Will We All Look Like Trust Fund Babies?

Down at the general store the other morning, out of his Audi stepped a well-dressed guy: Black blazer, silk-blend black tee, black pants draped over black, genuine leather loafers.

How cool, I thought.

Silly me. When black reaches this far into provincial New England, you know the fashion world has moved on.

Goodbye, black. Hello patch madras!

The preppy look is back, The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription):

The last time we were loving golf shirts and pearls this way, we were entering an era that celebrated wealth, on our way to a time when Gordon Gekko was the king of Wall Street and every aspiring corporate raider had a closet full of Lacoste alligator shirts and Topsider deck shoes. Then, greed was good. Now we call it "luxury."

According to this item ($) in The New York Times archives, Sperry Topsiders have indeed jumped back to the top of the fashion charts:

[O]ne can only wonder what Paul Sperry (the stalwart New Englander who invented the Sperry Top-Sider in 1935 by joining a novel nonslip, nonscuff white rubber sole to a moccasin upper) would think to hear Tommy Fazio, the men's fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman, declare on his cellphone from the Milan men's wear shows last week, ''It's all about a boat shoe.''

What really sparked the preppy revival? The WSJ article mentions the Tea Partay video we called to your attention last fall.

So prepare yourselves, wealth managers. Expect more clients wearing pink and green.

Some of the women may look pretty colorful, too.