The Japanese Preppie

[j&j2]

Didn't know where to stick this - but I guess it's a "rant."

Alright, yeah - US fashion is emulated all around the world, but even so, this seems a bit much.

Lately the trend has taken on a new dimension, via the Internet, with a resurgence of interest in once obscure American brands. Alongside the familiar L. L. Bean duck boots, Brooks Brothers shirts and Ray-Ban Wayfarers, there are Filson duffel bags, Gokey boots, Alden dress shoes, Gitman oxford shirts, Quoddy Trail moccasins, Wm. J. Mills canvas totes — to name but a few. Moribund brands like Southwick and Woolrich are being revived with new designs. And the old-school look has been furthered by popular American fashion labels — small houses like Thom Browne, Band of Outsiders and Benjamin Bixby along with megabrands like J. Crew and Ralph Lauren.

As fashion moments go, this is as all-American as it gets, right?

Actually, no. What makes today’s prepidemic so fascinating is how it is, surprisingly enough, so Japanese. The look has its roots in the United States, to be sure. But the spirit, rigor and execution of today’s prep moment is as Japanese as Sony. One need only flip through the intriguing Japanese book “Take Ivy,” a collection of photographs taken in 1965 by Teruyoshi Hayashida on Eastern college campuses, to get the drift.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/fa...8codes.html?em

At least the Times used an AM model in the photos (along w/ a WM and BM model).

[AliBabaIncorporated]

looks like another foreign reporter has gone to Japan and blown a minor trend way out of proportion ... and immediately I'm sure plenty of idiots will use it as "evidence" that the Japanese are "white worshippers" ...

[eos]

Regardless of all that...preppie is just wrong.

Collar-popping? No thank you.
Plaid? Umm, I left that after I graduated from Catholic school.
Knee socks with shorts? I won't even go into how wrong that is.

[monkeygone2]

Originally Posted by eos

Knee socks with shorts? I won't even go into how wrong that is.

........only if it's on a dude.

[eos]

Oh my dear!

Knee socks and shorts should only be worn by little children. On an adult, female or male, it just looks....it's just bad fashion.

[monkeygone2]

What if the wearer of said knee socks/shorts had British ancestry...
Should we dismiss her very English style like a bunch of culturally insensitive xenophobes? No, we should admire her Limey pride.

Or what if she's an athelete and she had rugby injuries inconspicuosly hidden under her knee socks...
Shouldn't we forget the issue of fashion and admire her for displaying grit and resourcefullness?

Bad fashion? Maybe so.

But if supporting Knee Sock Empowerment is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

[eos]

To each his/her own.

I stay away since it reminds me too much of hot days in itchy, scratchy wool socks paired with an equally itchy, scratchy polyester skirt. *shivers*

[TB4000]

Originally Posted by monkeygone2

What if the wearer of said knee socks/shorts had British ancestry...
Should we dismiss her very English style like a bunch of culturally insensitive xenophobes? No, we should admire her Limey pride.

Or what if she's an athelete and she had rugby injuries inconspicuosly hidden under her knee socks...
Shouldn't we forget the issue of fashion and admire her for displaying grit and resourcefullness?

Bad fashion? Maybe so.

But if supporting Knee Sock Empowerment is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

I am going to copy and paste these pictures to my personal folders on my laptop for.....personal study.

[monkeygone2]

Your Catholic schoolgirl uniform..... is an entirely different look.
I don't see the Cath uni as being preppy WASP fashion.

Got a school pic for stylistic comparison?

EDIT- I'm talking to eos, not TB.

[eos]

I burned all my school pics.

[mr. x]

Originally Posted by TB4000

I am going to copy and paste these pictures to my personal folders on my laptop for.....personal study.

Why would dl pics of sarah jessica parker? Are you doing Muybridge studies on quadripeds?

[monkeygone2]

Revisiting this thread because of a book I skimmed, True Prep.

Almost every person I've met here dresses preppy-ish, according to this book. Nothing stupid, like duck patterns and male knee socks. Just nice stuff...

[J-Town]

I admittedly dress semi-prep half of the time anyway.

[applehead]

This thread is interesting. It was posted a year ago but these styles are also coming back in nyc.
Oh those japanese, so fashion forward!