11 Comments

I have enjoyed every podcast you’ve done since you were with 99% Invisible. Thank you for all of them. I have to quibble with you though about the timeline/merits of LaCoste’s “alligator” shirts vs Ralph Lauren’s Polo. We were wearing alligator shirts by the late 1960s. It was THE uniform shirt for teenage boys and undergrads at schools all over the northeast, in a myriad of colors. It was light years better than Lauren’s polo shirts. Better fabric, better, more athletic fit, and defined by its longer tail, which as much as the alligator on the breast, was the feature that showed you were wearing the “right” shirt. I think there was a 4-5 year period when I rarely wore anything else, and had alligator shirts in 15-20 different colors.

Expand full comment

I’ve been enjoying your podcast so much over the last year. Thank you for all you do. I’ve found it useful as I go about building my own book on the sari. I wanted to suggest the name of a Japanese translator. I wrote a post a few months ago on a terrific Japanese book called Masks by Fumiko Enchi. More at https://open.substack.com/pub/kalpanamohan/p/the-masks-we-wear?utm_source=direct&r=4uv5u&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Expand full comment

Perhaps my favorite episode in this great season. Thanks for creating what's become one of my favorite podcasts by unpacking the story and history between the threads.

Expand full comment

I was there at the dawn of the prep revival, a college freshman at BU. Reagan would be elected that fall. I went shopping at Filene's Basement and found $3 rep striped neckties from Brooks Brothers. I used the Preppy Handbook as a bible. I saw Lisa Birnbach at Filene's when she came there for one of her promo tours. My first recollection of seeing Ralph Lauren's Polo Shirts at Saks in Prudential Center. They were astonishingly gorgeous in the most sumptuous hues. And unaffordable at $30 a piece.

Expand full comment

Enjoyed the podcast very much. Agree with previous comment that Izod Lacoste's were in play much earlier than Ralph Lauren versions and they were much better made. I attended a small liberal arts school in the early 80s. Boat mocs, boxer shorts, Polo shirts, button downs, Khakis, Loafers, bucks.........the uniform. Thank you for all the great info and interesting insights.

Expand full comment

I LOVE your stuff.

I know you've been griping with the scanning situation...If you're looking for an easier way to scan, I use GeniusScan or another scanning app on my phone which instantly creates a filtered .pdf or .jpg image and sizes it for you. I use it when I'm making answer keys for my students and it hasn't failed me yet.

Expand full comment

This episode was awesome, I especially loved hearing about The Preppy Handbook. I found a copy of "The Hipster Handbook" when I moved into our new home in my pre-teen years and it was like my bible. In true hipster fashion, I pretended to love it ironically. Anyway, it was sooooooo fun to connect that to a bigger history!! Another layer of irony for the book about hipsters... exquisite.

Also connected, over the break last week, my siblings and I busted out my nana's 1981 Trivial Pursuit game, and wouldn't you know "The Preppy Handbook" was an answer to one of the questions! I totally looked like a trivia master to my sibs; one of those "how tf did you know that?!?" moments.

Expand full comment

Hello, long-term fan! Re: the postscript, I happen to work as a Japanese-English translator. Did some cursory digging & couldn't find a copy of the book for sale online, but this website handily shares the contents page & a few pics … https://hamonika-koshoten.com/?pid=110235869 … & here's me, if you're looking for a translator: http://www.hlnhrn.net/

Expand full comment

It was really interesting to listen to this and then see that the presidents granddaughter wore a dress by Ralph Lauren modeled on the one worn by Grace Kelly. I was in college in the late 70s early 80s and we thought the preppy handbook was a total spoof but I sure that others looked at it as their Bible of what to wear. Really enjoying this!

Expand full comment

You use the words "Ivy" and "preppy" as if they are synonymous and interchangeable. They are not.

Expand full comment