Sero, Collegiately Correct, 1968

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Source:

Yale Daily News - 10/9/68

Coca-Cola, 1957

Source:
plan59.com

Hart, Schaffner & Marx, 1956

Source:
plan59.com

Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co., 1958

"Friday Night Schlitzfry"

Say that three times fast.

Source:
plan59.com

Part II coming next Friday.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About...

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Everything You Always Wanted to Know About PREP, But Were Too Stuck-Up to Ask

By Mike Steere
Blade Staff Writer

For lack of a better word, we'll stick to the label that has been so cavalierly sewn on the recent resurgence of classic conservative clothing - Preppy.

What Preppy really means is someone who went to a fancy eastern boarding school, which is to say somebody whose daddy and grandaddy had pots of money.

In clothing, the word denotes a style based on a small number of expensive, natural-fabric, subdued-color pieces. The things that have been worn for at least 35 years by the spoiled scions of old money.

The basic idea of preppiness is to look rich and as though you've been rich so long you don't have to flash it.

The hard part of it is that you have to look rich while wearing different combinations of a half-dozen garments that come in dull colors and crumple up as soon as you put them on.

There are rules here. You can't, for instance, money up your appearance with Las Vegas displays of gemstones. Nothing gaudy is allowed.

Preppy is not an easy look. If you don't FEEL preppy, you can't possibly look preppy.

The idea is to wear a $250 blazer and $80 slacks like coveralls. Even if you got it last week, the prep ensemble should look as if you were born in it and that, at the time of your birth, your father was wearing the same thing.

Prep knows no age. The basic prep components are about the same from high school through retirement.

There's nothing new here. For at least 35 years - through all the vagaries of fashion weather - the ship of classic conservatism has sailed on. The same people have bought traditional in the same places, and they will continue to do so until the last martini is mixed and the last bridge hand dealt.

If you want to wear these time-honored styles with authority, it is necessary to look like one of those people. With the newcomer to prepdom in mind, we have prepared the following short encyclopedia of prep.

The Preppy Look For Men

From Frank Kahle, owner of Neil's Men's Shop in Ottawa Hills, one of Toledo's shrines to traditional clothing:

Like most people who are serious about this stuff, Mr. Kahle doesn't like calling what he sells "preppy." This appellation is merely a glib commercial label for a system of dress whose devotees are, like Mr. Kahle, religious.

This man is an absolute fetishist for tradition. If a garment isn't cotton, wool, silk, or lambskin suede, he wants nothing to do with it.

To be a purist, he says, is to cultivate snobbery.

Basic prep items, according to Mr. Kahle, are the all-cotton button-down shirt, cotton khaki trousers, Shetland woolen sweater, serge regimental-striped belt, wool blazer, and the various species of Ivy League shoe.

The khakis are "the jeans of traditional clothing." Mr. Kahle also acknowledges the admission of blue denim jeans and corduroy Levis to prepdom. Regretfully.

Ties ought to be silk, maybe wool or cotton for summer, in either a regimental stripe or Foulard pattern, (plain field with rows of little colored cells). The apogee of tie tradition is a burgundy and navy-blue regimental stripe. A true believer might have two or three of these.

Mr. Kahle frowns on club ties, the ones with little sporty things like pheasants, golf clubs, or sailboats.

A preppy pretender, Mr. Kahle says, can be spotted at 100 yards.

Suit or suit jacket shoulders tell the tale. Padded shoulders are very unprep, as are jackets with too much tailoring. True traditional clothing has natural shoulders and a sack shape.

Count the jacket buttons. Two is unprep. Three is the thing.

Pay attention to the rumple, Mr. Kahle says. Natural fabrics, unlike natural-synthetic blends, wrinkle. "Traditional clothing rumples, and it looks rumpled, and that is a very accepted, prestigious look."

Pills around the collar - those minuscule fuzzballs - are another sign of the unprep, Mr. Kahle says. The pills only form on synthetic-blend shirts, which are not part of the purist's wardrobe.

Cuffs are the stuff of tradition. You can get by with plain-bottom khakis, but Mr. Kahle encourages cuffs on all trousers.

The true believer doesn't like new clothes. Certainly not new-looking clothes. The rapport between man and garment has to be relaxed and intimate, like old friends.

Your sheepskin suede sport jacket (ultra-suede is absolutely outre) doesn't come into its own for two years.

Old preppy saying: "Weejuns aren't worth a damn unless you've worn them in the shower." Shoes should look broken-in. Shined, but never too shined.

Shoe advice from Mr. Kahle for women: Don't move into colored Sperry Topsiders until you have a standard brown pair. Always build from the traditional ground up.

The Look For Women

The garment vocabulary for women is more or less the same as the men's prep pantheon - blazers, woolen pullover sweaters, oxford button-down shirts, penny loafers and slacks.

Also on the list, according to Madonna Corrigan, fashion director for Lasalle's, are knee-highs or textured hose, kilts (plain or plaid), berets, plaid pants or bermudas, trench coats, and pea coats.

Jewelry is minimal. An acceptable piece, Mrs. Corrigan says, is the geometric pin.

The traditional dress code was established in men's fashions, and most of the toniest prep women's clothes come from companies that once belonged exclusively to men, Mrs. Corrigan said.

The Old Villager company, for instance, was a man's shirtmaker that began making women's shirts. One day it occurred to the owner to lengthen the woman's shirt, and so the shirt dress was born. An original Villager shirt dress is fabulously preppy.

The rules of prep dress aren't quite as rigid for women, Mrs. Corrigan says. There is room to play with colors and textures.

The traditionally dressed woman can, by making very small adjustments, transform her look from the school-girlish true preppy to a classic professional or dressy appearance. Penny loafers and argyle knee sox yield preppy, and textured hose and low pumps mature the appearance.

Good women's traditional clothing is of the same weight and quality as corresponding men's items. And the cost is about the same.

The trend toward high-priced taste is a sign of the economic times, Mrs. Corrigan says. The initial outlay for classics is high, but clothes of this caliber are investments that pay off over the years.

The Body

For men, broad-shouldered and athletic, but never overmuscled. Preps pushing 30 are sleek in a slightly dissipated way, the sort of body that is build on a regimen of martinis and light exercise.

Preps are never fat or overly robust. The prep body doesn't call attention to itself. It is a rack for expensive clothes.

Prep women, like prep men, shouldn't have overly generous proportions. This is a very good year to be flat-chested. [Ed. note: I beg to differ.]

Preps should cultivate a sallow tan - outdoorsy, but not baked cocoa-brown. All things in moderation.

Parameters of the Preppy Life-Style

ANIMALS - Dogs can be very preppy. Tops are floppy, affable, big breeds that swim and retrieve. The Golden Labrador is as preppy as anything sold at Brooks. Any bird dog with a high-price pedigree is acceptable. It pays to spend a little extra for a distinctive breed. English setters, for instance, are preppier than Irish setters. Avoid miniatures and long-haired Orientals. If you must have a cat - a big tabby with a name like Bob, who has a few funny eccentricities, can dress up a prep household. No show cats.

WHAT TO FIND IN THE MAILBOX - Fraternity newsletter, alumni-association fund appeal, Bergdorf Goodman, Inc., fall catalog, and a letter from anyone on Nantucket.

WHEELS - Two seater convertibles. Sport car names with age - MG, Triumph, Austin, Fiat - are high on the prep list. The Japanese are building tremendous sports cars, but Datsuns and Mazdas somehow don't achieve preppiness. It's tradition, not how the thing runs, that counts. Classic Mercedes coupes, Jaguar XKEs, and restored Morgans are the absolute pinnacle. For family preppies, a green Volvo wagon.

SMOKES - Any American brand dating before World War II. The serious preppy smoker shuns filters. Smoke whatever dad smoked. English imports like Players are a very preppy option. Nothing funny-colored, too long, or menthol. For those who are quitting or cutting down (a very preppy thing these days), Benson and Hedges lights.

A PREPPY MEMENTO - Stateroom key from the R.M.S. Olympic (sister ship to the Titanic). Grandmamma's 1927 crossing.

LABELS - Brooks (of course), Villager, J.G. Hook, L.L. Bean, Hickey-Freeman, Pendleton, Cole-Haan, Sperry, Etienne Aigner, Burberry, Izod, John Henry, Bass, Evan Picone, Calvin Klein, Sero, Troy Shirtmakers Guild, Southwyck [sic].

NUMBERS - For men, 3-1/2. In inches, it's the correct width for jacket lapel, tie and shirt collar. The cuff on pants is 1-3/4 inches deep.

JOBS - Preppiest of all is an easy berth in Dad's or Uncle's company. Lawyer, accountant, or banker will do. It is very preppy to follow in male ancestor's footsteps. Medicine can pass; if done in the correct, relaxed spirit. A preppy wants most of all to be able to wear fabulous suits to the office, take long lunch hours, and get away early for squash or skeet shooting.

POLITICS - GOP, as if you didn't know. Distant involvement in politics, which to the true prep is a mite unsavory, like food wholesaling or auto parts.

FUN AND GAMES - Sailing, tennis, or any other racket sport, fly-fishing, volunteer work, tailgate parties at the alma mater's football games, grouse hunting, and bridge. In all things the true preppy is a very sporting second-stringer - a better cruiser than racer. Marathon running, although very chic, is not preppy.

COLORS - For everything. Khaki, forest green, charcoal, maroon, navy-blue, white and camel.

LIBATIONS - The operative word is clean. Martinis, very dry. Scotch by the label. Bombay Gin. For mixers, tonic, soda, or water. Sipping sherry is acceptable, as is after-dinner liqueur, or brandy. Preppy soft drinks are apt to be gin drinks minus the gin - iced tonic or soda water with a lime wedge. Preppiest citrus is grapefruit juice. Booze is in decanters at home. For travel, silver flask with granddad's initials.

FOOD - Fresh, never frozen. Meat cut to order. The prep-steak is New York strip 1-1/4 inches thick. Nothing from cans. Marketing is four-or-five stop adventure. Preppy moms bake secret-recipe oatmeal cookies for little prepsters. (Chocolate chips might make them break out).

BRANCH OF SERVICE - Navy.

HABITS - Regimentation - ordered and secure. No oversleeping. Social calendars. Little leather notebooks with lists of things to do. It is very preppy to slavishly follow any personal pattern observed in one's family for three or more generations, whether or not it makes sense.

PREPOURRI - Helly-Hansen foul-weather gear. Wooden-shafted golf clubs. Watches worn inside of the wrist. Tortoiseshell glasses' frames (See color photos of John Dean in Senate Watergate hearings). Gladstone bags. Anything British. Last year's Topsiders repaired with sailing twine from dunnage bag on Uncle Roy's ketch. Ancestor formerly on the board of Pierce-Arrow Motorcar Co.

Where Ivy League Traditions Began

The men's Ivy League clothing traditions on which preppy fashions are based emanate from Brooks Brothers in New York.

This classic look might as well be known as the Brooks look. The venerable clothier, established in 1818, started and perpetuated the traditions of "traditional" clothing.

Brooks, according to a company spokesman, introduced the button-down collar about 1900, after one of the Brooks family had seen British polo players with collars buttoned down so they wouldn't fly up during games.

At Brooks, the button-down is still called the polo collar.

In 1890, Brooks brought over from England the silk Foulard necktie.

The company introduced the Shetland woolen sweater for men in 1904, and they began selling the crew-necked woolen sweater for women in 1912.

The pink shirt for men - absolutely nothing is preppier - was born at Brooks Brothers in 1890. Women got pink Brooks shirts in 1949.

Seersucker and cotton cord are Brooks innovations from the 1930s.

Brooks gave birth in the United States to Argyle hose.

In 1918, the company made its first natural-fitting, three-button suit. Formerly, suit jackets had four buttons.

Brooks was also responsible for the first cotton-and-polyester blend shirt, an innovation which clothing purists won't wear.

The coming-together of all the components of today's preppiness didn't transpire until just before World War II, the Brooks spokesman said. And the establishment of the "classic" collegiate look didn't occur until after the disruption of campus life occasioned by World War II.

The Shoe

Guess - you'll never get this one - how come the G.H. Bass and Co.'s classic penny loafer is called the Weejun?

It is not a cute contraction of an Indian name, an entirely plausible etymology for a hand-sewn moccasin made in Maine.

Weejun is short for Norwegian. The basic uniform shoe of prepdom is an import from Scandinavia.

According to Joseph Peach, Bass marketing director, Bass family members saw the shoe in Norwary in 1936, and bought permission to bring the design back home.

The distinctive yoke across the front of the shoe is for reinforcement, Mr. Peach said. He doesn't know if the decorative slit was designed to hold coins, or how and when the first penny was put into the penny loafer.

The Weejun as we see it now is the way Bass began building it in the late 30s. Rolled leather on the sides and heavily decorative stitching are penny-loafer innovations introduced by other companies.

It wasn't until the late 50s that the penny loafer became a collegiate standard. One of the earliest indications that the Weejun was becoming a campus must-have was a1960 note in the University of North Carolina Daily Tar Heel. Those "with-it" just had to have Weejuns, the Tar Heel said.

Prep-crazed 1980 Americans are buying Weejuns as fast as the company can make them.


Source:

Toledo Blade - 8/27/80

[Ed. Note: This article predates the release of The Official Preppy Handbook (published in October 1980) by just a few weeks. In my opinion, there are too many similarities between the topics covered here and the OPH to believe that Mr. Steere did not have access to an advance copy. Refreshingly absent - references to 'pink and green' and 'go-to-hell' clothing.]

The Duffle Coat

(alternately: Duffel, Toggle, Duffer, Convoy)

The history of the duffle coat, from British maker Gloverall:

The word Duffle originally referred to a Heavy Woollen Cloth closely woven for warmth and manufactured in the Belgian Town of Duffel. However over the years it has come to signify a hooded coat with distinctive toggle fastenings which was adopted by the British Navy and used by officers and men of the watch to protect against the biting Atlantic and North Sea winds. The toggles could be unfastened whilst wearing thick gloves, and hoods were carefully designed to fit over peaked Naval caps.

Photographs of servicemen during the 1914 - 18 war show a duffle type coat. Between the end of World War I and the start of World War II the coat was modified into the traditional Naval Duffle.

Gloverall still maintains this Naval link through the Iconic ‘Monty’ and its application to the service highlighted by its namesake Field Viscount Montgomery and is worn by Jack Hawkins in the film ‘The Cruel Sea’. The design of the latter is a replica of the original retaining its characteristic rope and wood toggling, webbing stays and two piece hood.

In 1951 Harold & Freda Morris who specialised in selling cotton, leather, Gloves and Overalls were approached the by the Ministry of defence to help dispose of their surplus supplies of World War II duffle coats. Mr Harold Morris then conceived the name Gloverall.

from "The Cruel Sea"

Here is a World War 1 Royal Navy duffle coat in a photograph from the RN Submarine Museum.

The caption reads:

A photograph of Lieutenant Basil Beal wearing foul weather gear, taken in 1914. Beal stands on the fore casing of HMS B1 wearing typical foul weather clothing of the period. A ‘Lammy’ or ‘Duffle’ coat is worn over the uniform jacket, together with leather gauntlets and heavy sea boots.... Beal was one of the earliest officers to specialise in submarines. He was killed in March 1917, whilst in command of HMS E49 when the submarine hit a German mine off the Shetland Islands.

From a December 23, 1941 article in the Milwaukee Journal:

Right from the British royal navy comes a warm coat that men in American civilian life may wear for sports and when the weather gets really uncomfortable. It is the duffle coat. Worn now by civilians as well as officers in the British navy it gets its name from a durable weatherproof wool fleece woven first in Belgium about 200 years ago and worn later by English channel boatmen.

The material used in this American made version is very similar and the coat itself is an exact replica of the one issued by the navy. American made coats are now going to Britain to augment supplies produced there.

The duffle coat is natural camel color. It is very loose fitting and the smart knee length men like for sports and casual wear. The shoulders are reinforced, pockets are enormous and there is an attached hood which buttons closely about the neck.

There is a nautical air about the frog fastenings which are made from tacking rope and wood peg cones from the ship's rigging boxes. The coat also comes with regular buttons, if preferred.

For added comfort there are leg straps which button around the legs to keep the coat securely in place.

In Britain, the duffle coat is worn by officers on convoy duty and by civilians for country sports wear. American men find it a good choice for campus and after skiing as well as general knockabout wear.

Illustration from the Milwaukee Journal - 12/23/41
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Additional images:

Trevor Howard in the 1949 film "The Third Man"

"Duffer"

Gentry magazine, winter 1951. Caption: The Duffle coat with fishing hemp loops and wooden peg buttons, seen at Meadowbrook. This is an adaptation of the British and Norwegian naval officer's coats.

American Fabrics #17, 1951

American Fabrics #17, 1951

American Fabrics #17, 1951. Oxford's Bullingdon race meet. "The Duffle coat is worn by Mr. John Richardson, while Mr. Ilay Campell wears cavalry twill trousers with the solid color waistcoat so much in vogue."

Squire Shop (Ithaca, New York), October 1963

Irv Lewis (Ithaca, New York), October 1965

Current Gloverall, Model 575, "Original Monty"

Bass Weejuns, Ties, 1955

Wolf Brothers, 1954

Not really Ivy, even with the natural shoulders. But this is too good not to share.

Coast to Coast Wardrobe Guide, 1962

(click to enlarge)

Direct links:

http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_082/TECH_V082_S0206_P002.pdf

http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_082/TECH_V082_S0207_P001.pdf

Source:

MIT's "The Tech" via FNB Talk Ivy

Bass Weejuns, 1958

French Shriner Collegians

Planters Party, 1960

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Varsity Town Clothes, 1963

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Source: SI - 5/20/63

McGregor Automatek

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Date as yet undertermined.

Florsheim Tassel Loafer, 1954

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Source:

LIFE magazine - 11/22/54

Richard H. Rich, 1949

Merchant Richard H. Rich, new head of Rich's Dept. store, Atlanta

(LIFE, September 1949)

Princeton Band, 1955

The Cornell Class Blazer

 
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From a 1952 Morris' Men's Store advertisement:

THE BLAZER STORY (With apologies to the Philadelphia Story)

It is traditional among the Junior Classes...Each year...a new class coat with a new emblem is chosen by the future Juniors...Each new Junior class chooses a Committee (classified as the Junior Blazer Committee).

Who are empowered to choose a coat from samples that all merchants locally are asked to submit...from this group of coats that each merchant presents for the approval of the Committee...a final choice is made...This coat chosen by the Junior Blazer Committee is classified...as the Official Junior Blazer...

The store that is awarded the contract for measurements on this coat...signifies that the quality, tailoring, design and fit far surpasses any other coat that has been submitted by any other store. This year MORRIS' Men's Store was once again given this unanimous choice for the Official Junior Class Coat..(but there is always a fly in the ointment). A coat that has been submitted to the Junior Blazer Committee...and rejected by them...is now being offered to the Junior Class of 1954.

The rest of the Story is an open book. Any Junior who is interested in obtaining the final Chapter of the Junior Blazer Story...will be awarded a Blazer by turning in the culprit who borrowed the new Official Junior emblem without the consent of the Committee or MORRIS'. Bring him in dead or alive and a blazer is yours.

MORRIS' men's store
"60 Seconds From State"
[ed. note: The class coats from the 50's onward were usually navy. As seen above, the 1967 blazer was offered in camel, burgundy and navy. Earlier coats were often carnelian red (maroon, burgundy, take your pick). carnelian red with white piping, or cream with carnelian red piping. Among the local stores selected for the class coat were Morris', Browning King, and the Sport Shop.]

The Ivy Look Heads Across US, LIFE, 1954

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Top: HOUSTON INSURANCE BROKER Alex Dearborn, Sewanee '50 wears classic three-button suit bought from representative of New York's Chipp.

Bottom: ATLANTA AIRLINE EXECUTIVE William Magill, University of Chattanooga '38, wears "natural look" gray suit from Rich's department store.

(click to enlarge)

Natural-shouldered suit becomes a new male uniform

The "Ivy League look" identified with determinedly inconspicuous New England males for over 50 years and with Madison Avenue advertising men for the past 10, has now got out of eastern hands and is making its way across the country (left and below). It has also got away from upper-bracket tailors and into the hands of cut-rate clothiers like S. Klein, whose advertisement (right) gives as complete and compact a definition of the look as has ever been written. The popularity of the natural-looking suit has widened quickly in the last two years as men became dissatisfied with pale bulky suits and flashy ties left over from their postwar splurge. Although the authentic Madison Avenue uniform perpetuated by Brooks Brothers and campus-originated shoppes like J. Press (p. 70) has nonexistent shoulders and fits so snugly that it looks a size too small, facsimiles from volume clothing manufacturers and tailors are less severe in cut. To reaffirm their individualism beleaguered Ivy Leaguers are considering adding a fourth button to their jackets or resorting to a radical new silhouette (p. 72).

Caption: LOS ANGELES PRESS AGENT DON HELLER, OCCIDENTAL '49, WEARING GRAY WORSTED SEMICUSTOM "IVY" SUIT FROM LOCAL TAILOR, BOSHARD AND DOUGHTY.

(click to enlarge)

ITS HOME IN NEW HAVEN

A New Haven institution which rivals Yale in some well-tailored hearts is J. Press, established in 1902 and now carried on by the founder's two sons. Its slope-shouldered product, which the Press boys consider the only acceptable dress for a normal Yale man, has scarcely changed over the years. Press has branch stores in New York and in Cambridge and maintains traveling representatives to replenish the wardrobes of scattered alumni customers. Sometimes regarded as more of a club than a clothes shop, J. Press is delighted rather than dismayed that its look is now capturing the country.

Top caption: PRESS FAMILY PORTRAIT in New Haven shows uniformly dressed salesmen standing behind founder's sons Irving, Yale '26 (left), and Paul.

[Back, left to right: George Feen, Sam Kroop, Gabe Giaquinto, Herman Racow. Front: Irving Press, Paul Press]

Right caption: YALE TACKLE Philip Tarasovic tries to minimize heroic shoulders.

Bottom caption: ODD JACKET, a style supposedly begun by a Yale student in 1928, is fitted to James M. Brown III (see p. 2 of linked document), Yale '56, in the same tweed worn by Press salesman.

(click to enlarge)

IS THIS THE NEXT LOOK?

DRASTIC ALTERNATIVE TO IVY the "moderate Edwardian" silhouette now available only from custom tailors, appears in tweed suit worn by New York publicist Patrick O'Higgins. Made by Bernard Weatherill, it combines features of British riding clothes and a guardsman's uniform. Jacket flares in back and is four inches longer than usual. Pockets are at a deep slant and buttons on sleeve actually unfasten. Tapered pants are 15-1/2 inches at cuff.

Source:

LIFE magazine - 11/22/54