Elegant clothes (again) took over the world of style in 2022 | Popgen Tech

In October, Avery Truffelman, host Interesting articles podcast from Radiotopia, decided to follow a trend that, she said, “against everything seems to come back again and again.” The following seven chapters—each a 30-minute episode in Season 3—follow the prequel style from its inception to the present day, chronicling what prompted its release and what made it ubiquitous.

And in 2022, preparatory clothes are simply abundant. “Yes, hedge funds and catering clubs are as exclusive and unattainable as ever, but my pet theory is that Ivy clothing has become everything that Ivy institutions themselves are not—they are accessible; they are relatively affordable; and they’re friendly,” Truffelman says in Chapter 7, which dropped on December 7.

This view goes against the original intent of those who wear the style. They used OCBD and Step and Repeat Ties to denote wealth, something that for many was a completely unattainable, exclusive and downright unimaginable destiny, even if it seemed so everyone yet was rich. For the middle class, preparation has become a costuming, a method of assimilation to higher stature. But then prep became cool, with subversives like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, Miles Davis and John Caltrane remixing prep for their own purposes.

“Black Ivy’s style has become a thing in itself, separate from Ivy but always connected to her. Ironically, the characterization of Ivy League clothing as quintessentially cool owes much to the enormous, yet undocumented influence Black Ivy style has had on mainstream culture—past and present.” —Jason Jules, Author Black Ivy: Rebellion in styletold GP in 2021.