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.

Follow-up jeans post: the results are in!

First off, I wanted to thank all of the ladies out there who voted on the poll, and for all of the comments that everyone added to the post. Here are a few thoughts:

1. Well, my hypothesis was shown to be false. I had anticipated the results being #1- "Designer" jeans, #2- Levi's, and #3- "Premium" jeans. Instead, it seems that Levi's won with an overwhelming majority of 18 votes, follow by "Premium" jeans with 10 votes and "Designer" jeans with 9 votes. While I'm not sure if the poll was exactly "scientific," I do believe that the results reflect the superior taste of the women who read this blog and voted. Overall I'm pretty happy with the results.



2. Regarding Wranglers, perhaps I missed a particular segment of people by not including them as an option (maybe I should have at least had an option for "Other"). I have never really been in any social groups where they are very common, but I guess there are some places where they are a lot more ubiquitous, especially in Texas. I think that they would fall into the same general category as Levi's, though, given their low cost and similar quality.

3. I should note that I currently wear Levi's 501s. If I wasn't a poor grad student I would definitely like to invest in a higher quality pair, most likely some APCs. They are on my "to do" list. Regardless of how the poll came out, there was really no way I was going to switch to "designer" jeans; it just seems like money poorly spent, and the washes that they have on most of those jeans simply look stupid. I like dark blue jeans, and I'll wear my own whiskers into them by wearing them a lot, the way that people used to do it.



If I had a gun to my head and was forced to buy a pair of designer jeans (seeing as how that is the only way any girlfriend could choose my clothes for me), Citizens of Humanity does actually make a pretty good looking pair of jeans simply called "Selvage." They are made of selvage denim, are dark blue with no wear marks on them, and don't have any stitching on the pockets. The only downside is that they are "imported"; a bigger shame in light of the fact that they apparently have a bootcut pair called "Perfect Selvage" which are made in the US. The $230 is pretty bad, though, especially when you consider what better jeans you could get for the price. C'est la vie...

4. Regarding jeans on women, I guess I really don't have a problem with them wearing "designer" jeans. Women generally have different rules for clothing than men, so if that's what they want to wear, who am I to interfere? Generally speaking, I would say that I like when women wear Citizens jeans, but maybe that really has more to do with the girls themselves rather than the jeans. I think that it probably comes down more to how a particular cut of jeans flatters a woman's physique than to who made the jeans (as Elisa noted in the comments of the last post).

Anyways, thanks again to all who voted.

A poll for women readers: What jeans would you pick for your boyfriend/husband?

While I'm pretty sure that the majority of readers here are male, but I suspect that there are at least a few women who come here on occasion. For those of you of the fairer sex, I wanted to get your thoughts on this question.

If you were able to choose what sort of jeans your boyfriend/husband (real or hypothetical) would wear, and cost was no object, which of these three general types would you choose?

-Levi's. Since Levi's are so ubiquitous among men, I figured this would likely be a category of its own. These are just your basic jeans. You choose the cut and the wash, but Levi's Vintage Collection is not included here.
-"Designer" jeans. Typically characterized by a well-known name (Citizens of Humanity, Seven for All Mankind, Diesel, etc.) and typically quite expensive, especially when you consider that most are made in third world countries.
-"Premium" jeans. While these can be expensive too, they are usually made in the US, Japan, or some other non-third world country. Made of high quality denim with quality construction. Nudie, APC, Levi's Vintage Collection would be some examples.

While I realize that there are other types of jeans, I suspect that these three should cover the majority of preferences that might be represented here. Please cast your official vote on the poll located on the right side of the screen ----------->

I seriously doubt that the results of the poll will change my own preferences of jeans, I have a hypothesis about the results and wanted to test it. Please leave comments here if you have anything else you would like to share.