Today, Ralph Lauren received the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the nation’s highest civilian honor. As the first fashion designer to receive the honor, Mr. Lauren received this award recognizing his contributions to American style, culture, and society for more than six decades.
The Official Preppy Handbook Fan Club owes everything to Ralph Lauren. I collected Polo advertisements from The New York Times Magazine in the late 1980s and wrote a paper about RL lifestyle marketing and the American Dream as a college student in the early 1990s. These were formative experiences which later inspired me to create this group.
Congratulations Mr. Lauren on your well-deserved achievement.
– Matthew Longcore
Founder, Preppy Handbook Fan Club
Editor and Publisher, Ivy Style
God only knows how many small natural shoulder-tending men’s stores Mr. Lauren put out of business, including hundreds of “college shops” that cheapened (and therefore besmirched) this style.
This observation may be correctly interpreted as high praise, since too many of those family-owned retail outposts had become complacent — overly reliant on overpriced, unimaginative makers and utterly bland, stale renderings of (what began as) Brooksy Anglophilia. Two such stores, one in Charlottesville and another in Charleston, had long since relinquished the tweedy elegance that defined early 20th century Brooks. Politeness demands anonymity; it suffices to say the owners suffered from a lack of ingenuity.
How funny, the flow of history: two of my favorite men’s stores presently maintain a significant stock of PoloRL goods — and prioritize PoloRL Clothing** for made-to-measure/order; the remainder will fade, diminish and die off if the owners decisively resist the sartorial equivalent of the Protestant Reformation.
Without PoloRL’s support, the only American clothing vendor standing in the shadow of Southwick and old Norman Hilton would almost certainly close. The uniquely American take on soft tailoring isn’t so easy to master, after all: the ugly evidence is the prevalence of stiff construction and high, bloated shoulders. “Updated Traditional” and the fashion runway (invariably French and Italian)-obsessed aesthetic have won the day among urbane, cosmopolitan Town&Country types. Ugh. Still more proof of the decline of the WASP.
Vintage RRL remains a favorite of mine, quirkily merging the ruggedness of the American West with the more tasteful elements of East Coast trad. I’m not a fan of all the sub-brands/labels within/amidst the Ralph Lauren enterprise, but Polo has persevered swimmingly and mostly gracefully, the profligacy of “designers” notwithstanding. I’m not sure what would’ve become of Scottish tartans, West-of-England flannel and Donegal woolens had Mr. Lauren refused his destiny.
Ben Silver, O’Connell’s, The Andover Shop and a very few other trad-leaning bulwarks of the modern era owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Lauren. He resuscitated (resurrected, really) a sensibility that, following the cultural upheavals of the 1970s, could have remained in a tomb that wreaks of patchouli, covered with a tie-dyed stone.
The 80s-era Yarmouth was/is the best OCBD I’ve owned (yes, superior to Mercer and old Troy Guild), my PoloRL-by C&J loafers rival my Aldens; the ‘Russell’ sack coats (circa 2010-ish) put the same era of J. Press’ jackets to shame, and no one has improved upon the quadruple (yes, 4x) Shetland (seamless) crewnecks woven-and-sewn in Scotland for PoloRL exclusively.
Much love for Mr. Lauren. I grew up wearing his polos in the 80s and love it when I score a vintage piece like I did this year with a made in Italy herringbone tweed and a pair of brand new kilties also made in Italy from the early 90s. What amazes me is how derivative everything he does is and yet how derivative so much of everything else is of him. The man has staying power.
A well-deserved honor to Mr. Lauren. I have been wearing clothes sporting his label since I was a youngster, beginning with some boys’ department OCBDs, and my first really good suit came from Polo around 1980 or so. Although Brooks and then J. Press became my primary sources over the years, I still have several beloved Polo suits, sport coats, shirts and ties in the closet.
Not sure to whom our long-time fellow commenter S.E. is referring in Charlottesville, but he is certainly right that so many classic men’s’ shops have thrown in the towel. I am happy to note that Eljo’s (founded in 1950) has found a new owner, now that Myles Thurston and his son Trent have decided to move on. They offered Southwick, Sero, Alden and other classics for decades. More than 50% of their business is now custom, with Empire making the suits, sport coats and trousers, and I understand that the new owners intend to keep up that side of the business. Last week I bought a lovely Shetland sweater, two pairs of new old-stock Bill’s M2 khakis, and a Viyella shirt during their end-of-the-year sale. Best of luck to the new owners, and I wish them another 75 years of success.
Edit: the Shetland crewnecks spun and woven in Scotland for Lauren’s Polo (Blue) label collection are quadruple brushed — 4x.
Finally, the legendary Polo eau de toillete. The green bottle. That scent — unmistakable. Classic.
Congratulations Uncle Ralph.
Your war chest has been my treasure chest since I first unearthed it. Your polos are gold doubloons, your knit ties pieces of eight, croc belts, tooled western belts, bench made shells, RRL one wash selvedge denim, cashmere cardigans and high end T-shirts are Crown Jewels. I share a closet the size of a British phone booth with the girl of my dreams and wife of 35 years. Like espresso is to coffee and anchovies are to fish, we’ve squeezed the essence of style from the vast and varied dawgs breakfast of Polo offerings. Not the goofy. Only the good.
It’s so fun to pore over the classic polo ads which would throw the entire contents of the kitchen sink on the wall of gorgeous models in scenic settings and say….ohhhh….nice …(fill in appropriate piece) and remember…oh yeah…scored THAT nugget at the outlet store in ….say….Frostbite Falls Minnesota!
Uncle Ralph. A national treasure indeed.
It took me a long time to really appreciate Ralph. Growing up in England in the Eighties Polo was extortionate. It also felt, at the time, like a tame version of traditional English clothing that as a youngster was the antithesis of what I wanted. It wasn’t until many years later when the Italian designer thing had lost its lustre that I rediscovered POLO.
Ralph did an amazing collection inspired by the Kennedy era. The soft shouldered, 3 button, single vented suit cut was called the Congressman and was worn with narrow repp ties or an art deco emblematic. Shirts featured a neat spread collar. The tassel loafers were by Edward Green.
The quality of everything was amazing but the thing that won me over was the fit. Traditional British clothing, whilst being high quality, was often created for the elements and comfort, and could be a bit shapeless. Ralph Lauren had managed to redefine this and created a more masculine, elegant silhouette.
I also admire the fact that even when the exchange rate favoured the UK he stuck with traditional British manufacturers such as Crockets, Edward Green, Chester Barrie, countless Shetland weavers and many more.
Ralph Lauren has remained an important torch bearer for tradition in an ever changing and often not so attractive world of mens clothing.