Spring

Wearing a tie with shorts is my idea of preppy fun. Add a windbreaker and you have a nice casual outfit for Spring.

This outfit from Dunhill's Spring 2009 collection is not quite monochromatic, but almost. The eggshell blue windbreaker is simple and elegant, which is how I'd describe the whole outfit. The dirty suede desert boots are an inspired choice considering how clean looking everything else is. Well done.

Vampire Weekend

I started listening to indie band Vampire Weekend after noticing their preppy (and adorable) frontman Ezra Koenig on MTV. The whole band has a preppy look, not terribly surprising for a group formed at Columbia University.







Here is a video of Vampire Weekend performing their song "A-Punk" at the 2008 Woodie Awards, "the only award show 100 percent voted on by college students" according to MTV.

Vampire Weekend - New Music - More Music Videos

Fictitious Organizations

Ever noticed how Ralph Lauren and others use fake emblems in their fashions? You know what I mean: yacht clubs, hunt clubs, rowing clubs, etc. that don't really exist. I wish I had $100 for every one of those I've seen.


Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's anything wrong with this. I admit I've wrestled with the concept of make-believe clubs, but I finally decided that I like them for camp value if nothing else. Believe me, I've spent plenty of time around real yacht clubs and at this point in my life I'd rather belong to an imaginary one.


Incidentally, I absolutely love everything about this Polo Marine Pacific Windbreaker: bold colors, sturdy construction, stand up collar, snaps and drawstrings, cuffs and hood, and perfectly phony emblems of the P.R.L. Yachting Association. The jacket is designed to get attention and tell the world: I'm preppy and proud of it!

Midshipmen

I watched the U.S. Naval Academy Men's Glee Club today on TV singing "Maryland, My Maryland" before the Preakness race. How charming!

I have never mentioned politics in this blog, but I'm making an exception today: The military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy is wrong. It discriminates against gay people and it hurts the whole country. The policy undermines our national security and runs counter to the American values of equality and justice. We need to tell our leaders to end discrimination against gays in the military.

X marks the spot

Understatement was never my forte. I am tempted to buy this Benjamin Bixby polo shirt just because it is so conspicuously preppy.

The only problem is who gets it, me or the boyfriend? I'm thinking the boyfriend.

Empire of the Sun

I watched the DVD of Empire of the Sun last night and really enjoyed it. Steven Spielberg directed the 1987 movie featuring 13-year-old Christian Bale as a privileged British schoolboy living in China at the outbreak of World War 2.


I love traditional British school uniforms. Too bad they've gone out of style. But I digress. Jamie, a precocious boy, has to adapt when he is separated from his parents during the Japanese invasion of Shanghai.


John Malcovich plays a streetwise American who befriends Jamie. They are captured by the Japanese and sent to a prison camp. I hope I'm not giving away too much of the story!


Eventually, Jim (as he is known in the camp) acquires a leather jacket and crawls through the mud. This movie has so many special moments. Spoiler alert. There is a happy ending, sort of.

Fabulous

My Blue Blazer received the 'Your Blog Is Fabulous' award from Daryl at Southern Gent.

Now I'm supposed to post this JPEG on my blog, choose seven blogs to receive this award, notify those bloggers, and wait for the award to come back to me again.
I could choose seven blogs, but I'd like to acknowledge just one blog. Maybe I'm breaking the rules, but it wouldn't be the first time.

All Things Fabulous is a fun, sophisticated, good looking blog. The author, M.R. Rowe, has a refreshing sensibility. Where else can you read about prep football, gay marriage, whitewater canoeing, Michelle Obama, the Flaming Lips, sequins, shoes, J. Crew, the Barefoot Contessa, and the Place des Vosges?