Vineyard Vines, out of Martha's Vineyard, is one of a few brands born from the nuevo-prep movement. Unlike, say a Rugby, Vineyard Vines caters to the older money set and their clothes reflect this - fuller cuts, higher prices, etc. Since hitting the scene in 1998, Vineyard Vines have carved out an incredible niche within the south and northeast as the ultimate purveyor of the "go to hell" style for a certain type of folk (the oldest of monies might even call them wannabees if you want to get into name calling). If I had a dollar for every time I saw a pair of VV croakies while in college my pockets would be seriously lined with fat stacks right now. So in speaking of GTH style and the release of T.O.P.H.'s sequel I thought it would be appropriate to highlight these two belts currently for sale.
Both are pretty standard when you first look at them - brown leather belt with brass buckles, but it's only after you really focus on the buckles that your stomach turns just a little. Yes, that's right, they seriously have cutouts of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket smack dab in the middle of them. Now this is something I would consider about 10x more effective than, let's say, a ribbon belt because of its message, which can be best summed up as "If you don't get it, well, you weren't supposed to and never will." Is it a joke? If so I'm on the outside. Is it tounge in cheek? Probably not. It strikes me as the kind of thing you're either born with or are desperately trying to learn from a book. Yeah, I think this guy is just gonna buy a few more ribbon belts.
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Gotta go with the first one. I don't mess with ACK like that!
ReplyDeletenice shout, vv should be very happy with this one.
ReplyDeleteHa! Just because a company doesn't cut their shirts ultra-slim doesn't mean that they are marketing their stuff towards "old money" people, or even "old" people. Most guys I know don't wear shirts anywhere as slim as the ones shown on all of the blogs. Slim shirts are just a current trend.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of cut VV stuff is pure garbage. The only respectable item I've seen out of their line is the shep shirt, and it's not worth $100. The employees at the college shop in Clemson used to make fun of how poorly made VV stuff was all the time. It's a brilliant business plan though: sell cheapo shit at insane prices to foolish rich people. You can add Southern Tide and Southern Proper to that list too.
ReplyDeleteTrip- Trends be damned, I have always preferred a trimmer silhouette and those "most guys" you mentioned probably would benefit from a less baggy shirt.
ReplyDeleteI'm usually a medium in polo shirts, but when sizing down, their small fits me better than just about any other brand. That said, their stuff is definitely way overpriced and most of the "go-to-hell" stuff is more tacky than anything. Surprised no one has mentioned their ties...yikes.
ReplyDeleteTheir ties scream prep school teacher or pediatrician. Their ties are happy, but homely. Their chinos aren't terrible, but aren't worth the price tag. Their belts are a 'whale' of a joke as they are just Zep-Pro belts with a different label. In general, it's not a terrible brand, just not good.
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