Talbots New Face, & Is It Joint Custody for a Gossip Guy?

Hello-Hello, welcome to another delightful day at the Prepatorium, where the sun is shining brightly and the grounds are drying out after this weekend’s torrential downpours.

There is so much happening we offer numerous Bits & Bytes we hope you find to be moderately interesting, beginning with news that Talbots has upped the ante when it comes to their marketing plans, hiring 90’s supermodel Linda Evangelista.

Amy Sussman/Getty

Above we show Ms. Evangelista in December of last year. Here’s more from the Page Six story:

“Talbots chief marketing officer Lori Wagner said of Evangelista “She possesses this timeless yet spontaneous glamour that’s irresistible in our minds.”

In a StyleList story Ms. Wagner refers to the model as “perfection,” adding:

“”For our 40-to-45-year-old customer, when you say Linda Evangelista, there’s a reaction.”

Look for promotional and marketing materials featuring Ms. Evangelista sometime in August, as well as in the oversized September issues of fashion magazines.  (With apologies to our Facebook Fans who may have already seen our mention of this.)

In Gossip Girl news, something many readers are likely to have already seen, the Chace Crawford mug shot.

Image Courtesy Plano (TX) Police

Mr. Crawford was arrested on a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge in his hometown of Plano, Texas.  The incident took place in the wee hours of Friday morning.

Rafa Nadal won his fifth French Open yesterday, retaining his “King of Clay” honor.

Boris Horvat/AFP/Getty

Mr. Nadal is seen above being congratulated by ball boys and girls after his big win at Roland Garros.

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Last night’s MTV Movie Awards offered many interesting style choices, as always. Perhaps one of the funniest moments involved Tom Cruise performing with Jennifer Lopez.

Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

That really is Tom Cruise; he was reprising his own Len Grossman character from “Tropic Thunder“.

Matt Sayles/AP

Twilight was a big winner; above we see Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner on stage at the Awards. (Nay-nay, TP was not caught watching MTV, we merely trawled this morning’s newsfeeds seeking tidbits for our cherished readers.)

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In other style news, Details magazine offers a look at “Three Quintessentially American Fashion Archetypes“. Can you guess the first style under discussion?

Courtesy Details

Of course, it is ‘prep’.

Another magazine looking at the prep aesthetic, Lucky, in its June issue.

Courtesy Lucky

Happy reading.

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One other literary tidbit of note, not at all newsy to many fashion followers, and something heavily covered by most of the prep or trad men’s blogs, but not a topic we have chatted about here at the Princess:

Powerhouse Books via Amazon

“Take Ivy” is a cult classic, on a par with The Original Preppy Handbook for many trads.

Courtesy Powerhouse Books

The 1965 book hails from Japan, and is essentially a collection of candid photographs shot on Ivy League campuses.  As described on Amazon’s site:

“Madras plaid, Top-Siders, seersucker shorts, highwater trousers, tweed jackets, Brooks Brothers, J. Press, J. Crew. What comes to mind?”

The news part of our conversation is the upcoming English-language version of the book, due out this fall, a much-lauded event for those fond of classic/traditional styles.  J. Crew fans may be pleased to know there will also be a limited edition version of Take Ivy, slated for sale at the company’s Liquor Store location.  The upcoming release may be pre-ordered from the publisher, Powerhouse Books.

For more on Trad style vs. WASP style (aka ‘preppy’), Esquire’s March issue offered some distinguishing characteristics. Or pop over to Ivy Style for an easier read.

(Images courtesy Esquire.)

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We have two more quick Sales & Savings mentions:

J. Crew is promoting an additional 20% off sale merchandise online only; use promo code EXTRA20 to receive the savings. The offer is scheduled to end June 9.

Lord & Taylor’s Friends and Family sale is underway, offering an extra 25% off ‘almost everything,’ with a 10% discount on cosmetics.

Use FRIENDS as the discount code; if shopping person at L&T head over to the site and print out one of those ubiquitous coupons.

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We leave you with a question Tilly asked us to pass along. It seems she’s feeling a trifle insecure, for upon hearing us chat about this weeks Monday Tilly Pic, she asked “Does this picture make me look fat?”

Silly Tilly Hard at Work

So we replied, “Well dear, define that. As in, does a beached baby seal look fat?” She wept Tilly tears and we agreed to go with this angle instead.

Tilly's Better Side

Indeed.

(For those not fond of Twitter, the Monday Tilly Pics are merely a little feature where she tries to show her best side every week and we post the image on Twitpic.)