Ithaca's Smartest Men's Shop, 1954

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Source:

Cornell Daily Sun - August 1954

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.]

Brioni out at J. Press, 1971

From "You're Right - The Inflation is Worse Than They're Telling You" - New York Magazine, 5/14/73:

Clothing costs for fashion-conscious people - especially men - are up sharply, partly because of the determination of a lot of men to march to different drummers, partly because they seem to be buying more kinds of clothes, and partly because the Japanese have gotten turned on to Western-style woolens and have been buying out Australia...Even so, a relatively standard Hickey-Freeman suit that went for $200 in 1969 is now $250 - up 25 percent. And J. Press, a stronghold of traditional fashion, showed an exclusive line made by Brioni until 1971, when the retail price had reached $265 (compared with under $200 for a standard Press suit). Richard Press dropped the Brioni suit because of the rising price; by this time, he says, he would have had to sell the Brioni at $375, an increase of 42 per cent.

[Ed. note: $265 in 1971 is equivalent to $1400 today. The current Pressidentials are priced from $950 to $1100.]

Ken C. Pollock on the Ivy League Look

TNSIL: Traditional Natural-Shoulder Ivy League.

The venerable Ken C. Pollock posted the following on AAAC some time in 2004):

I go back a long ways with traditional natural shoulder ivy-league clothing (hereinafter “TNSIL” clothing), a phrase I like better than “preppie.”

I cared and knew nothing about clothing in high school. However, during the years (1959-1965) I was in college and law school in New Orleans, I had part-time jobs at the TNSIL shops in two clothing stores. One of those stores, Rubenstein Brothers, still exists today (selling mostly dreadful high-styled Italian stuff), but the second floor “Madison Shop,” which one reached by riding in the madras walled elevator, no longer does. We sold Southwick, H. Freeman and Son of Philadelphia, Joseph Greif, Allen Solly, Pringle, Alan Paine, Corbin, Gant, Burlington Gold Cup, etc. Despite the fact that I could have gotten a small discount by shopping where I worked, I did most of my shopping when the J. Press traveling representative came to New Orleans. Sadly, that the road shows have ended for USA companies, but English firms like Henry Poole, Huntsman, Edward Green, and Cleverley keep up the tradition.

I also went to New York several times during my school years and was enthralled by Chipp, J. Press, and [partly] by Brooks Brothers. I then bought a trench-coat and a car coat from Chipp, made by a company hardly any American had ever heard of, named Burberry. Nearly all of my suits and most of my shirts came from J. Press. I have posted about Brooks Brothers previously. It was very different in 1960, as compared to 1968, and sadly of course, it is far more different now. In 1960, we lovers of TNSIL clothing had to pick carefully among its offerings, mainly the oxford cloth shirts, some of the English socks, the English sweaters, and the raincoats. We avoided the ties; they were 2” shorter than everyone else ‘s. Brooks would explain that they were long enough; since nearly all of their suits came with a vest, the vest covered most of the tie. Furthermore, the vests meant that the shirts did not need pockets. I then, as now, loved “pure” TNSIL clothing. I thought that it was better practiced at Chipp and J. Press, than at Brooks, which was so English and so old-fashioned. In 1960 Brooks sold stuff that had gone completely out of style 25 years before; things like braces (soon to come back again, however), nightshirts, even nightcaps (with or without a tassel), button-fly trousers, French-back boxer shorts, bowlers, etc. Its suits were mostly of too heavy fabric, like the old grey herringbones the Brits wore. I had similar problem during trips to London in the early 1970’s that I had had with Brooks earlier. I bought up lots of sweaters, ties and socks, but avoided the clothing. The suits had too much shoulder then, the waists were too suppressed, the fabrics were too heavy, and suits usually came with weird touches, like short, stubby double vents and one button on the coat sleeves. The trousers sat too high on the hips.

Of course, TNSIL clothing has major parts of its roots in English clothing and the “pure” TNSIL look adopted and absorbed much of the English stuff that Brooks brought from England; the button-down collar (supposedly), the Shetland sweater, the trench coat, the polo coat, Fair Isle sweaters, Argyle sweaters and socks, etc., so the line has always been blurred. I have had one major change in taste since school days. During those years I (now I think, sadly) avoided Brooks’ English shoes. I then liked the very heavy double soled, often grained, ones; the ones that Flusser calls “gunboats.” The McNeil and Leeds models still sold by Allen Edmonds are good examples of that type.I later went over to the English-style shoe, along with two American ones; Alden and a few of the lighter Allen Edmonds models. Brooks modernized all during the 1960s and by the end of the decade, I liked their suits more.

After I finished school, I came to Atlanta, but I kept on buying from the J. Press traveling representative. As has been commented on elsewhere in this thread, actually J. Press clothing, while good, has never been of the very best quality, Only the cut and style were perfect. I was married in a J. Press suit in 1968. It was about that time that Brooks Brothers opened an Atlanta store, ending the trips here by the J. Press.

I then shopped some at Brooks Brothers, but more frequently from a local store, named “Spencer’s.” It carried the big three TNSIL names, Norman Hilton, Troy Shirtmakers Guild and Alden. The first two are gone, although the Norman Hilton name (but not the cut or quality) comes back from time to time, made by someone else. Alden probably would have been gone by now also, but for the fact that the French, Germans and others in Europe have given it the attention that it deserves. I was happier with Norman Hilton, than I was with J. Press; the cut and style were equally good and the quality was better. It had lots of hand-work. The last J. Press garment I bought, a Harris tweed jacket, was nearly all machine-sewn. I think that it was not from its best line, however.

After Spencer’s went downhill (it is now closed), I moved to H. Stockton’s for my Norman Hiltons. I could not buy my shirts there, however, as it had Troy make them for them with a longer (then trendy) collar. My last experience at Stockton’s was to try to buy some non-pleated trousers. I was told that it did not have one pair in the store, but it could special-order them. As a result, I will not go back to that store.

Shirts are a problem now, too. Troy eventually got into fusing, my most hated word. I can understand that fusing in suits and sport coats saves a little manufacturing costs, but how can anyone justify fused (or lined) shirt collars? Troy is now completely gone. Kenneth Gordon and Gitman both have fused and/or lined collars. The only Brooks shirts that do not seem to have fused or lined collars are the oxford button-downs in about 4 solid collars and two stripes. The others are all Asian made, mostly no-iron, and, IMO, are stiff and dreadful. Mercer sells a nice shirt, with perfect collar and no fusing, but I do not like some of the fabrics. I have not bought there since Mercer changed manufacturers. Nor have I bought shirts from J. Press in years. I have some English shirts by Turnbull, H&K, H&H, Lewin, etc., but that is betraying the TNSIL cause.

Norman Hilton closed its factory 8-9 years ago. IMO, Nick Hilton had been taking it downhill for several years before. Suits are now a problem too. I never was “in love” with Southwick; poor quality control, I thought. I thought some fit, some didn’t. Lots of fusing now, too. Oxxford has wonderful tailoring, some fine fabrics (and some very ugly stuff), but are cut by idiots. If you are not short and fat, it makes you look like it. Hickey Freeman is, to me, a somewhat poorer man’s Oxxford; not quite as wonderful tailoring, some fine fabrics (and some very, very ugly stuff), but they are mostly cut even worse, if that is possible. Samuelsohn is cut much better, but like all the others, you have to special order non-pleated trousers. There is no one else, except for the Italians; in most cases, the second most dirty word to me. Several places on Savile Row can do its own style (not TNSIL) right, but you must be very rich.

The Paul Stuart logo shows a man sitting on a fence. I have wondered why. Is it because of satirical uncertainty, such as I now have about trying to continue on with increasingly difficult task of trying to find good “pure” TNSIL clothing, versus moving into the English style? I have had no trouble rejecting Italian, although I will admit that some of the fabrics are very nice (but usually quite light), others are bizarre, and the tailoring can be excellent. IMO, however, the cut is usually dreadful, especially Brioni. Isaia and Kiton can do a good job, but it is still not TNSIL clothing. Paul Stuart has some nice stuff, but again, it is not “pure” TNSIL clothing. Ben Silver seems to be a bit of a mix of “pure” TNSIL clothing with Southern touches, English, a little bit of Italian, and updated TNSIL clothing. I wonder about the quality (who really makes the suits and sport coats?), do not like the Italian stuff and think the prices are way too high. Cable Car sells Southwick for very high prices. I have not investigated to see if it any better than Southwick’s usual fused suits (usually $299 at Filenes’s, but on sale here now for $224); but for those prices (3-4 times as much), it should be.

I now live in a “mix.” I admit that I am a hypocrite. I claim to be for “pure” TNSIL, but I really sit on the fence. I have some, mostly old, “pure” TNSIL clothing, some updated TNSIL clothing like Paul Stuart’s Samuelsohn, some real Savile Row, and a little Italian, although I am happiest with the former.
I have not bought Polo, except for a little of the English-made purple label stuff, usually top quality, at over-the-top prices. I just do not like the idea of Polo, mostly Asian junk, lots of fake “discounting” and sold to the masses via a gigantic advertising budget, hinting that it is a way for the middle class can get that old-money look. Polo probably loses money on the higher quality stuff, but I suspect that it has made a fortune getting knit shirts with the horsey logo made in Asia for $5-6 or so, and selling millions of dozens of them to retailers for about 3 times that. In turn, those stores “reduce” them from their $52.50-$65 list prices down the $35-$40 range.

Who do I think gets it right? IMO, at one time J. Press got it right. Also, Sidney Winston at Chipp got it right, but he would have to remain inventive, if he was alive today, to compete. How to be inventive and yet within the boundaries? While I claim to be for pure TNSIL clothing, I admit that it can be boring, if it remains “fixed,” and people rest on their laurels, as J. Press’s Japanese owners currently do. I admit I am for purity, but I know there has always been an uneasy alliance with English style, and that that alliance can work. I think that perhaps the only way to remain for TNSIL clothing to remain desirable is for it to remain fresh and inventive. New stuff has to come out. When i sold clothes in college, Gant, which was then good, put out 2-3 new stripes every 3-4 weeks to keep the interest up. The only way, IMO, to be inventive now, is to continue to borrow from and to slightly modify the English. One way, perhaps the best way (to avoid wandering off into "fashion") to be inventive can be done by looking to the past for inspiration. Except for introducing a number of items that caught on, Brooks never really did it quite right and certainly does not now. It is getting away from the English too much and getting into its current owner’s Italian style. Why did the W. Bill fabric have to go? Why are the tweeds so light? Realistically, Brooks can never be pure TNSIL; it is too large and therefore must appeal to the masses. Paul Stuart and Ben Silver are too expensive for their quality and are not pure enough. Cable Car, like J. Press, is a bit mummified.

There are some people out there with taste. Jay Kos has taste, but his stuff is not real TNSIL; it is too English and too expensive. George Bass in New Orleans has great taste, but he is a little bit too Italian. I think that he is close, though.

What would I do if I was in the business? I would get someone to copy Norman Hilton exactly. I would sell 3 button sack suits and sport coats, very much like Norman Hilton’s Hampton model. I would also sell them in a slightly suppressed 2 button model like Norman Hilton’s West End model. I get tired of only worsted and worsted-flannels being widely available. One way to be inventive is to go to re-introduce really lofty soft flannels, hopsacks, cavalry twills, whipcords, cheviots, etc. J. Press has some, but not enough of this. Also what is wrong with more heather-shaded olives and browns. It is boring to keep drowning in a sea of greys, navy and tan only; very little else exists. I would sell button-down shirts like those by Mercer, but in better materials; it could substitute for Troy or the Brooks’ shirts of old. I would sell Alden, Edward Green, Grenson, C&J and a few Church’s (the heavier models like the Shannon and the Burwood). I would sell lots of vests (in tartans and tattersalls). I would sell lots of repps and club ties (Brooks’ Country Club line is good). I would carry only non-pleated trousers. Is Majer still good? I would sell standard Pantherella socks, argyle socks, French lisle socks and clocked socks in sizes, not one size fits all.

What do I think would be the result of all of a business doing this? Probably disaster. We few who are into TNSIL are dinosaurs in our thinking; pretty much old and out-of-date. It is all about fashion now, not about style. There are just not enough of us out there who love TNSIL to keep anyone in business. As usual, I think that the answer is that there is no answer, but it is an interesting subject.

Source:

Tucker's TNSIL blog (defunct) and the AAAC Forum