Is Ralph Lauren a good idea this autumn?

I must admit that I wasn't a great fan of RL in the last few years. I admire what they did in the past for the entire clothing business and preppy or Ivy scene, but I was not too fond of it mainly because of the people who wore it.

Only lately, as I am older and therefore surely wiser and more mature (joking, obviously), have I realised how stupid this was. So if you ask me: "Would you wear RL this autumn and winter?" I'd say yes. If you ask me: "Should I be wearing it too?" Yes, definitely.

Do you need more proofs? A very beautiful double-breasted pinstripe suit. Ph.: ralphlauren.com

This change of opinion happened because of several reasons. One is that the years before, I would prefer Gant over RL. But from my point of view, the Gant logo is more noticeable and, therefore, a small polo emblem is much better for me as I don't want any logos visible or, if so, the least visible as possible.

Although it may be acceptable for me during casual situations - still, you can't do otherwise if you are wearing, e.g. Lacoste.

Then I dived deeper into the history of "preppy" stuff, discovered posts like this on Die Workwear on J.Crew and honestly, it amazed me.

A proper traditional cricket sweater is on my bucket list for a long time now. Ph.: ralphlauren.com

Not that I wouldn't have warm feelings for this style, my starting point into the world of fashion, style and clothes, in general, was basically the style of preppy people or Ivy League schools, brands such as Gant, Tommy Hilfiger and similar.

So maybe thanks to posts like this and fascinating looks for the upcoming season, I re-discovered the beauty of Ivy. But from a certain point of view, such as sports polos and beautiful full-cut trousers. Not the striped shirts with pin collars, combined with a tie printed with badges and slim-fit chinos. One can overdo dressing in these brands quite easily.

An exquisite pleated chinos in more generous cut. Ph.: ralphlauren.com

I’d wear this! Great suede jacket. Ph.: ralphlauren.com

So what happened is that I immediately desired to try out J.Crew. Honestly, after the company's resurrection, the pricing is not as horrible as I thought for some reason; therefore, it sticks on my "to-buy and try stuff" list.

Also, I realised that those people wearing RL occasionally are wearing it not for historic or admiration purposes or that they like preppy. They're wearing it because they think it's cool or read somewhere that cool/rich people are wearing it. Mostly polos, shirts or quilted jackets.

These wool barathea trousers have not tight, yet flattering cut. Ph.: ralphlauren.com

I’d leave out the tie with badges, but suede jacket with trousers pictured above is dream. Ph.: ralphlauren.com

Before you reach out to me, how can I know it, it is interesting to talk with someone about clothes and ask them questions about the one they're wearing right now.

The outcome is quite interesting to me - the majority of people know precisely zero information about what they're wearing except "Uhm, well, I think it's a good brand, isn't it?".

Fast forward to the pictures of Ralph Lauren wearing his own clothing. Like it or not, you must admit that this gentleman knows what's going on and can bend the rules like only a few people on this planet.

A polo coat. Notice a bit wider shoulder which reminds me a vintage style. Ph.: ralphlauren.com

I won't be posting because you saw it a million times, but smoking with light jeans is excellent in his styling. But when someone else would try to wear it like him, they'd look odd and inappropriately at best.

Luckily there is about a thousand look a normal mortal person can wear and look good. So allow me to present my favourite ones. You're welcome. And you won't be alone; I, too, opt to try out and add more RL to my wardrobe.

A rich velvet dinner jacket by Purple Label - RL can do great evening wear. Ph.: ralphlauren.com

Well, yes. Words that tailcoat is dead have been greatly exaggerated. Ph.: ralphlauren.com

One more thing I would like to say. I have a feeling that on the blogs, preppy or Ivy is being a bit criminalised, especially if they like/promote tailoring or Scandinavian weird workwear-minimalistic-otherstylesmixedin style. It is mostly hard to understand because Ivy when combined with tailoring, could be and is outstanding when done well.

And I don't want to be disrespectful toward Scandinavian styles; please don't understand it like that. The only thing is that I don't think it's great to wear very wide trousers, a tank top and a resort collar shirt together with some kind of outerwear that looks between "wanna climb mountains" and "a city raincoat". Perhaps this is not even Scandinavian style; I just have the impression from Instagram, so I apologise if I might offend someone.

Anyway, back to Ivy and preppy - I am looking forward to enriching my wardrobe this afternoon and wearing again the style I wore when I began to be interested in men's style and clothes.

So, what's your point of view?

All the best,

Denis

All pictures are taken from ralphlauren.com