ACADEMIC
18/04/08
Grunge has gone, Emo’s ended – herald the return of the prepster. Fresh from Yale, Oxbridge, Eton and Harrow, the new prep is all about blunt edges and Brylcreem.
We knew it was gonna go stella when P. Diddy flew to Blighty to party with Harry and Wills and the rest of the royal crew. He’s dropped his I-am-more-gangsta-than-thou outlook for a clean cut, deck-shoe-toting pretty boy image.
The ‘Academic’ trend sees its roots in the interwar years. Pre Wall Street crash, the ‘20s were infused with a sense of optimism. The First World War was over and the nation was blanketed by a sense of optimism. Educated young things were embracing a new frivolous and fabulous lifestyle – flappers, masked balls, jazz, late night drinking and a new free-and-easy morality.
Hedonism was the order of the day, but fashion was still very prescribed. Women wore beaded low-waisted dresses and trousers were just making their way into vogue for the fairer sex. Men’s attire was similarly gentile. Basically a modernisation of the city-suit – two-piece outfits of a blazer and slacks were the uniform of the young and fashionable. Hues of summer dusk, nautical stripes, shoes to skipper a yacht, blazers, long line cardigans a straw boater and slacks.
Look to The Great Gatsby, The Talented Mr Ripley and Chariots of Fire for filmic inspiration. For dinner party chat, brush up on all things Man Ray – the legendary avant-garde artist and photographer whose modernist style altered the trajectory of art in the 20th century.
To shop go to www.topman.com
To get more style tips go to www.wikihow.com/Look-Preppy
To get your preppy nickname go to www.blogthings.com/whatsyourpreppynamequiz/
Click here to read Kev Braddock's witty insight into the history of the Academic look.