Decoder Ring - How Preppy Became Streetwear
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3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 6 December 2022
⏱️ 35 minutes
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Summary
We bring you a special episode from the Articles of Interest podcast hosted by Avery Trufelman about the incredible reach and adaptability of preppy clothes. It’s a story about the great modernizer of Ivy style, Ralph Lauren, and how he and his label, Polo, were themselves modernized by customers who helped push preppy in a whole new direction, from the runway to the streets.
We encourage you to listen to the entire American Ivy series from Radiotopia.
Articles of Interest is created by Avery Trufelman. It’s edited by Kelly Prime, mixed and mastered by Ian Coss, fact checked by Jessia Siriano, with music by Avery, Rhae Royal, Sasami, and the Beazlebubs, the Tufts University Acapella Group.
Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd. We had mixing help on this episode from Sam Kim. Derek John is Slate’s Executive Producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.
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Transcript
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| 0:30.4 | USA. Member FDIC. Terms apply. |
| 0:41.0 | When a retrupleman was a teenager, she bristled at her high school's strict |
| 0:45.6 | dress code. It was like you got to cover up your shoulders, you got to wear skirts |
| 0:51.4 | that are certain length, no writing on your shirts, no jeans. I think boys |
| 0:55.8 | had to wear collared shirts and the path of least resistance was to just wear |
| 1:00.1 | preppy clothes, just like do it. But she didn't like preppy clothes. I was like no, |
| 1:05.4 | I'm going to take the path of most resistance and I wore just ridiculous |
| 1:11.6 | things. These cowboy boots with this flapper dress and these long hippie beads |
| 1:17.0 | just all together just so I can avoid looking preppy and I just I did not like |
| 1:24.8 | the fashion. I thought it was for rich white people. It was obliviousness in |
| 1:30.1 | carnit. I really did not like it. And I spent probably my whole youth trying to |
| 1:35.2 | avoid it. But as an adult, Avery has given preppy clothes another look. Avery |
| 1:41.1 | hosts a podcast called articles of interest that's about fashion and the |
| 1:45.5 | history and psychology of why we wear what we wear. And they're doing a whole |
| 1:50.4 | seven episode season about preppy style. I really thought in examining these |
... |
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