I’ve been vaguely aware that Kiel James Patrick had developed a huge social media following. Sometime last year when Town & Country listed him and now-wife Sarah Vickers as one of the preppiest couples in history, I immediately tweeted my disbelief at Kiel. There he was, right alongside JFK and Jackie!
It seems like just a short time ago that Kiel was an advertiser here at Ivy Style and had asked me for business advice. We’d met briefly in person only one time, and Kiel is as likable as his smiling (save for the photo above), Internet-friendly face would suggest. Then one day he asked to brainstorm with me on the telephone, and we had a very long chat. If I remember correctly, his social media presence was just starting to get into gear, and at that time the fan-to-h8er ratio was higher. He felt that many critics thought he was just a spoiled rich kid, when in fact he did not come from wealth and was working really hard at building his brand. We talked a lot about the craft of choosing the materials and making the accessories himself, and all that he had learned. I suggested maybe the public needed to see him as a craftsman, and that the lifestyle imagery that was being targeted should be replaced with shots of him in the workshop, like a tailor or cordwainer.
What a worthless consultant I am.
Kiel ended up going full steam in the opposite direction, as self-made lifestyle brand, and he has just been christened king of preppy Instagram in a fascinating profile in the Daily Mail. And kings are always surrounded by princes. Writes the paper:
The prep crew has even gone viral in Dubai.
‘One day I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and looking at my tags. I see there are preppy girls, preppy guys, this guy is in Nantucket, this guy is in Cape Cod, then all of a sudden a guy pops up, and he was holding a baby albino tiger, standing in front of a car that I can’t even pronounce, covered in our bracelets,’ Patrick recalls.
It turns out the man was a beloved prince, and within 24 hours the Kiel James Patrick store was completely swamped with hundreds of orders from the Middle East. ‘We basically became a trend there for a solid three months,’ he explains.
What pops into mind after reading this post is the quote, “It pays to be nice to the people you meet on the way up, for they are the same people you meet on the way down.” Seems young Mr. Patrick is riding high and has a pretty big following which he’s profiting from it at this time. His Instagram page indicates that he has almost a half million followers. Only time will tell if his entertainment value will keep them around. I’m no expert, but it appears that he might be trying to be the next Ralph Lauren. Thoughts?
The comparison to Ralph Lauren is very appropriate. They are both selling “lifestyles” more than they are selling “fashion.” At his age (assuming 25 – 32) he has a lot more of a following and a lot more connections than RL had at the same age. RL opened his first boutique at 35, I believe.
All KJP needs to do is legally change his name to KJP.
What a great story. Nice to see these two make something out of nothing and have tremendous success with it. You can tell there is a lot of hard work behind all the fun-filled photos. Very savvy folks. I’ll be keen to see how they develop themselves in the future.
As I recall, KJP was rubbished on other blogs, including a very prominent one that touted itself as “authentic” but now has all but disappeared after many revelations. I can only imagine what the proprietor of that blog thinks of KJP’s rise to fame and fortune. I always thought KJP and company were a bunch of nice-looking young people having fun with style and fashion. Hurrah, I say.
How do publications like T&C and DM quantify preppy? Do they factor in where he and his parents and grandparents grew up, where and how they spent holidays and vacations, which prep schools and colleges they attended, which fraternities or sororities they joined, social blue book listings, debutante balls, and clubs? Or is it purely a matter of wearing the right clothing and accessories?
Nothing against KJP. I’m sure he’s a nice young man and I wish him all success.
It would be horrible to wish the guy anything but the best. However, I wish he could do something to bring a level of tradition and authenticity to his show. So much of the clothing he wears is silly looking. I love boat shoes and motif pants. However cheap, loud looking boat shoes flopping around on a huge foot and topped off with a frosted hair due is visually a mess. But what the hell do I know? He must be doing something right with so many followers. Just please lead them some place positive not a fake temporary party land.
@ rojo
To answer your many questions, people that are secure socially do not care.
@rojo,
You sound like a boob. None of that stuff matters.
T.Bearden
Ah, yes. I remember that, too. Correct me if wrong, but wasn’t “gracious” also in there with “authentic”? I recall that when it came to KJP and Sarah Vickers, especially, that prominent, but massively scrubbed and repurposed blog was neither.
Rojo,
Re-wind time about two years back and bring your comments to that “authentic” and “gracious” blog. You will fit right in.
The good old days.
https://38.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lo5a35aBOG1qdsuooo1_1280.jpg
Good promotional article writing by his social media and audience development strategist. Great way to increase brand recognition.
That photo should serve to remind us of the difference between pretentious, mock-sophisticated “Preppy” and understated, dignified “Trad”.
Much more like Hilfiger than Lauren.
I didn’t read rojo’s comment as his questioning KJP’s bona fides; I read it as asking if T&C and DM care about background when annointing preppies. I think we can all agree that to some, preppieness is more than the look; it’s also the life and the background. I am not making a value judgment myself; I am making an observation.
Then again, I try to take people’s comments charitably (at least until they have shown themselves unworthy of such consideration). Perhaps rojo would care to clarify.
Oh dear, I seem to have touched off quite a discussion. I’m insecure? I sound like a boob? I’m inauthentic and ungracious? How very interesting.
Perhaps, in my mind, preppy has nothing to do with background and is in fact something you just pick up at the mall or order online. You don’t know whether or not I think that, because I never said.
So to clarify: I know nothing about KJP’s background, nor do I care. I do wish him all the best. What intrigues me however is that two publications, Town & Country and the Daily Mail, have written about preppiest couples in history, and king of preppy, or something along those lines, and I just wondered, how does a publication go about making those determinations? What criteria do they use? How do they quantify it? I thought of two possibilities, background and appearance, but clearly I didn’t think long and hard about it, because I just dashed off six or seven quick lines. I just thought of a third possibility, which is that the publications simply want readable copy.
Money can’t buy good taste.
I am a frequent viewer of the blogs mentioned, and count myself among those who still subscribe to Salt Water New England. I also read this blog and enjoy reading the older posts. I am not a huge fan of the back and forth that goes on in the Reply section, but I count it as a natural and encouraged part of the online experience. I can ignore it if I choose. I’ve followed KJP for quite some time and find myself reacting negatively to his latest postings on Azimuth Circle, particularly those Ralph Lauren knockoffs (an homage, perhaps?) I’m not sure why, but they’ve struck an angry chord in me. It’s true, I don’t enjoy the type of heritage that allows me to park my vintage Porsche or MG in front of my stately Newport home, and that doesn’t really bother me, but I’ve never got the impression KJP and SV do either. The most recent photos seem to represent a phony attempt at something. I’m sure the young couple are doing very well financially and the KJP brand has received a great boost, but the photos have started to look more like the exploits of lottery winners. Make no mistake, I still enjoy the deep colors and visually arresting aspect of the photography, I think I’m just getting turned off by the content. There’s just too much of everything in them. I no longer feel like I’m getting to share quirky photos from a really fun vacation, but that I’m being presented with a very specific picture of visual evidence. I’m reacting negatively like I said, but wonder if anyone else feels similar?
Good for him and his wife. I hope they’re enjoying themselves.
The notion that Ivy and distant cousins are so pure and lofty as to transcend preoccupation with “lifestyle” is ridiculous. Mr. Press referenced the American take on English tailoring with a certain “snob appeal.” There it is. The word “Ivy” wreaks of class affiliations all various types and kinds, and was used skillfully as a marketing tool to young men attending community colleges in Kansas. It’s what Brooks peddled by way of advertising–even during the 20s, 30s, and 40s.
There’s nothing new here. How is this more off-putting than the faux Locust Valley Lockjaw accents attempted by the gun club check tweed wearing salesmen at J. Press five decades ago? Did they, along with a majority of the Squeeze loyalists, prep at Groton? Doubtful.
One can appreciate ivy/preppy/trad style for the look in and of itself, but there’s no denying that the affiliations with class, wealth, and prestige have been strong for a long, long time.
The trick is to aspire, but not too much. For every striving Gatsby, there’s an envious Holden ready with rocks and arrows. I would advise caution to them only because the haters can be so petty. Otherwise, good for them and I hope they enjoy themselves. Life is short.
I think KJP is about as interesting and authentic as Castleberry or those awful Kardashians.
I find it very strange that people can create a whole made up life to monetize (photoshopped engagement pictures, staged “wedding” pictures, dropping his real sir name, hiring young kids to vacation with). I enjoyed the old Polo ads and J. Crew catalogs, but no body claimed those models were real life people.
This was a guy who tried modeling, had an ebay business buying and selling used clothes (no problem there), and who then started making silly string bracelets. More power to him if he can sell such bracelets for a profit, but it is really odd to think that he is some kind of lifestyle guru.
If you google Kiel James Patrick, you will see a google maps picture of his headquarters in Rhode Island. What he has decorated as a cool clubhouse inside is really a dilapidated office building in a run down area.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/kiel+james+patrick/@41.8894714,-71.3478002,3a,75y,143.23h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sr3UsPuCR1QvKKFdHrwF6EA!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x12d2031e9b7cc4a8
S.E.
Your reply provides the finest point and clearest perspective I’ve read. Thank you.
All:
I should have followed Christian’s link to The Full Story before submitting my comment. I would then understand the dramatic change in KJP’s photo presentations. I stand by my last comment and will leave it at that.
Enjoy your day.
The problem is people fail to realize that not every person who attended an Ivy was “Ivy” or was a member of their father’s/grandfather’s eating or final club. Not every person that when to a prep school in the northeast was a “preppie” or identifies (through attire or mannerism) with that sub-culture, if you can call it that.
S.E. is right in saying it is silly to ever assume that being “preppy” or whatever is exclusive or a birthright; that assumption is long gone. Today, ‘The’ preppy icon isn’t JFK or WFB Jr. but a Jewish guy from the Bronx who went to Baruch. And if you were born after 1980, chances are you are imitating the idea that he has put in our minds of what preppy should be.
Chances are if you were born after, say, 1998, you will be imitating the idea that KJP (or similar) has put in your mind of what preppy should be.
“The preppiest man on Instagram” sounds like a rather absurd superlative. Like the flakiest shipwreck in Kentucky. Or the fiercest spatula in death metal.
I like the KJP crew, and have been following along since early in 2013. No matter what their backgrounds are, they work hard to put their events/photo shoots together. They look happy and healthy and their instagram feeds sell products. When I first started following, they were getting just under 2000 likes, maybe 10-15 comments. Now KJP photos are getting 10-20,000 likes with over 200 comments. There are instagram accounts dedicated to just reposting their photos. Millenials have grown up in a time where you can be whoever you want to be on social media so they don’t check to see that everyone who uses #preppy actually comes from a preppy background. I have some bracelets from them that I love, and I proudly hashtag them if I take a pic with it on my instagram. Is KJP preppy? Sure, call him what you want. I would call him one of the most successful businessmen on instagram. The growth of his instagram represents a growth in a company that uses American made materials to make products in Rhode Island, and so when I wear my bracelets, that bracelet represents jobs just an hour away from me. I hope that the success of the company continues to grow.
@Cameron
The greatest ballerina in Galveston.
Cheers
Sound commentary, Monica. Couldn’t agree more.
The whole notion that wearing Ivy or preppy or Trad or whatever you want to call it gives you some kind of intrinsic status and special social power in other peoples’ eyes is just plain silly. They are clothes, for goodness sake! If you are wearing Ivy style to encourage others to think you are more than you are, I would suggest one of two very different courses of action, depending on your character: 1) contact Muffy and see if she will be your mentor. She was the quintessential poser and will teach you all you need to know in that department. Or, 2) find a good psychoanalyst, lay on the coach, and figure out what makes you think you aren’t good enough as you are.
Completely disagree. Shakespeare said clothes make the man 400 years ago. In many parts of the world clothing still designates your place in society. We judge others by their clothing all the time.
Clothing is social. It sends signals. Of course we may mis-read the signals. In my GTH story for The Rake, I quote Alan Flusser saying when he was young and wanted to date a girl, and she wouldn’t go out with him because she didn’t understand what go-to-hell pants were. She didn’t get the signal.
And of course the signals can be used to deceive. Hence the phrase “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
These lines came to mind after reading Christian’s 12:50 reply:
“Limelight” (song) Rush/Geddy Lee
All the world’s indeed a stage / And we are merely players / Performers and portrayers / Each another’s audience…
“Spider” (book) Patrick McGrath
“Clothes do indeed make the man…And the less of a man there is, the more need for clothes.”
Spider is a very good read and was made into a movie in 2002 by David Cronenberg. Weird stuff.
JeffB,
Ironically, I recently re-watched Luhrmann’s Gatsby. You know, the one with DiCaprio.
Interesting quote by Tom Buchanan addressing Gatsby (not sure if its in the book):
“We’re all different from you. You see, we were born different. It’s in our blood. And nothing that you do, or say, or steal, or dream up can ever change that.”
I disagree with Buchanan. Appearance is everything. And Jay Gatsby proved it.
Christian
People may judge others by their clothing and I never said that they don’t, but their clothing in no way determines a person’s character or worth and doesn’t lend an intrinsic status, unless you believe it does. And, if you do, I suggest you contact Muffy. Shakespeare was mistaken, in my judgement.
What you suggest is that a man who wears, for example, Ivy-style clothing, has a certain place (i.e., status) in society. Society values him more than, say, someone wearing jeans and a mock turtleneck. By that reasoning, if you place these two men side by side, the one wearing Ivy will be viewed by the crowd as somehow worth more than the Joe wearing jeans and the mock T-neck, right?
But the guy wearing jeans and mock T-neck is Steve Jobs (and that is what he wore). I will bet dollars to donuts that the crowd will fawn all over Mr. Jobs and ignore the Ivy-Style man. Is the Ivy-style man really and suddenly worth less? He’s still wearing J. Press. Clothes don’t really make the man. The man makes the man. What he wears doesn’t make him.
Take the same Ivy-style guy and observe that he is influential in his peer group, gets things done at work, gets invited to parties, and so on. Now take him and plop him in Nashville. The norm there is jeans, boots, and western-style shirts. Suddenly, he isn’t particularly influential and doesn’t get invited to many parties. Is that because he has now become less of a person?
If clothes really made the man, everyone who wears J. Press would have graduated from Yale and everyone who wears rhinestones and a 10-gallon cowboy hat would be a famous C&W singer. And, everyone who wears jeans and mock T-necks would be a computer genius. See how silly that is?
My point was that if you are using clothes to try and plump yourself up into something more than you are, you are deluding yourself. Clothes are just clothes. If you really want to be better, work on yourself and your character. There are no shortcuts in that regard.
Ward,
I usually agree with your comments, but now you are flogging a strawman.
I won’t speak for CC but what I assumed he and Shakespeare meant was: what a man chooses to wear is what he is (on the inside). If you get up and iron your shirt every morning, that says a lot about you. If the only thing in your wardrobe are camo cargo shorts and crocs, that says a lot about you too.
Kinda like “tell me what company thou keepest and I’ll tell thee what thou art.”
There is a good reason Steve Jobs, Elizabeth Holmes, Jack Dorsey, etc. all kinda dress similar. Very minimalist, very monochromatic. Same reason all used-car salesmen wear checkerboard slacks, or all sorority girls wear lilly pulitzer.
You are right about one thing: the $2,000 Edward Green loafers in NYC might mean you are “hot sh*t,” whereas in Nashville, its $2,000 cowboy boots.
Same thing: what you choose to wear still matters in both worlds.
Ward, you originally wrote: “The whole notion that wearing Ivy or preppy or Trad or whatever you want to call it gives you some kind of intrinsic status and special social power in other peoples’ eyes is just plain silly. They are clothes, for goodness sake!”
You’ve now changed your argument significantly. You went from “status and social power” to “character and worth,” a completely different concept.
In your Jobs comparison, you took a random nobody in Ivy garb and compared him to one of the richest men in the world, specifying that the identify of the first man is unknown but that of Jobs is.
Also I misquoted Shakespeare: he said clothes proclaim the man, not make.
Here you took the notion of making literally:
“If clothes really made the man, everyone who wears J. Press would have graduated from Yale and everyone who wears rhinestones and a 10-gallon cowboy hat would be a famous C&W singer. And, everyone who wears jeans and mock T-necks would be a computer genius. See how silly that is?”
Dressing like a cowboy doesn’t make you a cowboy. But there’s another old adage: fine feathers make fine birds.
This Kiel fellow appears to be wearing a costume. I had never heard of his wife before her mention in this blog. He definitely marryied up. Well played bracelet lad!
Will
What I am taking from some of the last comments is that we understand why people want to dress a certain way, but please don’t lie and become imposters. A girl finds a white label vintage Lilly Pulitzer shift, blogs or instagrams about her great find. Another girl finds something similar but shares it saying it belonged to her grandmother who used to play tennis with Lilly. I can understand why a woman would want the dress. One girl just acknowledges that this is her style, the other is perhaps trying to pretend to be somebody she isn’t. This is where the blogger who shall not be named may have misstepped.
KJP doesn’t pretend though, he tags Oxford Motors for the cars, Lila Delman for the houses, Four Seasons for the vacations, veuve cliquot for the polo games, vineyard vines for Kentucky Derby trip. Business relationships. You want to talk about where his office is?? Pawtucket RI is lucky to have him in that office building paying his bills and employing people.
Christian,
I don’t think I changed my argument significantly; I probably just didn’t write that initial post very clearly.
In the Jobs comparison, I took two random nobodies who were both unknown but differently dressed and replaced one of them with Jobs. That was for dramatic effect and to amplify the point.
“Fine feathers make fine birds” suggests that something that appears beautiful is beautiful. If that were really the case, then why do we say, “You can dress him up, but you can’t take him out” or, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig”?
The porcine adage was allegedly used by Obama in reference to Sarah Palin during the 2008 campaign. Palin’s response was in the form of a joke: “What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? — Lipstick.”
Now, if you can figure out what she meant by that, I’ll cede this argument to you.
Do you really not know what Ms. Palin meant?
Will
I’d rather just lighten things up with a fun personal anecdote on clothes proclaiming the man, namely me, as well as the notion of false advertising!
So I have a polo coat, the so-called “aristocrat of topcoats” (did Boyer coin that?). No I don’t wear a floppy cap with it any more, mea culpa. It’s got a lot of swagger to it. In fact I did a post here called “Inherent Swagger” about polo coats. You mostly see them on older, successful and quite possibly stinking rich guys on the Upper East Side. Now I’m just a modest but independent freelance writer, but feel I can pull it off because I dig clothes and know a shitload about chamber music.
So with the onset of truly cold weather last week, I broke it out for the first time this season. I met my lady friend in Midtown when she got off work, and we walked up Park Avenue to her place on 57th Street (not Park Avenue!).
Lost in conversation, we veered over on a cross street and I just happened to look up and note that inside some windows a couple floors up there was a beautiful large room visible. Burgundy paint on the walls and some very old oil paintings. I happen to have a masculine interiors book in the early stages of development and I wondered what the building was. There was a flag outside and it clearly wasn’t a private residence. My friend thought it was an embassy, but I wanted to find out. We crossed the street to check it out and I found the door open. We stepped inside and there were two concierge desks, one left and one right. The guy who saw me first took one look at me, about two-tenths of a second, and graciously pointed me to the other side “to sign in.” Obviously I belonged there, I was wearing a polo coat!
I was greeted by an elderly English butler type straight out of a Masterpiece Theater production. Without sounding obsequious, I politely expressed my curiosity as to the establishment, having noted how lovely it looked from outside. In the most deadpan manner I was informed that it was a private club. When I asked if I might inquire its name, I was told it was called The Brook.
According to the Wiki page, it’s one of the most exclusive in North America:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brook
Just an amusing story from the front lines of all that clothes, taste and class stuff. Clearly if I’d been dressed differently they would have called security the moment I walked in.
I’ll leave you to decide if the coat is a form of misrepresentation. For me it’s an Ivy classic.
Good story. Did they let you see the room upstairs?
Didn’t seem right to ask.
I mostly like the couple and do follow their blog. I’m just glad to see some traditional and preppy people garnering attention. It’s refreshing from the bombardment of urban, rap, hip-hop lifestyle that seems to have taken over the country lately. Seems like people are either hip-hop or redneck country lately. But that being said, even I’ve noticed a bit of kitsch and phoniness in their posts lately. I think the new year’s eve tartan tuxedo with velvet slippers and no socks is what did it. None of my prep school buds would have been caught dead in that, not even the dapper banker’s son that was dressed by his mom.
How is their clothing they sell? Are they good products? Well made? Sometimes his suits and shirts look a little tight fitting to me.
The Brook! My g-g-g-g-g-g-grandfather who captained the Mayflower started that club! I have an old matchbook with his name on it. I’ve registered it with….
Polo Coat..?.. It seems I have a g-g-g-g-g-g-g-uncle named Polo Coat. General Washington always called him “P Coat.” I have that listed in our family’s Illuminated Manuscript…
Shakespeare..?.. That guy owes me money!
Enjoyed the story, Christian. Regrettably, I resemble George Costanza, so Polo Coats drag the floor when I wear them. Although, I do know the Van Buren Boys’ gang sign, and that really opens doors.
Speaking of Van Buren..?.. Did I ever tell you about the time Marty came over to my g-g-g-g-g-aunt Ester’s house in 1837 to ask her opinion on economics? Well, E said…
Chewco LP:
There was an exchange between Fitzgerald and Hemingway:
H: The rich are so much different from us
F: Yes. They have more money.
Hemingway later recounted this exchange and traded places with Fitzgerald, thus making Fitzgerald sound like a starstruck suck-up. I read that that perception had plagued Fitzgerald for quite some time after.
No real point in this reply, and certainly no intended malice or vitriol. I always like a good story.
@TML
Thank you for pointing out the myopia of we Xers and Boomers. Kiel and Sarah my have their own little reality show going, but what a wonderful counter to Kardashian culture for their generation.
America is such a weird, funny place. A janitor at my college was a dead ringer for Prince Charles. Cavalry Officer haircut and all. Ocean blue eyes, gray-tinged blonde hair, ruddy complexion. Tall and straight-backed. Handsome guy. Could’ve been an 80s era Ralph Lauren model. I wondered to myself, “Is it possible that this fellow’s distant relatives were royalty?” Who knows. Maybe. Still yet, he drops sweat mopping floors and sweeping the cups and napkins tossed casually to the ground by the sons of first generation immigrants, likely the sons and grandsons of petite bourgeoisie or lesser.
I mean, really–the lovely absurdity of it all.
I love America.
I went on over to look at the full KJP story as suggested. I find the pictures, well, creepy.
Is he any creepier than Owen Labrie, or Robert Chambers, or even Thomas Gilbert Jr.?
Now those guys are the creepiest preps in history!
Killed some time and visited the full story on KJP. I’m with you AEW, rather creepy. They do seem to be trying too hard. Though it is not always the case, if you have to tell them who you are, you ain’t.
Will
A very interesting stream of comment. KJP photos have always struck me as a kind of Disney take on those wonderfully wicked Smirnoff “”Tea Partay” of a few years ago.
I will say that there is nothing at all wrong with those sailing belts. Great colors and high quality. And a fair price. The Kelly green one in particular with grey slacks “pops” as they say.
@wianno85 Thanks for the mention of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTU2He2BIc0 I needed a laugh… “we may be vanilla, but our labs are chocolate”… probably a form of micro aggression… but funny. Anyway, I must get back to work now.
After all this discussion I’ve gone and had a look at the KJP web postings myself. The photos are beautiful and they do evoke some of the old Polo Ralph Lauren ads of the 70s and 80s, but the thing about the Polo ad campaign was that you knew it was fake: male and female models with professional hair and makeup posing in sets with props. I don’t know what to make of KJP’s tumblr images. The photos are presented as an unabridged photographic tale and life, but once a couple knows that they’re taking photos to post on the Internet with a tie-in to their clothing business, that will necessarily affect how they choose what to wear in the photos and the places to go and the people they see. In other words, the photos are no longer simply candid shots. In summary, I understood Ralph Lauren Polo advertising to be pure fantasy. With KJP, I have no idea where to draw the line between fantasy and reality, and maybe that’s by design.
Hmmm, Rojo’s post sounds alot like a very wise Anonymous poster of a few days ago about Polo ads not being presented as real life.
Why anyone “follows” KJP or the Kardashians is beyond me.
This about says it all. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/fashion/the-designer-kiel-james-patrick-evokes-the-perfect-new-england-summer.html
@James
Thanks for pointing out the enlightening NY Times article. KJP seems to actually be a pretty straight up guy. He admits that, “It’s kind of what I want New England to be: it’s a New England fantasy…”
Perhaps the primary difference between KJP and Muffy Aldrich is pretty clear-cut. KJP plainly admits to selling New England fantasy. Muffy, on the other hand, championed New England authenticity, but apparently had some fantasy going too.
At my point in life, KJP is irrelevant. I can appreciate, however, what he and his now wife are doing for the young crowd who still want a life of driving onto South Beach in a vintage Wagoneer for a lobster bake. Happy to know that there’s still a desire by KJP & Sarah’s multitude of young followers for that sort of thing, and good for them for perpetuating it (and making some money in the process).
I’ve been in the advertising business for the past 25 years, buildings brands for all types of clients including a fair number of well known American apparel institutions. Creating narratives with an influential POV that consumers ingest and keep coming back to the buffet line for more.. As much as I despise the Kardashians, KJP or even the current administration, I give these people credit. They’ve each built successful brands that attract thousands to millions of people. Congrats KJP, I won’t buy your products or your lifestyle but nice job.
People If you don’t like the show change the channel.
Ward Wickers for President.
I will be kind and simply say that such people will never be accepted into real high society. Real Old money sees thru such people and their BS …instantaneously .
‘Real old money’ such as yourself, obviously.
Personally I find the fantasy world of KJP and Sarah Vickers (et al similar “preppy” Tumblr feeds) strangely alluring only because of the nostalgia they evoke in my mind for my younger years (granted I’m only in my early 30’s). Basically a time when responsibilities were low and summers were spent working very little. As for quality of the KJP brand, I own only a ball cap. The construction is all wrong, so I am unlikely to purchase anything else from them.
Granting KJP the title of “most preppy” seems like a stretch, but who cares really. I would have to vote for the ladies at Tuckernuck in Georgetown for best start-up brand which caters to the preppy and well dressed crowd.