Trad is a type of dressing which essentially signals a lifestyle for what outsiders might label the Preppy class. Decent and well made but not luxurious or too well made. Sexless and yet colorful but without any sharpness. Its a casual, playful, slouchy look that only people from certain backgrounds and values really appreciate.

Thats as good for a group that lives for certain outdoor sports (an indoor ones too, like squash.) and needs clothes that are at once refined and genteel and can take a beating, or a spilled bloody.

Part of the eastern establishment's belief in its cloistered superiority even if they arent well travelled or bright, and even if theyre distrustful of other cultures or credos.

Some of its development is a reaction to the depression when ostentatiousness in dressing and comportment went out of style and it was best to hide ones wealth and taste.

As with different duck breeds that can mate but dont bc their markings are different, trad style is a signal that you belong, that others dont, and that though they might laugh at your funny pants, you and youre friends are having the last laugh.