January 2004
Former Hollywood CAA agent Scott Sternberg founds Band of Outsiders, whose “This is not a polo shirt” polo shirt has become a hit with celebrities and preppies alike.
April 2004
Phish, led by Taftie Trey Anastasio, announces they are breaking up.
August 2004
Phish breaks up after weekend concert festival in Coventry, Vermont.
October 8, 2004
Martha Stewart arrives at the federal women’s prison in Alderson, West Virginia, at 6:15 am to begin her sentence.
October 23, 2004
Rugby, the new Ralph Lauren line, opens its first store, on Newbury Street in Boston.
March 4, 2005
Martha Stewart leaves the big house for house arrest at her really big house for five more months.
July 13, 2005
Cofounder of Vineyard Vines Ian Murray and his band, The Ian Murray Band, release their single “Rich Wife,” from the album Waiting for the Wind.
May 2006
Delta Airlines begins offering Stirrings, pre-mixed mixers for Bloodies, Mojitos, Margaritas, and Cosmos on flights over 400 miles.
June 2007
Mad River Glen begins renovations on their original single chairlift. Snowboarders still banned.
June 13, 2007
President George W. Bush is caught wearing Crocs—with socks! People call for his impeachment.
August 13, 2007
Brooke Astor dies at her weekend estate, Holly Hill, in Briarcliff Manor, New York. She was 105 years old. (See.)
September 14, 2007
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia joins forces with vintner E & J Gallo to create the “Martha Stewart Vintage” line of wines.
October 26, 2007
Bill Clinton is heckled by a man claiming that the attacks on September 11 were a fraud and mentioning the Bohemian Club. He responds with, “The Bohemian Club! Did you say Bohemian Club? That’s where all those rich Republicans go up and stand naked against redwood trees, right? I’ve never been to the Bohemian Club, but you oughta go. It’d be good for you. You’d get some fresh air.”
December 2007
Great Recession forces preps to leave Wall Street, move out west, and take up jobs as ski bums.
January 29, 2008
Vampire Weekend releases its first self-titled album, with lyrics about Cape Cod, the 79th Street crosstown bus, and mansard roofs.
September 2, 2008
Robert Chambers, the “Preppie Killer”—out of jail after being convicted of manslaughter—is sentenced to 19 years in prison after being charged with selling cocaine out of his apartment in Manhattan.
October 1, 2008
Phish announces they are getting back together.
December 2008
Caroline Kennedy thinks about accepting unoffered option to become senator from New York, and then changes her mind.
February 17, 2009
Global economy tanks further. According to washingtonpost.com, “Markets around the world plunged Tuesday as evidence mounted that the global economic crisis is worsening. Japan is suffering its worst downturn in 35 years. The British economy is facing its sharpest decline in almost 30 years. Germany is slumping at its worst pace in nearly 20 years. Meanwhile, the job market in the United States, at the epicenter of the global downturn, is the worst in decades.” Preppies, other than those with funds of funds or hedge funds, are no longer “taking time off.”
March 6, 2009
Phish plays their first official concert at Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia after an almost five-year hiatus.
July 9, 2009
Smith & Hawken announces that they are closing all of their stores.
August 25, 2009
Longtime senator and dean of the Democrats Edward M. Kennedy, youngest brother of President John F. Kennedy, dies.
Every day of 2010
Miami University in Ohio receives an average of 100 packages from J.Crew.
January 27, 2010
J. D. Salinger dies. The reclusive author, who wrote the seminal preppy coming-of-age novel The Catcher in the Rye, was 91. Jerome David Salinger so loathed publicity that the last photograph he permitted to be taken of himself was in 1953. The novel’s protagonist (for which the term “antihero” is often used), Holden Caulfield, narrates the story of three days following his expulsion from Pencey Prep, in a voice both tender and sarcastic. Over a quarter of a million copies of the novel have sold annually since the book was published on July 16, 1951, and it has made every “100 Best American Novel” list since then.
February 14, 2010
The last race is completed at the thirty-third America’s Cup which was embroiled in controversy regarding regatta venue, dates, boat design, and race rules. Regatta changes and the unsightly Team Prada boat bring tears to preppies’ eyes.
February 21, 2010
Trinity Squash wins 12th consecutive national championship, continuing its 224-game winning streak, the longest winning streak in the history of varsity college sports. Team members are compared to preppy rock stars. Not all is well in squash land, however. “As Chaudhry was leaving the court to join the celebration Trinity’s team and fans had started on the floor, he surprisingly shoved Chan back onto the court, marring the historic night and concluding a heated match between the two players that included taunting not normally seen in squash.”
April 14, 2010
Forbes.com announces today that Thurston Howell III was named the ninth-richest fake person on its annual Forbes Fictional 15 [Richest] List. Situated between #8, the Tooth Fairy, and #10, Sir Topham Hatt, Mr. Howell is estimated to have a net worth of $2.1 billion.
May 21, 2010
Senior Parent Soirée at Lick-Wilmerding High School, San Francisco, 7–9 pm.
May 22, 2010
Francis W. Parker School, in Chicago, hosts its Parkerpalooza Student Community Music Festival.
May 27–30, 2010
Princeton (annual) Reunions 2010. Welcome back, Tigers!
June 14–July 2, 2010
Quiz Bowl Training Camp, every day from 8:30 am–9:40 am at Hawken School, Lyndhurst, Ohio.
July 12, 2010
Brooks Brothers releases a new line for boys and its first for girls: “Fleece.”
August 5, 2010
Brooks Brothers releases a new line for boys and its first for girls: “Fleece.”
September 2, 2010
Full-time First Year students’ meal plan begins with dinner at Trinity College.
September 6, 2010
First day of New Student Orientation and Registration at University of Denver. (September 12 is the Last Day to Register Without Late Fee.)
September 9, 2010
New York’s Trinity School closed for Rosh Hashanah.
September 12, 2010
Men’s Final of the U.S. Open scheduled for today, if all goes according to plan (which it often does not).
Thank-yous large and small: Kevin Abernathy, Nellie Abernathy, Jonathan Adler, Elliot Aguilar, Ernesto Aguilar, Stephonie Alfond, Walter Anderson, Joana Andrade, Gayle Atkins, Genevieve Bahrenburg, Larkin Bailey, Janet Band, Ida A. Becker, Michael Bermingham, Carolyn Bernstein, Archie Dogson Birnbach, Naomi Birnbach, Blue Ribbon Sushi, Janet Borden, Loraine Boyle, Lucy Boyle, James Bradbeer, Joan Brennan, Thom Browne, Si Bunting III, Meredith Melling Burke, Anders Burrows, Kristin Kohler Burrows, Amy Cahners, Margaret Cardone, E. Jean Carroll, Carol Carson, Sue Carswell, Dr. David B. Case, Amanda Cole, Kenneth Cole, Maria Cuomo Cole, Ann Coley, Kathleen Compton, Caroline Connor, Lara Bird Connor, Dana Conroy, R. David Coolidge, Angela Cosmai, Nick Cox, Meaghan Curcio, Jamie Lee Curtis, Posy Dana, Tom Davis, Whitney DeLear, Greg D’Elia, Elizabeth Dickson, Elliot Dickson, Simon Doonan, Mickey Drexler, Gabi duBrul, Maja duBrul, Dennis Dwyer, Buffy Easton, Diane Englander, Jes Feuer, Lisa Fine, Charles A. Fisher, Celeste Ford, George Fournier, Mari Fujiuchi, Janie Hawkins Furse, Dana Gati, Courtney Gillan, Tony Godsick, Jeffrey Goldstein, L
aurie Burrows Grad, Peter Grad, Lori Griffith, Christopher Guest, Daphne Guinness, Maisie Haft, Rebecca Haft, James Hathaway, Jeffrey Paul Hays, Victoria Hersh, Miki Higasa, Jane Hitchcock, Hannah Howe, Seth Jaffe, Robert Jaffee, Joan Jakobson, Freeborn Garretson Jewett III, Marilyn Johnson, Becky Katz, Anne Keating, Caitlin Kelley, Elizabeth Kent, Lauren Kidd, Emily Kim, Michele Knobel, Edmund Komen, Anni Kuan, Bernice Kwok-Gabel, Trey Laird, David Lauren, Lisa Lavora, Kevin Lee, Adam Leven, Lance Lin, Mahmood Mamdani, Dr. Alan Matarasso, Ted Max, Cali Maxwell, Michael McCarty, J. D. McClatchy, Molly McFall, Elissa McLean, Steve Millington, Jacquie Monda, Catherine Connor Monteiro de Barros, David Mortimer, Gigi Mortimer, Lily Mortimer, Ian Murray, Margaret Murray, Shep Murray, Erica Nelson, John Octave, Cornell Owesney Jr., Ameena Paltoo, Anna Pitts, Betsy Pitts, Plaza Florist, Jenny Pouech, Christophe Préau, Sam Prouty, Carolyn “Kiki” Przybylo, Kevin Ramsey, Sugar Rautbord, David Rawle, Katharine and Billy Rayner, Alan Rich, William Rondino, Carley Roney, Michael Root, Jordan Rosenlicht, Lillian Ross, Nikki Rothberg, Katy Russo, Marina Rust, Emily Satloff, Rikki Saunders, Dana Schiller, Peggy Schleiff, Nancy Schulman, Tiffin Schwarzkopf, Emma Sheanshang, George Sheanshang, Christopher Sheppard, Ivy Baer Sherman, Loreal Sherman, Tommy Shomo, Elena Siebert, Nate Simmons, Cynthia Smith, Suzanne Smith, Valerie Smith, Gregg Solomon, Gerardo Somozo, Sasha Soyfer, Jet Spear, Justin Spring, Diane Tucker Stein, Caroline Stetson, Leslie Stevens, Nancy McTague Stock, Robert Stock, Steven Stolman, Maggie Suniewick, Kendall Swenson, Rachel Talbot, Carminda Tamayo, Martin Tandler, Ann Tisch, Andy Tobias, Gary Totten, Alexander Traub, James Traub, Virginia Tupker, Andrew Underberg, Spencer Vahtra, Emerson Van Cleve, Emory Van Cleve, Jackson Van Cleve, Kathleen De Marco Van Cleve, Ella Vickers, Marissa Vitagliano, Kelly Vitko, Darren Walker, Jesse Wann, Cathy Waterman, Arthur Wayne, Julia Wetherell, Marsha Williams, Willie, Lindsey Worster, Martin Zahtra.
Our appreciation to our contributing writers, who added much-needed points of view to this book: Christopher Buckley, Josiah Bunting III, William D. Cohan, James Collins, Charlie Dana, Peter Davis, Boco Haft, Joseph Kanon, Caroline Rennolds Milbank, Jesse Saunders, James Underberg, and Edmund White. Special thanks to Tina Barney, for her photographs.
Thank you to our ad hoc researchers: Lauren Switzer, Jordan Rosenlicht.
Thank you to what feels like all of Knopf and some of Pantheon and Vintage too: Sonny Mehta, Pat Johnson, Paul Bogaards, Nicholas Latimer, Anke Steinecke, Judith Jones, Andy Hughes, Lisa Montebello, Anne-Lise Spitzer, Victoria Pearson, Bonnie Thompson, Andy Goldwasser, Dr. Schneider, Kathyrn Zuckerman, Sara Eagle, Elizabeth Lewis, Mary Buckley, Carol Carson, Megan Wilson, Russell Perreault, Michiko Clark, Pamela Cortland, Sloane Crosley, Anne Diaz, Lily Evans, Caryn Burtt, Jennifer Jackson, Justine LeCates, Mary McClean, Jenny Pouech, Kapo Ng, and Sean Yule.
And to our agent, Gail Hochman, many xxxxxs and oooos to you. Si Bunting, your ideas and counsel were essential to this volume’s development. And to Jim Abernathy: We don’t mean to embarrass you, but without you and your family this book would have been only a pamphlet.
The text of this book is set in Bulmer, a transitional serif typeface originally designed by William Martin (1757–1830) c. 1790 for the Shakespeare Press. The fonts were used for printing the Boydell Shakespeare folio edition. This is a contemporary digital revival supervised by Robin Nicholas at Monotype Imaging and based on a 1928 revival by Morris Fuller Benton of the American Type Founders.
William Martin also worked under John Baskerville, and his types show Baskerville’s influence. They share a vertical stress and a moderate increase of stroke contrast, and more finely cut serifs. D. B. Updike described Martin’s types as “delicate and spirited, thoroughly English.”
The headlines are set in variations of Stymie, created in 1931 by Morris Fuller Benton for the American Type Founders. Stymie is a reworking of a slab serif type that was popular in Europe at that time. For the past one hundred fifty years, slab serif types (sometimes called Egyptian or Egyptienne-style faces) have been a popular choice for headline text in newspapers, magazines, and advertising.
Binding: Stubbs & Wootton
Chapter 1
Left: model’s own Sophie dress and Tory Burch shoes. Right: model’s own Anavini dress and Little Eric shoes.
Bag, Stubbs & Wootton. Bookbook by TwelveSouth. Jacket, J.Crew. Orvis Field watch. Dior shoes—Bloomingdale’s.
Chapter 2
Luggage, T. Anthony.
Chapter 3
Crest from Belgian Shoes.
Mrs. Radcliffe’s clothes, Calvin Klein. Her own Ferragamo flats and Van Cleef & Arpels choker.
Mr. Kent’s own Vineyard Vines tie and belt, and Nantucket Reds.
Callie’s own Kenneth Cole peacoat, long-sleeve sweater, and messenger bag. JBrand jeans and Malo scarf. Parker wears his own Loro Piano jacket, custom shirt from Hamilton Shirts, corduroy jeans from J.Crew, and Gucci shoes.
Porter: skirt, Vineyard Vines; top, Lilly Pulitzer; sweater, Tory Burch; flats, her own London Soles. Muffy: headband, Tucker Blair; scarf, Lilly Pulitzer; top and skirt, Vineyard Vines. Dryden: dress, RL Sport. Anders: Vineyard Vines blazer, his own Black Dog T-shirt, Ralph Lauren Childrenswear khakis.
Larkin: dress by Milly, Chanel bag her own. Spencer: shirt and vest, Ralph Lauren Childrenswear.
Model’s own J.Crew shirt.
Chapter 4
Vintage Azzedine Alaia dress, found in closet.
Parker’s own Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses.
Parker’s own belt.
Jeremy’s khakis are his own, as are his L.L.Bean Blucher moccasins. Elliot’s own Brooks Brothers shirt.
Princess Caroline’s gown by Jean Paul Gaultier.
Patagonia pullover courtesy of Polartec.
His jacket, shirt, khakis from J.Crew. Loafers from Cole-Haan. Briefcase vintage. His take-out coffee from Pain Quotidien. Her own Polo khaki jacket, Thomas Pink shirt, Theory cropped trousers, Tod’s blue suede driving shoes, and vintage gold bracelet. E. Goyard bag courtesy of Barneys New York.
His own sunglasses, belt, and tennis racquet. Clayton’s own Lacoste shirt. Shorts, belt, and desert boots from Crewcuts.
All jewelry from Verdura. Jewelry wardrobe from T. Anthony.
Her own Anni Kuan dress. Kate Spade cardigan from Bloomingdale’s. Shoes and jewelry from J.Crew. Ring from a friend.
Virginia’s dress, Polo from Bloomingdale’s. Margot’s coat, Kenneth Cole. Breton’s own Vince skirt and T, and her own Prada shoes. Cardigan, Signature by L.L.Bean. Emily’s sweater, Signature by L.L.Bean. Shoes by Sperry. Her own Polo button-down.
Ash’s own Levi’s jeans. Top and sweater—Signature, L.L.Bean. Shoes by Sperry. Trevor’s sportcoat, Signature by L.L.Bean. His own Brooks Brothers shirt, tie, and trousers. Forrest’s coat, his own Cordings of Piccadilly. Bag by the Monogram Shop of East Hampton.
Tory Burch tunic. Kenneth Jay Lane jewelry.
Model’s own Brooks Brothers trench and briefcase. Burberry mini coat from Bloomingdale’s and model’s own Steven boots and Theory skirt. Coat by Calvin Klein and model’s own Hunter rain shoes. L.L.Bean Signature trench coat. Burberry anorak from Bloomingdale’s. Model’s own Polo boots.
Model’s own Cordings of Piccadilly raincoat, Giorgio Armani leather trench from Bloomingdale’s, her own shoes from Pour la Victoire. Burberry trench dress from Bloomingdale’s, model’s own BCBG shoes. Burberry modern plaid coat from Bloomingdale’s, Brooks Brothers trench coat worn with model’s own L.L.Bean hunting boots.
Striped dress by Pink Tartan at Bloomingdale’s. Ruffled sweater from Tory Burch. “Trim” shoulder bag from Hermès.
Bracelet, Jewelry for a Cause. Dog collar, Tucker Blair.
Belts from Vineyard Vines.
Belts from Kenneth Jay Lane. Vintage silver buckled belt from Tiffany. “Breakup belt” from Rosenlicht collection.
Model’s own Sperry Top-Siders, Gucci loafers, Polo boots. Stubbs & Wootton embroidered shoes.
Model’s own Bass, Tanino Crisci, and Prada loafers.
Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, J. M. Weston, and Brooks Brothers loafers, courtesy of manufacturers.
Manolo Blahnik, Celine, Cole-Haan, and Bass Weejun shoes belong to model. Ralph Lauren and Brooks Brothers courtesy of themselves. Burberry and Ferragamo loafers, courtesy Bloomingdale’s.
Stubbs & Wootton, courtesy of manufacturer. Model’s own Prada shoes. Model’s own Superga sneakers and Jack Rogers sandals.
Anderson’s own Barbour jacket, Henri Lloyd vest, Brooks Brothers shirt, CK Bradley belt, J. McLaughlin trousers, and Sperry Top-Siders.
Anderson’s own Brooks Brothers coat, L.L.Bean sweater, Brooks Brothers shirt, J. McLaughlin trousers, Wellies by Hunter, and duffel by Re-Sails.
Tom Davis wears his own wardrobe from Brooks Brothers.
Thom Browne wears his own collection except for his shirt, which is Black Fleece at Brooks Brothers.
Chapter 5
Daddy’s own Anderson & Sheppard (London) bespoke suit, Brooks Brothers made-to-measure shirt, Brooks Brothers tie.
Anderson’s own blue Hart Schaffner Marx blazer, Loomis Chaffee School tie, Brooks Brothers shirt and corduroys. Briefcase, Cole Haan.
Mummy’s own Tory Burch leather jacket, Gap pants, and Hermès bag. South Sea pearls from Assael.
Mummy’s own Tom Ford sunglasses, Burberry jacket, Gap pants, Cartier watch, earrings, and sapphire ring. Necklace and bracelets courtesy of Cathy Waterman.
Mummy’s own Malika cashmere twinset, Gap pants, headband from Zitomer, necklace, and earrings. Bracelets from Cathy Waterman.
Mummy’s own Joie top, Nike yoga top, Gap pants, Assael pearls, and Hermès diamond watch.
Chapter 6
Jonathan Adler pillow.
Borzoi collection of Carol Carson.
All merchandise courtesy of the Monogram Shop, East Hampton.
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