Hello, Old Sport
Didn’t go to an Ivy League school? Never played a team sport in your life? No problem! Jock-inspired styles cribbed from the golden age of collegiate athletics will win big for spring.
Dress standards on U.S. campuses aren’t what they used to be. Undergrads from Peoria to Princeton attend lectures in slouchy jeans and flip-flops; in the “The Social Network,” David Fincher’s film about the birth of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) claws his way to the top at Harvard wearing loose-fitting hoodies.
According to Christian Chensvold, founder of the highbrow fashion website Ivy Style, most of today’s elite college students are “taking their style cues from the bottom of society, not the top.”
That species is the revered subject of “Take Ivy,” an influential study of elite Northeastern campuses published in 1965 by a team of fashion-savvy Japanese writers and photographers. For years a cult item among fashion insiders, the book was finally released in U.S. stores (including the ever-trendy J. Crew) this summer, flooding the menswear world with images of wholesome-looking ’60s undergrads bent over books in libraries, strolling across leafy quads and—perhaps most importantly—demonstrating a robust enthusiasm for sports. “A fragile, twiggy physique is far from the ideal image of an Ivy Leaguer,” the book’s authors note.
I own one of the original copies of “The Preppy Handbook” and I bought the more recent edition for the new generation. I have to say, it is not at all like the original! I don’t get the point of it.
The preppy look is prevalent throughout Asia in Beanpole ads for both children and adults. Check out my article on Beanpole with the child models and Daniel Henney/Gwyneth Paltrow ads. Beanpole is a very upscale and elitist top Asian Brand.
Here are two very popular commercials for Beanpole:
Don’t forget your Nantucket Reds from Murray’s Toggery Shop! Vineyard Vines wasn’t around forever you know.
I was unaware that it ever went out of style. It is a classic and even in private school, the kids usually only wear Ralph Lauren or Lilly Pulitzer sweaters with their uniforms.
Everyone is so status conscious in high school and college. I can remember how ridiculous it was back then! Izod was the big thing and of course, Ralph Lauren! You absolutely HAD to wear ONLY natural fibers! Cotton, cashmere, linen and such.
By the way, this is for all of you Harvard fans out there. It is really NOT COOL to wear Harvard Clothing unless you went to Harvard, are married to a Harvard man or are engaged to a Harvard man! You also should have at least graduated from a top-tier college yourself, including the above specifications.
I once ran into Conan O’Brien in the Coach Store and he struck up a conversation with me because my serious boyfriend at the time was a Harvard alum. I was wearing my boyfriend’s sweater. A sweater that only a Harvard Fraternity Alum could have owned. Conan saw that I was wearing it and asked for my advice on purchasing a particular gift at Coach. Harvard Alums are aware of this stuff!