Those Mad Men Are At It Again, & Yale as the ‘Gay Ivy’?

Happy Friday everyone, this has seemed like a long week, and yet we have a bit of an empty feeling as we ask ourselves, “Ummm, exactly what did you accomplish this week Missy? Hhmmm?” We’re sure we managed to provide some tangible benefits in exchange for the privilege of taking up airspace here on the Preppy Planet, we’re just not able to recall immediately what those benefits were.

Well, that’s more-than-enough of a dreary detour, let’s move on to something with no redeeming values whatsoever, a look at the news.

We start with happy news about our absolute favorite television program:

Courtesy amc-tv

Mad Men has received multiple Emmy nominations: 16 in total.  Once again Jon Hamm (aka Don Draper) draws a nomination as Best Actor in a drama, and costar John Slattery is nominated as Best Supporting Actor; he plays Roger Sterling, one of the founders of 1960’s advertising agency Sterling Cooper.

USA Today had a great Q&A with Mr. Slattery on the eve of last year’s Emmy ceremony, click here. Below, a photo of both men at last year’s Emmy gala; Mr. Slattery is on the left.

PHOTO: Mike Blake/Reuters (9.21.08)

Actress Elisabeth Moss is nominated for her role as Peggy, and the show itself garnered another Best Dramatic series nod; it was the big winner in this category last year. Below we see Ms. Moss between Mr. Slattery and Mr. Hamm. (Oh, to be a sandwich between those two….)

Courtesy mac-tv

Mad Men Season 3 premieres Sunday, August 16 at 10pm EDT.  You know where we’ll be…. how about you?

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Now we display our ignorance for all to see and comment upon. We were well aware Tiffany was carrying handbags…

Courtesy Tiffany & Co., (No Longer Available)

The handbag was referred to here at the Palace as the Tiffany Tote (we chatted about it here and here), yet somehow TP missed the news that Cartier was doing bags as well.

Courtesy Bag That Style

And from the looks of the photo of Gossip Girl star Blake Lively, it would seem this is old (moldy old) news! Are we just hopelessly out of touch?

But we go back to Tiffany for a quick moment: has everyone seen the new Jean Schlumberger enamel bracelet collection?

Courtesy Tiffany

Very, very pretty, IOHO.

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Next we have the growing discussion about Yale’s position as the “Gay Ivy”.  This is not a new phenomenon, but the current conversation is due in part to this month’s issue of the YAM, or Yale Alumni Magazine.

Courtesy Yale Alumni Magazine

Again, not anything really new other than its front page status in the YAM; however, the story by the magazine’s editors’ and accompanying profiles offer insight into the history and veracity of such an appellation.

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In other news that shall have no impact on our life whatsoever that somehow seemed moderately interesting nonetheless, WWD reports popular retailer Forever 21 will soon be adding home and beauty lines to their merchandise mix.

PHOTO: Shanna Ravindra

The company will be rolling out these products in their bigger stores, including the 15 former Mervyn’s store they purchased.

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And a tidbit about a one-time Princess favorite, news that a buyer has been secured for bankrupt retailer Eddie Bauer.  The buyer plans to keep most of the existing 300 stores open, and also says Eddie Bauer gift cards will be honored. That at least, is good news.

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We close with one of the cutest stuffed animals we have ever seen: the Whale Big Mouth Fun from Baby Earth.

BabyEarth.com

With that darling image we say au revoir until next time, may your weekend be surorunded by summer splendor!

When Argyle Goes Bad

Hello-Hello, and Happy-Day-Before-Friday!

Because it remains crazy-busy here in the corner condo at Princess InterGalactic HQ, once again we shall stoop to a post more filled with photos than fabulosity.

We begin with the thought that many readers will remember back in the olden daze days, when one of the primary purposes of golf at the club was doing a little business whilst making one’s way over to the nineteenth eighteenth hole. TP’s father certainly solidifed more than one commerce-related friendship in this manner, although TQM ultimately opted out of her role as the executive’s spouse; something to do with the 12-hour time commitment required for proper entertaining: attention to the round and wife/wives at hand, cocktails following the sporting event, dinner after the libations, you know the drill. It was a far more ‘liquid-intense’ affair back in the day than it is now. (No, bottled water is not what we reference with the word liquid.)

Naturally one required appropriate apparel for these activities, and we remember both parents clad in colorful prints.  Yet somehow they avoided  looking like this:

PHOTO: Eddie Keogh/Reuters

This strikes us as something that really transcends the average Adventures in Argyle, don’t you think?

Believe it or not, the appendages cloaked in the garments seen above and below all belong to one individual.

PHOTO Montage: Matthew Childs/Action Images

Come now, you must know upon whose legs you gaze … of course you do.

PHOTO: Matt Dunham/AP

It is that bad boy of golf, John Daly.  And before one thinks about looking in horror upon his wardrobe selections over at Turnberry (or elsewhere) let us all remember he is only doing his job, promoting his eponymous line of golf clothing.

The name of his line? Loudmouth.

As always, writers on the far side of the Pond describe the scene far better than we can; here is a morsel from the Times talking about Mr. Daly’s look at the Scottish Open last Friday:

His “pants” as they call them in the United States – in Scotland we prefer “breeks” – were just about indescribable: a bonfire of colour, at least six different shades of polka-dot, from his rear to his ankles. You could be forgiven for thinking Daly had forgotten to change out of his pyjamas when he rose in the morning. “Christ, I was aghast when I saw him!” rasped a Scottish marshall on the 9th tee…”

Loudmouth offers amazing styles and the Ladies should not feel as if there is nothing equally striking for their walk-in, below we share a slightly more tame look in our favorite color combination:

Courtesy Loudmouth Golf

And while the pink and green is really quite acceptable, when it comes to Mr. Daly’s attire we envision TQM now floating somewhere between “Gasp! The horror” and “Did you make this up?”

Indeed.

Others sported argyle this week at the British Open, including Tom Watson in a more classic style.

PHOTO: Marc Aspland/The Times

Mr. Watson’s sweater is from one of his sponsors, Polo Ralph Lauren.

Frequent readers know this isn’t the first time we’ve commented on proper clothing for athletic endeavors. Hardly.  For a far more entertaining look at  just how big the pro-apparel sponsorship business is, here is a story running earlier this week in the Times.  For example, we had no idea that Nike selected what Tiger Woods would wear this week more than a year ago.  (And we’re OCD?)

There is no shortage of bright colors and bold patterns on the golf course. We enjoy most of them, but do feel if one is going to have a strong horizontal pattern it simply must be matched at the side seams. If this means the item becomes too costly to manufacture, then it simply should not be made, it is too offensive to the human eye.

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Something that is more-than-easy on the eyes? The reminder today via Peak of Chic about the new Lulu DK for Matouk linens collection; we just adore it.

Courtesy Lulu DK Matouk

You won’t be disappointed.

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And those fond of the excellent selection of goods at the MOMA store may appreciate a reminder:

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We close with happy news here at the Prepatorium, we are starting to receive our calendars for next year in stock! Below, the Donovan Designs 2010 desktop offering.

PreppyPrincess.com

We like their cute colors and grosgrain bow, along with the acrylic easel holding the darling artwork. (And their price point of only $18!)

On that cheery note, G’bye until next time!

Target’s Gossip Girl Line & the Rumors, A Preppy Mish-Mash

Hello-Hello everyone, welcome to our wild Wednesday. It has been insanely busy here at the Prepatorium, so we are going to be mercifully brief today!

We begin with a rapid rundown of the big to-do that isn’t, this one involving the much-discussed Anna Sui Gossip Girl line for Target due to debut September 13.

Courtesy Target

Evidently the rumor mill was peaking in the Hysteria Zone Monday with a story that the ‘rambunctious activities’ (our phrase) of the characters on Gossip Girl were so mature and non-family-friendly that Targèt was not going to move forward with the line. Clearly that would have been lunacy with merchandise this close to being shipped to stores. Honestly.

Here are a few more looks from the line.

Courtesy Target

In fact, a Target spokesman told StyleList:

“We are moving forward as planned with the four principal leads of ‘Gossip Girl’ as our creative muses.” And added, “Unfortunately, there was misinformation passed around and we are still very excited about the collaboration.”

Courtesy Target

It seems the retailer is more than pleased by their association with the hit television show; the StyleList story also explains Target is the official sponsor of the G2 season premiere September 14, the day after the collection launches.

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Next, a peek at a few of the looks on tap from Talbots for the Holiday and Resort seasons. We start with an oversized tartan plaid on the button-front dress seen below.

Courtesy The Fashion List

Talbots will also offer a rich black trench for their Resort line.

Courtesy The Fashion List

Our thanks to the folks over at the Fashion List for their insightful post on the upcoming Talbots styles, as well as thoughts on the store’s direction:

“The Holiday 2009 collection… made the case loud & clear that Talbot’s was not choosing the typical slippery slope of reduced prices (aka reduced quality) that so many companies mistakenly follow when times get tough, but rather looking at their existing customer (50+ year olds)… embarking on a mission to attract the generation before these ladies (the 35 to 50 set) & creating offerings that would give them a reason to walk through the company’s trademark red door & walk out happily…”

What are your thoughts, can Talbots regain the under-50 shopper? We believe they can garner some, but it is going to be a tough sell shedding what has become a dowdy, frumpish image.

Whilst speaking of Talbots, a quick reminder: don’t forget their Summer Sale and Clearance continues with an additional 25% off already reduced merchandise.

Also continuing their Final Sale, J. Crew, saying they have added more merchandise to the sale.

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Next, a look at a lush silk organza dress from the Milly Holiday Collection; while much too fun and young for this oldster, but we do find that oversized bow rather adorable.

PHOTO: Talaya Centeno/WWD

Our thanks to Women’s Wear Daily for this image.

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We have a few items for our Pretty in Pink today, our first is from  with the Kate Spade Fairmount Park Jori Dress.

KateSpade.com

One reason we wanted to showcase Kate Spade is the fact they are taking an additional 40% off already reduced Sale merchandise.  This makes the cost of the dress shown above approximately $156; the original selling price was $345.

We understand if you feel the urge to flee this site and head over there, no hurt feelings whatsoever, exigent circumstances do arise in retail, and we fully understand. (Ahem.)

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Also continuing their sale (but not with such steep discounting), Brooks Brothers.

BrooksBrothers.com

The image above references the markdowns on Brooks’ Non-Iron shirts; we can attest to the fabulosity of these, the shirts really are divine. And at these prices, the opportunity to stock up on a basic is really very tempting. Even for TP. (Sssshh.)

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We close with our other Pretty in Pink item,

The Container Store via Pink & Green Scene

We were tipped to this treasure by the always-on-top-of-things-folks over at Pink and Green Scene, where it was mentioned in Monday’s post.

This Just In – a Quote of the Day from The Consort: “If this is ‘mercifully short’ then I’m afraid to see what painfully long would be.” Ouch. But then, he is correct. Quite so.

Until next time, may it be Prepalicious everywhere you are today!

NYC Prep Handbags? When Pink & Green Isn’t Pretty

Hello-Hello everyone, it is another stellar day here in The Great Midwest, we hope all of our friends in the southeast have a respite from their weird weather soon!

We have a couple of quick ‘hit-and-split’ items today as it is our heavy volunteer duty afternoon.  We begin with a mournful SOTT (Sign Of The Times) that took us quite by surprise.

Courtesy The Shophound

Not that TP isn’t generally fond of the color combination seen above, but in this case the pink and green signs carry sad news: Beau Brummel is closing their New York store. While carrying more European styles than those of the kind TSU (The Spousal Unit, aka The Consort) would wear, we are still glum to see the shop departing.  For anyone interested in picking over the bones in some great bargains, the price points are now discounted by 75% according to this story over at the Shophound.

We are far more despondent about the recent news Smith and Hawken is shuttering all of their 56 locations; the upscale garden stores are holding going out of business sales with most merchandise marked down by 20%, furniture by 30%.

If clicking on the link to their website, one sees their eloquent farewell:

There’s no word on what this means for the Smith and Hawken line at Target. For more details we suggest this story at the Dallas Morning News

Sniff.

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Another interesting fashion tidbit about the Wretched-Show-We’ve-Never-Seen: there are now handbags created for Bravo’s NYC Prep television program. Below, the Kelli bag as carried by the Kelli character on the show.

Courtesy Bravo & Kooba via Luxist

A better look at the bag from Kooba.

Courtesy Bravo & Kooba

One may order the bags via Bravo or Kooba. There are also bags for Camille, Jessie and Taylor. (These are other primary characters on the quasi-reality show allegedly portraying the lives of preppy kids on the UES.) If shopping for the bags on Kooba however, be advised they do not have the names of their characters. For example, the bag carried by Kelli is actually named the Kristie.

Below, the Jessie aka Blake bag from Kooba.

Courtesy ShopBravo.com

Are we the only ones finding it rather odd one of the four bags in the NYC Prep line is named Blair? (For those not really fans of Gossip Girl, one of the lead female characters is named Blair Waldorf.) Why would there be a purse in the NYC Prep line with the same name as a primary Gossip Girl character?

We’re guessing that despite the “designed exclusively for Bravo’ language these are pre-existing Kooba styles.

Courtesy Bravo & Kooba

The bags are priced at $595.  FYI, we are not negative about the marketing minds that came up with such a creative cross-channel tie-in. To the contrary, in many ways it is marketing brilliance; we simply question how many fans of the show can actually afford one of the Koba purses.

Below, a photo yesterday of the Blair character just mentioned, as played by G2 actress Leighton Meester while she was shooting a scene in the city with co-star Ed Westwick.

Courtesy Just Jared

We had to share the cute dress seen in this photo of Miss MeesterAnother photo of Ms. Underwood, also sehot on location yesterday. (One can see costar Blake Lively behind Ms. Meester.)

NOTE: TP is committing the ultimate in hypocrisy by being such a crankenstein regarding NYC Prep (and on occasion Gossip Girl), having never seen either program. Why is this hypocritical?

Because for lo-those-many-years in television TP (and The Consort at times) wailed and whined about individuals calling the television station to voice complaints about programs or stories that had not yet aired. (Despite directing others to cease any complaining about said calls.) A common response was “But sir, how can you know you won’t like the _________ if you haven’t seen it?!”

(For anyone wondering, posing what may sound like a logical question to the caller rarely helped. Presumption of rational thought processes on the part of most individuals calling TV stations is not wise.)

At most stations the Programming department handled the bulk of the calls, but if it was a news story (heaven forbid), folks dialed directly into the newsroom. We would repeat the same mantra about “How can…” in these cases, only we were likely to be a bit more terse. (“Likely?”)

Thus our relentless whining comments about the two shows mentioned above are really beyond the pale.

We do not apologize.

But everyone knows the Princess is generally a happy soul; any momentary trips into the UCCZ (Uncommonly Courmudgeonly Conduct Zone) should be regarded as rare and isolated incidents demonstrative of TP’s old age, lacking in any value whatsoever.

We’re almost out the door, may everyone have a simply splendid rest of their Tuesday!

J. Crew Execs Everywhere, Are Crossword Puzzles an Ivy Thing?

Hello-Hello and Happy Monday!  We hope everyone enjoyed a splendid weekend!

It seems this past weekend had a bit of a J. Crew management theme in some of the national media. As previously mentioned, J. Crew Grand Pooh-Bah Mickey Drexler was profiled yesterday on CBS’ “Sunday Morning” program.  The feature looks quite interesting, click here to see the full story.

Also this Sunday, the LA Times carried an interesting story on Jenna Lyons, J. Crew’s Design Director.

PHOTO: Melanie Acevedo

If curious about what duties and responsibilities her job actually involves, the story explains:

“That title means she’s in charge of every design element of the company, website and catalog, and it’s her attention to detail — delicate beading, raw edges, crepe de Chine ruffles — that sets J.Crew apart from other mall stores. The company’s ability to be both aspirational and attainable has made it popular with Indianapolis career women and Birkin-toting Malibu trophy wives alike.”

Fashion Critic Booth Moore’s article looks at the ‘cult of Jenna’:

“Bloggers evaluate her personal as well as professional style, contributing to the budding cult of Jenna. They wax eloquently about her love of neutral colors, Sharpie pens and Maybelline Cool Watermelon lipstick.

When it comes to the monetization of this phenomenon or other tangible values attached to such popularity, stock analysts aren’t necessarily seeing it:

“But praise in the blogosphere can’t guarantee a surge in sales of all those pencil skirts and cardigans. “Nobody needs another one-pocket tee or twin set or pleat-front skirt,” says Richard Jaffe, a retail analyst with Stifel, Nicolaus and Co. “Your closet is full of them.”

This feature on Ms. Lyons, when read in tandem with the CBS profile on CEO Mickey Drexler, provides insight into the business of fashion. More from the LA Times piece:

“The chief executive and the designer behave a little like a father-daughter team. Over lunch at Cecconi’s in West Hollywood, she tells him that “being back here even for one day, all my insecurities come back. Women here are in such great shape. Everyone is blond and beautiful. Girls are trying on bathing suits and coming out of the dressing rooms and I’m like, ‘Just stay in there!’ “

The story also  offers a look at select items from the Fall 2009 J. Crew Weddings & Parties line.

Lucinda Gown at JCrew.com

The dress is a poly/cotton/silk blend retailing for $2500.  Also shown, the cotton Erica dress in Cypress, a color available this fall.  (Note: our link connects to the current Erica dress, with most colors on sale for $99.)

Erica Dress at JCrew.com

And finally in our “J. Crews News section” this morning, word the company’s spinoff brand Madewell 1937 is launching a jeans collection deemed “… a bit more price friendly.”

Courtesy Photo via WWD

This morning’s WWD (Women’s Wear Daily, subscription req’d.) reports on the new line, Madewell ’37s, focusing on a single “skinny skinny” jean available in five colors. Perhaps most importantly,the new jean will retail at $58.50; other Madewell denim starts at $78.

Courtesy Photo

As far as differentiating the new jeans from other ?

“The tag line for marketing the ’37s is “Cool jeans. Great price. We’ve got your back.”’

This article also quotes J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler:

“There’s a new world today. The denim customer is no longer trading up to higher price points. With customers giving us feedback and the marketplace changing, it was pretty clear there was a need to come out with a collection of jeans a bit more price friendly. Jeans at $92 to $110 represented the heart of the business.”

While we are not exactly the Madewell demo (cough-cough), it is good to see retailers being smart in pricing.

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Our final item today has *nothing* to do with either J. Crew Group or Mr. Drexler, not that we are Drexler-averse, to the contrary, we think very highly of his skills. We just need to chat about something else, don’t you think?

No, our next item involves a statement contained within this story in yesterday’s Times, a feature looking at the continued demise of the crossword puzzle, along with other puzzles, in many publications.

“The Atlantic’s Puzzler, which will take its final bow in September, and The New York Sun’s crossword are among the most notable recent casualties, in part because of their Ivy League street cred. (Let’s face it: the crosswords in TV Guide and People magazine seldom generate heat at Hamptons dinner parties.)”

“Ivy League street cred?” Now, TP adores her crossword puzzles. Nothing is quite as comforting as settling in with pen (it must be a very specific pen you understand) and newspaper, generally the Times, but we have been known to utilize others in a pinch. But we have never heard them associated with an Ivy, that is a new one for us.

Have you heard of such an affiliation in anyone’s mind previously? More importanly, do you use pen or pencil when you do the puzzle? When pondering how to best answer these deep questions, do keep in mind the world’s fate hangs in the balance. (Heh-heh.)

With this wackiness we say G’bye until next time!