As we discussed in part one, the New York menswear market is in the midst of renaissance of sorts. But it’s not just luxury brands that are focusing more on the men in their lives; mid market brands are making a statement in the Big Apple too. J.Crew, a favorite everyday brand of Off The…
Tag: Preppy Style
Happy 4th of July!
To all my fellow American readers, I want to wish you a happy Fourth of July! With over 10,000 readers we have come along way and I want to thank all of you for making Off The Cuff a small part of your life. So throw on your favorite pair of Nantucket Reds, worn out…
Vintage Wrist Watches
I noticed on Polo’s Rugby blog that there was a post about the vintage watches being offered at the company’s East Hampton store. Though not the focus of the original post – a shot of some vintage sunglasses in a display case – questions rolled in about the great watches displayed on ribbon bands alongside…
The Curse of Smart Casual
A few weeks ago, a reader posed what turned out to be a somewhat complicated question; “what do I wear,” he asked, “to a wedding where the dress code is “smart casual”? In most cases, a wedding is one of those events which is fairly easy to dress for. In the summer, a well tailored…
Polo (the game) Comes to Manhattan
If you’re in New York on Saturday, May 31, make time for a rare taste of the Hamptons’ high flying lifestyle. Gotham is playing host to the Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic. This is the first time in more than 70 years that polo will be played in New York City. The venue is historic…
One Thing: The Blue Blazer
I occasionally highlight essential pieces of a man’s wardrobe under my “One Thing” columns. Today I want to get back to basics with the blue blazer. A blue blazer is the backbone of any serious wardrobe. The ever popular Preppy Handbook even dubbed it the male exoskeleton. Preppy or not, a blue blazer is the…
Off The Cuff on Rugby.com
Check it out! Off The Cuff is highlighted today on Polo’s Rugby.com site. I am very honored that Rugby’s top notch blogging team chose to highlight my recent “Roots of American Preppy” article. Rugby is a truly innovative, creative offshoot of Polo’s family of brands and has clearly shown that it can stand on its…
The Roots of American Preppy
This column grew out of a recent discussion on this blog about the relationship between classic and preppy styles. The subject quickly became an effort to identify the real roots of American preppy and what it means today. New England preparatory schools, conservative protestant values and social stratification together created an environment that produced the…
The Case of Classic v. Preppy
I want to broach an interesting subject – at least interesting to me. Some while back I ran across the following question: what is the difference between classic style and preppy style? At first I thought, “Well, that’s pretty easy…” However, when I tried to actually talk it out, I realized that actually the line…