I live in a pretty preppy area so I don’t know… maybe New England is starting to get to me! I grew up in New Canaan, CT in the Preppy Era and didn’t look good or feel good in the classic prep clothes, so puzzled a lot growing up about how to dress. I wasn’t really into style, I just wanted to feel like my clothes were right for me. My mom dressed my sister and me in a lot of red, white and blue when we were kids (not, like, AMERICAN FLAGS or anything but she just liked those colors — as a result, I eschewed navy in favor of black until my late 30’s) and she tied our hair in YARN BOWS, which was as beyond cute as you would figure it to be.
YARN BOWS! SO CUTE!
Anyway, preppy clothes just were NOT my thing and I found them ridiculous for the most part. Little grosgrain whales on a man’s pants? Please. I had duck boots because they were almost required by New Canaanites. Fair Isle sweaters were okay and I had a few, as well as wool sweaters with my MONOGRAM on the front (Wow, I remember that now! Those sweaters were so beautiful and beautifully made, and they itched me so terribly). I hated those little basket bags and the canvass bags with the detachable wooden handle so you could switch colors, but I suppose I had them. I carried an African basket bag in high school when those were all the rage and they weren’t preppy so I loved mine. I think my friend Laura brought me one from the actual continent of Africa, so that was even more special. It was purple and red, which was a color combo one did not see in the world of pastel preppydom, so much the better.
I never wore turtlenecks under Izods with the color flipped up with an add-a-pearl necklace pulled out the top of the turtleneck, but the most popular girls all did. I had grimly muscled my way into the most popular girl clique in elementary school, hurting my good (nerd) friends in the process and learning a lot about why none of that is worth it (I have to call out my parents for general awesomeness throughout this entire period, as they helped me figure out all that social stuff and took it very seriously although I’m sure they burst into peels of laughter as soon as I went to bed) but by the time I hit 8th grade I was a theatre girl and wanted to have cool clothes.
Thanks for abiding with me through that really lengthy reminiscence, pigeons, because it was all just a big lead-in to my CONFESSION that I basically replenished my spring/summer basics entirely through the online offices of L.L. Bean. After shopping around for the t-shirts and cardigans that would work for my life, budget, professional life and body, I found myself back at L.L. Bean site (free shipping with all orders!) filling my cart with all that boring stuff that you wear every single, dingle day. I got the first shipment of a navy pima cardigan, blue t-shirt and striped French boat-neck top today and what can I say? It’s quality, it fits amazingly well, it will hold up for many years and washings, and Manufacturer To the Preps has come through for me.
In the end, I need classics, and so do you. You start with the basic, classic pieces and add your own flair to them. You know why? Because to expect every garment in your closet to be interesting, unique, on-trend, and exciting is to set yourself up not only for disappointment, but also bankruptcy. The well-made, perfectly fitted basics are your meal. Super unique, memorable pieces are the condiments.
I have to say that the L L Bean crew neck t-shirts are the BEST I have found for chestacular coverage. I have looked and looked and looked for a nice t-shirt that doesn’t fall open when I bend over, doesn’t scoop and show lots of skin, and that has some decent color choices (although their colors are often insipid and I wish they’d get some more sophisticated shades). I have purchased both the pima version and the cotton never-shrink version (whatever it’s called) and I’m very pleased. It’s never fun to replace T-SHIRTS but after many seasons and stains and wear and tear, you gotta. The Bean crewnecks are handsome enough to wear under blazers. They’re not sexy and fitted, but they’re HANDSome. So, you know, doll up your earrings or lip gloss to add some flair. Throw on an enormous bead necklace. Something.
Get back and accessorize, young lady! You’re not done.
If I show up in a pair of duck boots, though, please stage an intervention.
[No, I don’t get any money or discounts or anything from L.L. Bean. They don’t even know I exist, in case you were wondering….]
Do speak to us of duck boots and other wet-weather footwear, however: Should a gentleman commute, say, in duck boots and then switch over into proper shoes? Or should one avoid such footwear everywhere south of a lake in Maine? [Given that you work in Brahmin Boston, I think that you could use them for your commute. You’re in a creative position, you’re at the top of your “company,” and it’s New England. Duck boots are fine. If you’re wearing corduroy or other hearty fabrics for the day, I’d say it’s fine to keep them on. If you’re in a sports jacket or wool or something more dressy, get out of them and change into something a bit more formal. – PB]
I kinda want duck boots. They’re cute.
I loved your little PB rebuke of the model at the end of the article. Perfect!
We’re workiong on discerning our core values in my congregation and we wanted to use some examples from the secular world to help people understand what we were talking about without planting “churchy” values they would just spit out. So I looked at the business information side of the Bean web page because I’ve always been impressed by their customer service (and was VERY happyu this week to see they’ve gone back to their original no shipping charge policy!). It’s pretty impressive. They’ve got statements on social responsibility and policies for charitable giving that are coherant with the general mission of the company. The only thing I dont’ understand is why a women’s button-down oxford costs more than a man’s (Nrrrrrr…..).
My preppy-Mainer credentials positively shine (North Yarmouth Academy ’90 and used to work at the Dansk Outlet when it was across the street from Bean’s). I think I can safely say with reasonable authority that the duck boots tend to fall into the “pretend you were just out hunting” category of prep-ware. That is, you left them at the front door and wandered around in your reinforced wool socks.
That haveing been said, I never owned a pair. As a “bohemian prep” I tended toward hiking boots inside and out…
As a lifelong New Englander, LL Bean is a staple of my wardrobe, period. Winter hat, 3-in-1 coat (amazing!), galoshes… If I need Serious Winter Gear, it comes from Bean. As a young twenty-something, I’m still figuring out the clothes. Even a reasonably basic top can be a frump-alert on someone under thirty, so I try to shop at the stores to see how things actually look in person.
But for classics? Phenomenal. By god, the sweaters. Cashmere? Amazing. The Double-L cotton cable crewneck? I think I have four of them. They aren’t super trendy, but it’s amazing quality. When it’s under thirty degrees out and I’m in No Mood to deal with the world but have to anyway, curling up in a Bean sweater is amazing. It feels cozy and warm and makes those long winter days a little more bearable.
To add to their amazing customer service, they have FREE SHIPPING. 100%, all the time, no minimums, FREE. Way to go, LL.
(missed the comments before I posted!)
Philocrites, as someone who walks to work every day, my commuting wardrobe is function first– I wear Uggs all winter (I have the ones with the solid rubber sole, and they keep my feet warm and dry!), I have a wool hat with earflaps (!) lined with fleece, and serious winter coat and gloves. I bring cute shoes and fix my hair at work. I would think gentleman can certainly toss a pair of oxfords into a bag to change at the office. 🙂
I think that the Duck Boots are permissible when walking the dog (after midnight). I have also been known to use them to walk to work during heavy storms and promptly changed into dress shoes in the office.
Feeling your pain over the basics. I hate buying them, but I really must. I’ve decided my black work trousers are getting too faded and shabby but I’m really not looking forward to shelling out to replace them. Would much rather spend my dough on something more interesting… Oh well…
I love how New Englanders/Maine folks use the term “Bean” – which would never occur to a Minnesota native – without realizing it. 😀
Oh yeah, I wore every preppy thing you mentioned, and then some…and still wear some today. I confess to being a true prep, but am tryyyying to change it up. I even went to Liza Birnbach’s (author of the Preppy Handbook and True Prep) book signing when she came to town…with friends and we were all dressed like book models! LOL
I still have my Bean boots here in FL, you just never know when you may need them 😉
Land’s End makes good quality, I have purchased a lot of kids clothes from them, and a few pieces for myself – and if my boy can’t kill them, that means they last!
Oh -and t-shirts- in FL, I live in them. I never buy expensive ones because one dab of sunscreen on them, and they are history.
I am an actual preppie (I went to an all girl boarding school in Eastern Massachusetts for 2 years in the early 1970’s) but we never dressed in “preppie” outfits. Instead of resembling Ralph Lauren sportswear ads we wore tights with holes in them which we pulled up in the halls, decrepit T shirts & jeans skirts that were mostly patches and flip flops and sneakers. When they had a mixer we’d pull out the mini skirts, normal hose & the silver heels. . . .
Since leaving there I dress arty & bohemian but still not preppy. Actually no one else at the other boarding schools male or female dressed up I think some of these ideas come from people who didn’t go to prep school.