steele Canvas, The Nantucket Red Collection - Made in Massachusetts

Photos by/of Muffy Aldrich

Steele Canvas has just launched their new Nantucket Red Collection, which I am loving.  

Anyone who has tried their bags know how incredibly sturdily made they are - heavy canvas and a sizable YKK zippers.  And now they have added this terrific new color. 

Shown here is the Nantucket Red Island Tote and Nantucket Red Canvas Duffle Bag.  (They also offer this color in a Weekender Bag and a Dopp Kit.)

• Nantucket Red Island Tote <https://www.steelecanvas.com/products/nantucket-red-island-tote>

• Nantucket Red Canvas Duffle Bag <https://www.steelecanvas.com/products/nantucket-red-canvas-duffle-bag>

• Nantucket Red Collection <https://www.steelecanvas.com/collections/nantucket-red-collection>

Shown with:

• Mercer Blue Bold Check <https://mercerandsons.com/collections/larger-checks-plaids/products/blue-bold-check>

• Jack Donnelly Original Twill - 02 Straight <https://jackdonnelly.com/collections/twill-chino/products/twill-chino-m2-straight>

I have been using their bags for years now and can't say enough good things about them.   And as with all of their products, the bags are made in Massachusetts.  

Nantucket Red Canvas Duffle Bag

Nantucket Red Island Tote with a 10” Handle Drop and Leather Grips

The Daily Prep

All Photos by/of Muffy Aldrich

Some items shown:

• Mystic Knotworks Nautical Shackle Bracelet in Navy <https://mysticknotwork.com/collections/shackle-bracelets>

• Mystic Knotworks Design your own Nautical Sailor Knot Bracelet, Lime and Royal Blue <https://mysticknotwork.com/products/striped-sailor-bracelet-custom-colors-choose-your-own>

• Lotuff Triumph Briefcases, Indigo and Chocolate <https://lotuffleather.com/collections/briefcases>

• Jack Donnelly Original Twill - 02 Straight <https://jackdonnelly.com/collections/twill-chino/products/twill-chino-m2-straight>

• Mercer & Sons 3MM Nile Blue Bengal Stripe <https://mercerandsons.com/collections/stripes/products/3mm-nile-blue-bengal-stripe>

• Mercer & Sons Buzzard's Bay Blue & White Cotton Seersucker Stripe <https://mercerandsons.com/collections/stripes/products/buzzards-bay-blue-and-white-cotton-seersucker-stripe>

 

Outdoor Cooking and Eating (r)

Photos by Salt Water New England

A question for the community: 

Which foods do you prefer for outdoor cooking and eating? And what are favorite techniques or occasions?

Socks Off...

    

Photo of Muffy Aldrich

 Wearing:

• Bosie Shetland for Women <https://bosie.co/collections/womens-plain-knitwear>

See also:

• Bosie Shetland for Men <https://bosie.co/collections/mens-shetland-lambswool-sweaters-and-cardigans>

The Daily Prep

Photo by Muffy Aldrich

 Today's Pairing - New Harley, Old Ralph.

Buoy Love!

Photo by Salt Water New England

 New from Patsy Kane | Nautical, The Ketcham Buoy Pendant in Sterling Silver:

• The Ketcham Buoy Pendant <https://patsykane.com/products/the-ketcham-buoy-sterling-silver>

(In addition to her new site and new Monkey Fist Earrings <https://www.saltwaternewengland.com/2025/02/patsy-kane-new-site-and-new-monkey-fist.html>!)

Angela Moore Bracelets (RIP)

 On my Substack: https://muffyaldrich.substack.com/p/angela-moore-bracelets-rip

Patsy Kane | Nautical - New Site and New Monkey Fist Earrings!

New Monkey Fist Earring Colors - Photos by Muffy Aldrich

Patsy Kane | Nautical continues to grow her Marblehead, Massachusetts jewelry business, adding new products and now has a beautiful new site, worth visiting for the boats alone.  

• <https://patsykane.com/>

Her nautical jewelry is tasteful and fun and hardly a day goes by that I am not wearing something from Patsy.

She has just added new colors to one of my favorite categories, her Monkey Fist Earrings:  The perky Preppy Pink & Crisp White, the bold Signal Orange & Crisp White, and two neutral and refined players, Grey Lady & Crisp White and Khaki & Crisp White.

New Monkey Fist Earrings: 

• Signal Orange & Crisp White <https://patsykane.com/products/monkey-fist-signal-orange-crisp-white>

• Preppy Pink & Crisp White <https://patsykane.com/products/monkey-fist-preppy-pink-crisp-white-copy>

• Grey Lady & Crisp White <https://patsykane.com/products/monkey-fist-grey-lady-crisp-white>

• Monkey Fist Earrings: Khaki & Crisp White <https://patsykane.com/products/monkey-fist-khaki-crisp-white>

All Earrings:

• <https://patsykane.com/collections/earrings>

What is the Preppiest State?

 

A reader question:

Muffy, you saw The New York Times article that referred to Connecticut as preppy (and stuffy and sleepy) I'll bet.   I know we have talked about preppy towns on the blog, but what do people here think is the preppiest state, and why?

A comment of note:

Uhm, The Land of Steady Habits. Massachusetts is older and perhaps that ends the debate for many, but then we would have to go down the rabbit warren on flamboyant, Cavalier Virginia. Parts of the South generally belong in the conversation - they certainly adhere to tradition, I suppose - but they are of another genus altogether, sort of a post-Reconstruction Vineyard Vines genus; theirs is not a history readily claimed so everything has to stay superficial and comically light. This is not preppy; one’s personal history is core to “preppy” (or the the thing before preppy).

Back among the species, CT earns the title. Massachusetts’ loud history of radicalism - to this day - qualifies it as the crazy Aunt in Connecticut’s attic. Connecticut grew up and moved away, retaining the better lessons and traditions, eschewing all the drama and crazy notions. Too Cotton Mather and the Adams family are hardly on the Massachusetts scene today, replaced by money from somewhere else and largely due to the outsized growth and cultural influence of the now errant academic institutions that once did so much to define Massachusetts differently. CT has no academic core to tug it in faddish cultural/intellectual directions. Nothing tugs CT in ANY direction. Steady. Habitual. Industrious, constantly contentedly tinkering in the garage (and staying off 95).

Worth noting that the “preppiest” base in Connecticut is not where I live in Fairfield County but north and East of here, just to the west of Hartford up until you run into too many alien NYers in Litchfield County and then in pockets around New Haven. Hartford is what it has become, but that’s the sweet spot - and while, yes, they migrate to “The Shore” in summer, as they should, The Shore is still best understood as a summer colony (maybe - with Maine, of course - even the best one given who washes up on the Cape and Islands every summer these days). Fairfield County provides lots of ballast and that old necessity, money, to CT’s claim, but to restate the obvious it brings WAY too much New York with it. Still CT is NOT NY. It is its own place emanating from Hartford and New Haven first, as it always has.

Honorable mention belongs to New Hampshire, as another reader mentioned - maybe summed up best in the concluding stanza of Robert Frost’s “New Hampshire” the last line of which notes he is “at present…living in Vermont.”

An outstanding tangential read on America’s radically distinct regional origins is Albion’s Seed by David Hackett Fischer. Merry Christmas to all, and a thank you to our fine SWNE curators. 

80s Preppy Winter Weekend Wear

 

Four Favorite Mercer Shirts...

Along with Mercer's spiffy new site comes a rapid-fire turn around time for shirt orders.  So I double checked with David today, and if you place your order by this Friday, the 13th, and are sure to designate "Christmas," then you will probably be okay!  If not, there is always a Gift Certificate.

Here are some of our favorites.

• Mercer 3MM Nile Blue Bengal Stripe, Button Down Collars <http://www.mercerandsons.com/swatches_and_pricing-stripes.htm>

All khakis from Jack Donnelly: 

• <https://jackdonnelly.com/collections/twill-chino>

This Week: New Arrivals and a Few Outfits

Indigo and Kelly Stripes on Top, Coming Soon!  Photos by Salt Water New England

Arriving soon!  New Guernsey stripes coming from Le Tricoteur!   

Some things shown:

• Cream & Navy Striped Traditional Guernsey Jumper <https://letricoteur.co/en-us/collections/striped-guernsey-jumpers/products/letricoteur-co-striped-guernseys-mens-cream-navy-striped-traditional-guernsey-jumper>

• Kelly Green & Aran Striped Rocquaine Guernsey Jumper <https://letricoteur.co/en-us/collections/rocquaine-guernsey-jumpers/products/kelly-green-aran-striped-rocquaine-guernsey-jumper>

• Skye Yoke Fair Isle Women's Cardigan - Mint Green <https://bosieco.squarespace.com/bosiearchive/womens-skye-yoke-fair-isle-cardigan-mint-green>

• CBYC Hat <https://flwoods.com/products/copy-of-cbyc-hat-sea-blue>

• CBYC <https://flwoods.com/pages/cbyc>

• James Bond Tattersall Brushed Cotton Flannel <https://mercerandsons.com/collections/larger-checks-plaids/products/james-bond-tattersall-brushed-cotton-flannel>

• Womens Nathalie Sweater <https://flwoods.com/collections/womens-1/products/w>

• Deep Purple Lambswool V-Neck Jumper <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/deep-purple-lambswool-v-neck-jumper.html>  (Purple may not be exact.)

• Deep Purple Lambswool Crewneck Jumper <https://www.cordings.co.uk/us/deep-purple-lambswool-crewneck-jumper.html>

Lobster Ropes Never Looked So Good - Mats and More from Maine Rope Mats, Made in Maine

Photos by Salt Water New England

Back when they first started making their mats, I visited Maine Rope Mats at their facility on the Maine Coast, right after a very satisfying breakfast at Moody's Diner, if I remember correctly.   (And having watched a moose across the street, while finishing up our breakfast.)   Fast forward to today, and their mats, baskets, and accessories today can be spotted everywhere, including throughout the Sea Bags' many stores.

Tough as nails and available in an array of vibrant colors, as well as more subdued hues, everything is still Made in Maine.

• Five Stripe Rope Mat - Royal Blue with 2 Green Stripes <https://www.maineropemats.com/collections/newrope-mats/products/five-stripe-royal-blue-with-2-green-stripes>

• Maine Rope Mats <https://www.maineropemats.com/>

• Key Chains and Dog Leashes <https://www.maineropemats.com/collections/newrope-products>

A Flotilla of Sperrys

Photo by Muffy Aldrich

What a D-Ring Belt Resupply Looks Like

Photo by Muffy Aldrich

 

End of August in Salt Water New England - A Few of My Photos

Photos of/by Muffy Aldrich

 

Reader Question: Favorite Poolside Drinks for Guests

Photo by Salt Water New England

Hi Muffy,

Yesterday's post begs the most important question of all for readers.  What is your favorite poolside drink to serve to your guests?  

  

Boat Shoes vs. Camp Mocs

“Boat shoes” have been trendy this year.  On the fashion runways this season, all kinds of styles of shoes have been lumped together and called “boat shoes” - such as by British Vogue – including Camp Mocs, Driving Mocs, Blucher Mocs with their 4 eyelet tie, and the Timberland 3-eye with a lug sole moccasin type shoe that my father wore in the 80s.

But if you are shopping for shoes, “Boat Shoes” should refer to a specific type of shoe.  And if you just ask for a Boat Shoe and actually get it, one might be missing out on something better suited.

One example.  Two newer readers have recently asked me about how Boat Shoes compare to Camp Mocs,  so I thought I would compare the two across some common use cases.  

First, they do have many similarities, of course.  They both have moccasin construction.  They are made of leather uppers and rubber soles. They are both casual shoes.  They are both equally good for women and men.

But there are difference, highlighted by different uses.

Boat Shoes, 3 Eyelet.  All photos by/of Muffy Aldrich.

Camp Mocs with White Sole, 1 Eyelet