There’s Preppy – Then There’s Ridiculous

Preppies like to have their belts and pants embroidered with various motifs. There are spouting whales and signal flags, lobsters and tennis racquets, ducks and sailboats. These are the classics.  But have you ever imagined whales, for example, embroidered on a seersucker jacket?  Well, J. Crew has, and I can tell you the result is neither preppy nor aesthetically pleasing, but something verging on the ridiculous and clownish.  I came across these images on an eBay site.  So, I am not sure if J. Crew offers this item any longer.

Worn correctly, seersucker is an elegant statement – showing good taste and an understanding of seasonal traditions.  It shows a practical side as well.  Seersucker keeps you cool in the summer.  But this?    This is just fundamentally wrong!  A seersucker jacket does not need gee gaws adorning it.  Unfortunately, this is what happens when preppy goes mainstream, and a retailer like J. Crew fails to grasp the correct way to apply a much loved motif.

Overall, this is a colossal design failure.  Although the jacket is a 3-button model with half lining and patch pockets, a very good start, there is no 3/2 roll to the lapels.  J. Crew committed a further mistake by making the material darted in the front, rounding out the fiasco with the blue embroidered whales.

Now, what would a great seersucker jacket done correctly look like?  Let’s try an example from J. Press – clean, simple and timeless.

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