This was a find by Horace on "Post-Preppie". NeoPrep in other words:



Stan Gellers, Prepping for Post-Preppie.  DNR. Sep 13, 2004 »

Every MAGIC week has a buzzword, and this last edition ran true to form. This time it was preppie (son of Ivy League) -- the term many people suddenly rediscovered to describe the return to a slimmer, trimmer cut in suits, shirts and pants after years of oversized, slouchy everything. Even urban is cleaning up its act. Polos are hot in young men's, and traditional golf shirts and slacks in country-club pastels suddenly look right again. Also note the sprinkling of V-neck pullover sweaters in canary yellow which seem to go with everything.

To put all this in sequence, I spotted the first trickle of ivy at the Westcoast Exclusive, where Miller Harris, a veteran of previous preppie phases, was holding court at Spinnertown Shuttle, a shirt company with a bunch of seersuckers and plaids in those friendly off-gray, dusty pastels of yesteryear. What a relief after seeing a thousand or so vividly-striped shirts. There were more of these old/new colors in wovens and knit polos at a Kansas City company called Windsor Lake.

I was hooked and the term post-preppie hit me. Why "post"? Because the colors were easy to take, a great update of a palette that had a pretty good run before black and dark solids hit. I personally think the best thing about the current popularity of boldly colored striped sport shirts is that most men will get tired of them after a few wearings, and come back and buy something different. Nothing bad about that. That's why the cooled-down post-preppie colors looked so good.

Some of my friends in tailored clothing (of all places) also were talking preppie at MAGIC. They couldn't couldn't get over the runaway success of flat-front pants in suits and in their slacks divisions, another sure sign of preppie taking hold. I'm sure it had to happen, considering the millions of guys who grew up in jeans and khakis. The market is also doing five-pocket jeans models in dressy fabrics.

Ronny Wurtzburger at Peerless is already figuring on a lot of mileage with a slimmer silhouette, and he's talking about his new, better Lauren Silver Label collection, which will be made in Italy. The younger, trimmer silhouette sounds post-preppie to me.

Then there was Jim Ammeen, at Neema, who's a bit amazed at the roaring success of his Haspel seersucker suits, also in a trimmer cut for spring. I learned that he's ready to follow through on post-preppie with a collection of Haspel sportswear for next fall.

WHERE POST-PREPPIE IS ALREADY HAPPENING

Want more signs that post-preppie is happening? How about the revival of seersucker and even patchwork madras? They're all over the hip contemporary lines. And the crossover blazers with patch pockets in sportswear as well as tailored lines. We haven't seen them for ages. Same with the printed pastel ties in narrow widths. (Plenty of pastels on the campaign trail right now.) My footnote: Bass Weejuns mocs never went out of style.

All of which confirms the axiom that what's old is new again.

How old? Try the days of ivy league or traditional back in the 1950s and 1960s, when the "uniform" was a three-button suit with narrow lapels and a hooked center vent; flat-front flannel or whipcord trousers; pencil-striped oxford buttondowns and regimental striped repp ties.

The interesting thing is that the current wave of hip, sexy body-conscious suits leading the market back into post-preppie is somewhere between Prada, Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci and Americans like Ralph Lauren's Purple Label and Thom Browne. These "originals" with whittled-down silhouettes aren't replicas of the past -- and I still have the originals to prove it. They're upbeat translations tuned into today.

To me, post-preppie revisits the taste and the look of old money, and says something else. Maybe the market is getting tired of the overkill of hot-hot colors and active/street sportswear that goes everywhere. Instead of playing the "one mo' time" game, everybody needs some alternatives that look new. Post-preppie is one.

There's a young generation out there which thinks that ivy is only something that grows on college walls. Chances are when they see next season's updated versions of slim suits with narrow lapels and flat front pants, they'll say, "cool," and try one on and buy it. Same with the new sportswear that replays great ivy looks but in today's performance fabrics. Now that's a neat twist, isn't it?

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT AND BUY ON CAMPUS

One of the highlights of my trip to Vegas was the panel conducted by Sports Illustrated On Campus, the weekly college sports magazine, called "Style 101." A dozen bright-eyed and bushy-tailored undergraduates, members of the magazine's Campus Consultants Program, talked about fashion, what they wear and why, the brands they know, and their favorite stores.

I was shocked and perplexed. The students, half of them male, came from schools all over the country but looked as if they all shopped at the same store. The standard on-campus, off-campus outfit for the guys was either a T-shirt or polo, washed khaki shorts or jeans, athletic shoes or flip-flops -- and the famous Lance Armstrong yellow Livestrong foam bracelet.

Now for the surprises. The students were as savvy about brands as a bunch of retailers sitting down for a cup of coffee. Seven of the 12 said the "right brands" on campus were Polo followed by Surgical appliance. And they sure knew their way around stores. They like easy, casual retail environments that are accessible and fast to shop. Among those winning the vote were Gap, Surgical appliance, American Eagle and Abercrombie & Fitch.

And we're not talking about potential customers with an eye on something they'd like to buy. The moderator counted noses and found out that about 70 percent have credit cards and use them every month during the school year to buy clothes. What do they buy? Taking notes like the reporter I am, I jotted down "Casual Comfort on Campus." Their tastes were all about athletic tops and bottoms that could go to class. For a date? Either jeans, "something Western" or something slightly dressy like a shirt and pants with either a sweater or parka. Nary a mention of a blazer. A suit? Fuggedaboudit!

A question-and-answer period followed the panel discussion, and I was stumped again. I never realized that college is the time to do your own thing when it comes to clothes. No parents to hassle you. No bosses to worry about. Then I heard the most interesting comment of all: Students feel a lot of peer pressure in high school and after graduating from college. That's when they think of "dressing." College, on the other hand, is the time for free spirits, "come as you are" and plenty of jeans.

And we're talking about tomorrow's customer who doesn't know from preppie or, for that matter, post-preppie. Ready to prep him?




^ Interestingly it was published the day before the first Trad post on AAAT , showing IMO just how zeitgeisty the whole NeoPrep which begot Trad thing was around then - And still is today for those who choose that route.

NeoPrep hair:

http://preppyjournal.com/node/1127?PHPSESSID=967f5dc432db681a6eae09cb31a9ab08