Alec Newbury: Sartorial Hero

I'm a sucker for Brat Pack and John Hughes movies, but one of my favorites is St. Elmo's Fire. Although Emilio Estevez's character is a super-creeper, and Rob Lowe's character is just weird, Judd Nelson's character, Alec Newbury, is an icon of 80s Georgetown preppy style. He's a guy who favors contrast spread collars, club ties, wearing his jacket collar popped, and has unbelievable, gravity-defying "rich people" hair. Below are some screenshots from the movie for your viewing pleasure.

A nice chalk-stripe suit to begin the movie.

Suspenders and contrast collar, natch.

Tweed jacket, collar-popped, cruising Georgetown in a Jeep.


Notice the ticket pocket.

Side vents are a nice touch.

Jeans, loafers, and a toggle coat for a midnight rescue mission of your coked-up friend, Demi Moore.

Nice combo with the double-breasted jacket.

Not sure what happened to the sweater vest...

Alec Newbury only fights dudes while wearing a coat and tie. And pocket square.

Still drunk in the morning? Pop the collar on your double-breasted jacket, smoke a cig, and grab a tall boy.

Hair still looks great.

Girlfriend just break up with you? No need to look like a complete slob while hanging out in the loft.

Notice the oxford cloth button down is a Polo.

Toggle coat on top of the tweed jacket is a great combo.



Nice looking tartan scarf.

And some random Georgetown preppies at the bar, for good measure.

Can't get enough of Judd Nelson wearing preppy clothes? See my old post about Making the Grade for more pictures.

Sperry Topsider Authentic Originals for J Crew

A couple of years ago I was at a thrift store in Decatur, perusing their wares, and came across a pair of Sperry Topsider Authentic Originals. They appeared to be nearly unworn, and were my size, so I picked them up. You can see a picture of them above, from a previous blog post.

In comparing them Sperry's current offerings, it was clear that they were not a style that was currently available. They were most similar to the Sahara color that was being offered, but, in my opinion, there was something about them that made them superior. Maybe it's the gold eyelets or maybe it's the fact that the leather develops a great patina, but I love those shoes and have worn the heck out of them (I wore them today, in fact). I've always hoped that Sperry would release them again, but so far, I've been out of luck.

Although I rarely shop at J Crew nowadays, I was looking at their website the other day and, lo and behold, the Holy Grail Topsiders were on there. I looked over the details and am convinced that it's the same shoe (except, at William noted in the comments, mine have two eyelets and the J Crew ones have three eyelets). The only problem is that, like everything at J Crew now, they're overpriced at $110. Is $110 too much to spend on a pair of Topsiders? Probably. However, these really are great, and so versatile, and I would recommend biting the bullet and picking up a pair. I don't think you'll regret it.

Meeting Lisa Birnbach and a few thoughts on "True Prep"

So this isn't exactly timely since it happened back in September, but speaking of Lisa Birnbach (see my previous post), I actually got to meet her when she was doing her book tour for True Prep back in the fall. I suspect that for me, meeting her was akin to kids in the early 90s getting to meet Michael Jordan.

On the last day of September, I headed down to the Brooks Brothers at Lenox with a friend of mine who was brave enough to tag along, and with my copies of The Official Preppy Handbook and True Prep in hand. After waiting in line for a few minutes (behind a girl who made a poster for Lisa and had about 10 copies of True Prep to sign), I finally got to chitchat a bit with Lisa, and with Chip Kidd who was also there. She was pleasant enough and signed both of my books, and posed with me for a picture. As you can see in the picture, she was obviously quite thrilled to be having her picture taken with me.

While I had initially thought of doing a more in-depth review of True Prep, my laziness got the better of me, so instead, here are a few of my thoughts.

-The book certainly isn't bad. It's not great either, and isn't what many of us were hoping for. I've said it jokingly before, but do you really think that Leonardo da Vinci could have painted the Mona Lisa twice? Seriously though, it is difficult for things in life to live up to our expectations, particularly after 30 years.
-The book sometimes reads like a giant ad for Vineyard Vines and other companies. While the original book certainly name-dropped brands, it never felt as blatant or heavy-handed as it does in here.
-There are two page devoted to the the types of loafers a man should wear. Only two pairs (the Stubbs & Wooten and Brooks Brothers ones, not surprisingly) are wearable; the rest are, in fact, horrible. Gucci? Prada? Tanino Crisci? What is this, a list of loafers or the cast of The Godfather?
-The "True Prep Pantheon" section towards the beginning of the book is almost 20 pages long, and is, indeed, about 16 pages too long.
-Birnbach's Democratic bias shows through far too often.
-This isn't to say that it's all bad. Most of the good parts are only charming little bites, though, rather than entire sections. I like the "hair evolution" from freshman year to senior year on pages 78 and 79, and I enjoy the mental interactions of the couple on the couch (which is supposed to be set in Atlanta, natch) in the "Till There Was You" snippet on pages 188 and 189. In my opinion, the book is best when it is straight-up imitating the original.

So, is this book worth buying? If you're a fan of The Original Preppy Handbook, I'd say yes. Don't expect to be blown away, but it will provide at least several sessions' worth of entertainment while on the "Throne."

This book is kind of like the Zip-Front Bean Boot that is currently sold at LL Bean.

Sure, it is a Bean Boot, and it has the chain-tread bottom, and it's made in Maine. It's obviously a modern take on the classic, but no true fan would ever think that this is as good as the Maine Hunting Shoe or the Bean Rubber Moc. It'll work in a pinch, but it'd be better to stick with the original.

College circle logo hats

As every true American knows, college football started this past weekend. While there isn't much to say about the games this weekend, every true SEC fan*, and most ACC fans, know that looking good at the game is almost as important as the game itself.

It's pretty common knowledge that the white bar hats made by The Game are de rigeur, but a couple of months back, Ashlyn Stallings, Southern blogger and professional ADPi (TSM), pointed out these hats on her blog. They're also made by The Game, and are available for most SEC and ACC schools (and for some other conferences which also exist, apparently), but come with loads of old school style. Plus, they're only $17. Order one for your favorite school and keep the bill flat so that you look like you stepped out of a tailgate in 1984 (TFM).





*This does not include Florida fans. Jorts, anyone?

Inside Information on Michael Bastian for Gant

There has been a lot of anticipation for the new Fall 2010 Gant line, designed by Michael Bastian. For his inspiration, Bastian was reportedly heavily influenced by lacrosse, and the line is decidedly preppy and sporty (just like lacrosse should be). However, based on some detective work, A Trip Down South has been able to discover just how Bastian was able to capture the essence of the Fastest Game on Two Feet:

Michael Bastian is, in fact, the Ultimate Lax Bro.

Second Annual Fun Pants Party

Myself and the other hosts of the party

This past weekend, a number of friends from grad school and I hosted the Second Annual Fun Pants Party down in Charleston. Last year's party was just a pub crawl along Upper King (in ridiculous, fun pants, no less), but this year we hosted a beforehand cocktail party at the Carolina Yacht Club, before preceding to a pub crawl along East Bay. The actual crawl part was somewhat waylaid (in a good way) due to the awesome band, Unkle Funkle, who was playing at Johnson's Pub, our first stop. A good time was had by all, and I'm pretty sure that our 50+ crowd of people in ridiculous pants made the place a lot better than it normally is.

As an added bonus, the party was graced with the presence of none other than Social Primer himself, Cooper Ray. Be sure to check out Cooper's article, including additional pictures, over on the Social Primer website.


A view of the harbor from the Carolina Yacht Club

LL Bean Moccasins, old and new

Several months back I made a trip to a thrift store in Roswell and came across two pairs of old LL Bean moccasins--a pair of blucher mocs and a pair of camp mocs. Having been in possession of a pair of the current Bean blucher mocs for a little while, I was quite intrigued at the superior quality of the leather on the old pair of bluchers, as well as the difference in the shape of the toe box. Since both pairs fit, in spite of their worn out soles, I went ahead and bought them both (something like $15 total).

Old bluchers, after being resoled

It was a while before I finally took the old bluchers in to get resoled, but I was able to take them to my local shoe repair place and get actual moccasin soles put on them, and I also replaced the leather liner on the inside of the shoe. Upon comparing them to the current versions, I have reached these conclusions.

Old bluchers

Current bluchers

1. The toe box on the old pair is superior. It is rounder and more elongated; the modern pair has a squarer, stumpier toe box. The older pair just plain looks better.
2. The vamp on the older pair is a bit higher. This isn't necessarily a good or bad thing, but for wearing with shorts, and for slipping on and off without untying the laces, the lower vamp is better.
3. The leather on the old pair is much better. It is thicker, sturdier, looks better, and is clearly able to improve its appearance with age. The modern leather is thinner, looks faker, and seems incapable of developing any sort of patina. However, I will say that the leather used on the modern version is much softer and more comfortable.
4. Of somewhat less importance, the older version of the moccasin sole generally looks better compared the high-tech-looking sole used on the modern pair.

"Are your shoes from the future?"


Regarding the camp mocs, that has been a bit of a different story. I tried to purchase a pair of the modern camp mocs a couple of years ago, but had real trouble with the sizing. I couldn't get a pair that would fit snugly enough on my feet without being too tight. I ended up giving up and exchanging them for the blucher mocs that I have. The camp mocs that I found at the thrift store seemed to fit pretty well, however, and I was pretty excited about getting them back into working condition.

However, I took them back up to above-mentioned cobbler (this was after I got the blucher mocs resoled), and was told by the owner that the company that made the moccasin soles is no longer making them and that he couldn't get any. I was pretty miffed by this; you mean to tell me that there is no company in the entire country, or world even, that makes the old-style moccasin soles? I ended up deciding to just take my shoes back and wait until I could find someone else to put the proper sole on them.

I ended up taking them to Midtown Shoe Repair about three weeks ago. I brought in my pair of old blucher mocs to show the guy what I wanted, and he seemed confident that he could do what I wanted. He told me it would be two weeks, and after waiting patiently, I went back up there this past Saturday. Upon getting the shoes back, I saw that they had a boat shoe-style sole on them. "This isn't what I wanted" I told the guy. In his broken English he told me, like the other cobbler told me, that the company that he used to get them from no longer makes them. It didn't matter, I was still pretty peeved that he went ahead and put the wrong soles on them. Maybe if he had asked for my phone number when I dropped off the shoes, he could have called and told me that he couldn't get what I wanted. Knowing that there was little I could do at this point, I went ahead and paid and knew that I wouldn't take my business there again. I will still continue to seek out someone who can put the right soles on them, but I guess I will wear them in the meantime.

So, aside from the soles, how is this old version of camp mocs? Pretty good, I would say. While I can't do a direct comparison since I don't have a pair of the modern camp mocs, the superiority of the old pair mostly comes down to the superior leather. As you can see, these shoes have taken on some very good character, and in spite of their age (who knows how old they are), they are still in very good condition. The laces are even the original ones (or at least the ones that were on them when I bought them). The fit is alright; the right shoe is pretty tight on my instep, and they could be a little most snug in the heel, but overall they work pretty well. If I actually wore them with socks, they'd probably fit even better.

Boat shoe sole on a moccasin: what a travesty

So what can be taken from this comparison? Well, LL Bean's camp and blucher mocs have certainly changed over the past decades. While they are still classic, versatile, affordable and reliable footwear, the old versions are simply better. I think that LL Bean needs to go back to a better quality leather and use the old pattern (including the old toe box). I can't really think of a reason why Bean would sell the current version, except that it is likely cheaper to make, and possibly represents a greater profit margin. My plea to Bean, and to Alex Carleton and the team at LL Bean Signature: bring back the old version, even if it costs a little more. It's simply better.

Leather Man Ltd. grosgrain leather tab & buckle belts

It's no secret that I am a fan of belts, as indicated by my previous posts on the subject (here, here, here, and here), but the one at the top of my list right now is the grosgrain leather tab & buckle belt from Leather Man Ltd.

Obviously the love child of an emblematic belt and a grosgrain belt, two staples of a preppy wardrobe, this belt offers the casualness of grosgrain, but is made a little more formal by the leather tab and buckle. Additionally, it's a more practical choice as the d-rings the typically come on grosgrain belts can be a pain. Also, like most belts from Leather Man, they're pretty affordable at only $28.

To be honest, the selection of grosgrain patterns that Leather Man currently offers for these belts is simply OK--it could be better. However, these are some of personal picks, all of which would make an easy transition from summer to fall.

Officially Pre-ordered

Well, my paranoia got the best of me tonight. Fearing that the Take Ivy reprint might actually sell out if I didn't go ahead and order, I placed my pre-order, and while I was at it, I placed my pre-order for True Prep. I'll admit that I'm more excited about the latter, but having the former certainly won't be bad. August 31st and September 7th should be awesome days.

Now we will finally see what those creepy Japanese dudes were really writing about.

Can Lisa Birnbach do any wrong? I'm still tempted to ask her to be my Facebook friend...

Penny loafers for women at J. Crew

I was looking through the most recent J. Crew and was surprised to see that they are now offering a classic penny loafer for women, made by Bass, nonetheless. In spite of being popular with women during the 80s, and presumably during the 60s (the high points in preppy style), I'm not sure that I've seen a girl in peer group wearing a pair. Ever.

Seeing as how J. Crew has managed to emerge as more of a trendsetter than a trend-follower, it will be interesting to see if any other retailers follow suit. It should be noted that J. Crew is currently asking $120 for this pair of shoes. If you ask me, that's pretty ridiculous. Then again, crazy-high prices at J. Crew seem to be the rule rather than the exception nowadays...

The Results: OPH by a landslide

In case you hadn't already seen the results of last week's cage match between The Official Preppy Handbook and Take Ivy, the OPH was declared to be the superior book by the not-so-narrow margin of 61% to 31%.

In the interest of presenting the original cage match as unbiasly as I could, I didn't really give my thoughts on either book. I would agree that the two books are really quite different in both their intended use and the perspectives they are coming from. Additionally, I understand that only a handful of people have actually seen Take Ivy in person, and that it is doubtful that many of those people could read Japanese. As a result, perhaps it was not a completely fair contest.

However, even once Take Ivy is reprinted later this year, it is my prediction that the OPH will still be the better book. I suspect once people can actually read the book for themselves, in English, that the Japanese fetishism of Ivy League clothing will only seem that much weirder, though it may put a lot of the pictures in more of a context than they exist now. Anyways, thanks to all who voted.

Cage Match: "Official Preppy Handbook" vs. "Take Ivy"

Inspired by a discussion on Twitter last week, which was inspired by the supposed republishing of Take Ivy, I have set up a poll to the right where you can vote on which book is superior: Take Ivy or The Official Preppy Handbook. No need to further expound on either book, this is a cage match, and there is plenty of info on both books floating around the internets. Without further ado, submit your vote.

$7.50 Sperry Topsiders

I had some time to kill the other night so I stopped by the thrift store. I was about to leave without finding anything when I spotted a pair of Topsiders.

Normally causal shoes (and really most shoes) at the thrift store are in less than desirable condition, but these Topsiders looked almost unworn. On top of that, they were my size, and only $7.50! So I snagged them, sprayed them with a little Lysol when I got home, and then were good to go the next day.

Very little wear on the sole
I've got a pair of the Authentic Originals in the classic dark brown with white soles, but I think that the pair is actually much easier to wear, and more practical during the colder months.

The footbeds were in good shape (the indentation is from my insole)

New Eastland blucher mocs...kind of

Tonight I had some time to kill so I swung by the Ross in Decatur to see if I could find some socks (over-the-calf socks are hard to track down). While I was there, I saw a couple of pairs of these Eastland blucher mocs on the shoe rack and went in for a closer look.

They seemed to be at least comparable to the pair of Bean blucher mocs I was wearing at the time, if not a little better. "Made in China"--disappointing but not a dealbreaker. They were labeled size 10 and since I usually wear a 9 or 9.5, I figured they were worth a try. I was surprised at how snug they seemed, but I chalked it up to the pair of socks I was wearing, and for $17, I figured it was worth it.

Well, upon getting home, I removed the tag and tried them on again. Really, they were pretty snug, so I looked at the tag again. It did indeed read "10M"...."WOMEN'S." Oops. Chalk that one up to the androgynous nature of preppy clothing. So they won't seem to work with socks, but without socks I think that they will actually be alright. I'm going to give them a shot at least.

Southern Staple: Bean Boots

In spite of their Yankee origins, Bean Boots from LL Bean are some of the best shoes for the South. Given our recent monsoon-like weather, this has become even more evident.

I personally have two different pairs. I have a pair of the Rubber Mocs which get worn year-round. They go with jeans, khakis, cords, and even shorts during warmer. They can be worn with our without socks (though if you go for the latter approach, loafer socks are a must) and with or without rain.

I also have a pair of the 10-inch Maine Hunting Shoes. These don't get nearly as much wear as the rubber mocs, but they area nice to have for going out in particularly cold, rainy, or muddy conditions, and work well in the dove and quail field (provided you don't run into any snakes).

Now, in spite of how well-suited for the South these boots are, it is interesting to note that their popularity is not spread out very homogeneously. I remember my mom having a pair of navy blue rubber mocs in her closet when I was growing up, but I'm not sure I have ever seen another pair in Georgia (though I do understand that they are quite popular at UGA). I got my first pair after I went off to school in Alabama, though that decision was based on their endorsement in the Official Preppy Handbook. I have seen a few people wearing them in Birmingham, though they were not popular at my college.

Interestingly, though, when I went to school at Clemson, I found that nearly all of my classmates that were from Charleston owned a pair, and many students at Clemson could be seen wearing them throughout the year (though I'm not sure if I ever saw anyone wearing a pair of the rubber mocs). It is my theory that this is best explained by popularity of hunting and other outdoor activities throughout the state. One of my friends from Charleston inherited his pair of Bean Boots from his dad and they are almost completely bald. I've let him know that LL Bean does have resoling services, but I don't think he was interested.

Here is a friend of mine from Birmingham sporting the 16-inch Bean Boots he bought for med. school in West VA

I would be interested to hear anyone else's observations of these shoes south of the Mason Dixon.