The ‘Holiday Dressing‘ section has some great looking jackets as well.

The Call of the Wilderness

Manhattanites in plaid flannel shirts and crepe-soled leather boots are hiking down Fifth Avenue. Students in goose-down vests and baggy sweatpants are trekking through Harvard Square. Dudes in lumber jackets are hanging out in Beverly Hills. Few of these folks have a clue how to swing a fly rod or an ax. But they do know that outdoor gear designed for the backwoods has come in from the cold for wear everywhere.

That was written in 1976, but reads like it could have been from yesterday.

Here Comes the Preppie Look, written in 1980. The quote from the Cable Car Clothiers manager is great.

Out with the baggy jeans, the chinoiserie, the gypsy queen regalia. In with the snappy blue blazers and tweed hacking jackets, button-down Oxford-cloth shirts and Shetland sweaters, khaki slacks and tartan skirts. This summer and fall, the fashion-conscious woman will be wearing exactly what the fashion-unconscious woman has been wearing for decades. It is currently labeled the Preppie Look, though the style has also been known as Ivy League, Town and Country, Brooks Brothers or—in England —County. Mother would approve…

…The vogue is not tied to any individual designer. Indeed, in some ways it represents a rebellion against duds that bear big-name labels. Says Armond Suacci, manager of Cable Car Clothiers in San Francisco: “Preppie people do not need designers because they already have taste in clothing.”

A Ralph Lauren piece from 1986 – Selling a Dream of Elegance and the Good Life. He was on the cover of that issue.

Fashion Designer Ralph Lauren grew up a long way from all the things he really admired: hand-tailored clothes, manor houses, sports cars, fine horses and manicured lawns. But call it a yearning process: as an outsider to that world, Bronx-born Lauren dreamed up his own brand of gentility and style. Now he has managed to create an image and a company that have nearly cornered the market for supplying today’s would-be Gatsbys. Shunning hipness and flamboyance, Lauren cultivates the up-and-coming customer’s appreciation for things and dreams that last.

A profile on L.L. Bean (the man himself) in 1962 – What No One Else Has As Good As

Wives v. Boots. Founder and autocratic boss of this Down-East Abercrombie & Fitch is L. L. (for Leon Leonwood) Bean, 90, a crusty Yankee who is more woodsman than businessman. Bean still works vigorously each day in a glassed-in office amidst the production line, is proud of the fact that he has bagged 35 deer in his lifetime. (”That’s a lot of deer, son. You can get only one a year, you know.”) He personally edits each entry in the Bean mail-order catalogue, and his spare, disarming style has been used in advertising textbooks as exemplary of what direct-mail selling should be. Sample: “Most hunters and fishermen smoke. For a long time we searched for an outstanding pipe. This pipe is the result.”

Some other interesting pieces:
- The Brick-Red Look
- Back to Braces
- The Regimental Tie

A Ralph Lauren Polo ad featuring a challis tie in dark green.

Along with an auction (if I had the money lying around, I would bid on the tour of Ralph Lauren’s personal car collection), the company also invited popular bloggers to model Pink Pony branded shirts to help spread the word.

Ideally I think I only need two types for now: one in a grey herringbone tweed and another in navy (perhaps that J.Crew jacket being sold later this year will do alright). When I’m older, I can then look for something in brown and another in green. Seeing how long these sorts of jackets last, I could probably do pretty well with just a few.

On a side note, I do worry about how difficult it will be to purchase some of this. Often it seems the more interesting items like these never make it into the normal retail distribution chains, save for a few flagship stores (and hardly ever available online). Here’s to hoping that they don’t mess it up.

Below, an example of one being worn from Ralph Lauren. These types of buckles are usually very small (about an 1″ or so in height), but they provide a nice visual break for your clothing when worn. The other benefit to these is that the leather straps can be easily switched out with other colors/materials.

A few buckle options available to purchase online:
- Sid Mashburn, $175. Also available in a lesser expensive brass.
- Brooks Brothers, $228.
- Tiffany & Co, $215.
- Ralph Lauren, $150.

Both Brooks Brothers and Sid Mashburn sell the needed 1″ leather belt straps.

Ralph Lauren Peering Oxfords – made by Edward Green

Ralph Lauren Garran Monkstrap Boots

Ralph Lauren Gifford Ankle Boots – made from shell cordovan

And some made in USA loafers. I’ve got a couple pairs of these and they’re a great value.

This remarkable group of antiques and furnishings , which were bought in both the United States and Europe, embrace a diversity of styles and cultures through grand and casual, rugged yet sophisticated. In addition to such high-style furniture as the Louis XV ormolu-mounted tulipwood and kindwood parquetry bureau plat from the mid-18th century signed by Pierre Garneir, the collection also includes a large number of whimsical and traditional decorative pieces, such as the 19th century English carved rocking horse, the pair of 19th century Codestone garden urns, needlework pillows, tea caddies and andirons.

My favorite piece shown in the book is a chair and ottoman set made from tusks and alligator leather, and only because it’s so tacky and politically incorrect by today’s standards.

The NYTimes had a followup on the auction the day after:

Ralph Lauren, the purveyor of tweedy clothing and Old World atmosphere, has been an insatiable collector of arcane, often English furniture and decorations that have served as backdrops and props in his shops and showrooms (but not his own living rooms). Even Mr. Lauren runs out of storage space. Yesterday, he sold 443 lots of European and American furniture — some antiques, others vaguely old — for $2.5 million (including buyers’ premiums) at Sotheby’s in New York.

The sale’s top bid of $290,000 came near the end of the afternoon session for a Gobelins tapestry showing two oxen pulling a cart. The bid far exceeded the auction house’s estimate of $60,000 to $80,000.

At the morning session, Mariette Himes Gomez, a New York interior designer who later bid $4,500 for an Italian Renaissance mantel, said: “A very small crowd. There are not a lot of people here because this is about style and not serious stuff.” Just serious prices.

The tusk and alligator ottoman set went for $15,000. Continue reading more.

This chambray sport coat and pink gingham shirt combo is also noteworthy.

Some quotes:

Q: And where did you get the notion of Polo as an appropriate name?
A: I’ve always liked sports and athletics, and name were not important to me. I was not a guy that would wear a designer name. I wouldn’t wear Christian Dior, Bronzini, or any names of the names of that period. So I came up with my own style, which was a sport that had an aristocratic image, and that was Polo.

Q: What about the Japanese influence on fashion? Do you think that’s real, or media hype?
A: I think it’s real. You know, fashion is – that’s why I don’t like fashion – always looking for something new, something new to sell, something new to promote. I’m for anything that’s exciting, that’s interesting, that has individuality.

Q: What do you see in the future of evolution of fashion design, the nineties, the year 2000?
A: There are new technologies every day. As the new technology evolves, the clothes change, but people are still wearing warm tweeds, they wear cashmeres, they wear flannels, they wear scarves around the neck, they wear Chanel kind of shoes… People still need comfort, they need warmth, coziness, a sense of realness.

The tie’s particular pattern left a lasting impression on me though, and to this day it’s still my favorite.

From vintagegearaddicts.com.

When we traveled, we would roll at least 50 or 60 deep and could be recognized by the rainbow of Ralph Lauren labels. By 1989, we grew and had members in the “90′z” (East Flatbush) and East New york. We would get all dressed up just to go out and commit crimes. Sometimes we would go to clubs wearing like 5 different polo shirts each. We would wear one on top of another and switch shirts. All night while walking around the nightclub, your prop status was rated on how much “Lo” you had and how big your heart was.

And from an article in Vibe, March 2005:

Many of these guys are now collectors, and if you ever see odd vintage Ralph Lauren items on ebay getting ridiculously high bids, it’s probably one of them.

Further Reading:
A History of the Lo-Lifes
Lo-Lifes Documentary Trailer

Pair them up with slim jeans and a crewneck sweater on top of a button down shirt. Preferably on a day off.

It’s okay to have one or two of these types of sweaters in your wardrobe for wearing during the holiday season (they’re just as odd as madras jackets, white bucks, and critter chinos). I have this shawl collar cardigan from J.Crew that I had purchased on a bet, and it gets worn only a couple of times a year.

It’s mostly the standard Ralph Lauren fare, but I like the return to the wider lapels on some of the jackets (probably from the Purple Label line I think). The styling they did for the photo shoots are weird though, in that they took normal outfits and added in a single piece of brightly colored clothing or accessory in order to accentuate it. I don’t recommend trying that at home.

Many of the ties are also awful. Consider yourself warned.