Tibi + Miu Miu are making me long for ... Ralph.

1992? Your girl is backkkkk.

We are deep in a heady prep hey day. You’ve heard me go on (and on) about all things Miu Miu ss/24 — my convo with

Jalil Johnson

here. And then Tibi launched its latest offering, Resort 2025 (my take here), with offerings like a piped crested blazer, tennis-slash-cricket sweater styled with a necktie, and another version featuring an actual tennis player, oversized rugby tucked into chinos. Obviously ironic and Tibi-modern.

But it got me thinking.

Just as all those editors and Tibi folx love the original Bean Boat and Totes — and Lacoste polos, too! — why not plumb and play with stuff from the original prep maestro? I’m not gonna pay full retail for a Miu Miu polo — pls pls pls pls pls prayer hands — so wherefore art thou, Ralph?

Summer of the Story

1992 was for me the summer between college and law school, and I spent it working at Ralph Lauren. I still remember the things I bought, too, like button covers and a southwestern look comforter and an organza riff on a madras plaid shirt. I was supposed to be working for a living, but in actuality I lived off free pizzas at Bocce Happy Hour, whatever dinner dates bought me, and pasta with Molly McButter. All while spending virtually every cent I made.

I’d grown up with the brand since 7th grade, and remained pretty obsessed with it. The manager of the Philadelphia store and his wife (the window display designer) just loved the idea of having an Ivy League kid who had actually gone to prep school working there. Unforch, these “credentials” did nothing to make me even a halfway decent employee. I once charged a customer $9500 for socks and rang it all the way through until I realized my mistake.

Actually, wearing socks was one of the big RL learnings. A precursor to today’s sock obsession. I was assigned to the shoe department (a much better fit than my turn at register), where I came in sans socks one day, and my manager made me buy them. Socks with loafers? That seemed so dorky! And buying those socks wasn’t cheap. White with black polka dots; I still remember. Everything we wore had to be Ralph, head to toe. Most of my Ralph, the workhorse pieces to go with my insane purchases so I wouldn’t be, say, pantless, was acquired second hand or handed down from mom, back when I could fit into her clothes! (The managers were always taken with my “vintage” pieces. For me it was purely financial; I was clueless.)

Today I’m like — they were right. Better with socks. And vintage Ralph! Ahead of their time.

The other thing my manager told me was this: You’re not selling clothes. You’re selling a story. If someone wants to buy sneakers (I still remember the sneakers we were selling then, like Keds, white with 2 piping lines, yellow + navy and a “polo” patch on the back), you go into the stock room and bring the waiting customer (pretty sure we said “client”) sneakers plus one other thing, and you tell them a story. “These are the perfect sneaker to sling over your shoulder when you’re going to the beach in an old MG convertible. Oh and I thought maybe you’d also want a sandal for sunset cocktails after…” While I have little use for my law school degree (I retired from that after 3 years), these storytelling - and upselling! - classes have served me well.

Ralph on my Block

RL the brand has gone through a lot. Ups and downs. So much dilution. But I feel it in the ether today. It started slowly — whenever celebs suddenly start going deep on a brand that’s been quiet, you know something’s afoot. This began with JLo in the pandemic. Which makes sense when you think about it. RL was self made and courageous, Ralph Lipschitz of Brooklyn to JLo’s Jenny from the Bronx block. And unlike the quiet luxury that may have been his original touchstone/inspiration, his became a story of accessible luxury. My store manager may have been tickled by the Ivy prep school bit, but everyone else I worked with looked the part far better than I did, a Jewish girl in a waspy world.

I’ve been thinking about Ralph a lot more lately. They opened a new store in the Design District last year (another sign of rebirth, Miami’s Design District is locus for many flagships and special collections). In the window: the shrunken polos and giant, colorful drawstring sail-look skirts that had caught my eye on runway.

Suddenly, I was home again. greeting mannequins layered beyond the limits of my imagination— even polo shirts over cable knit sweaters, all the hierarchies returning to me, cashmere, silk, purple label.

Which way to Men’s?

Aside from those billowing (and astronomical and impractical) maxi sail skirts, not much interested me. Until I got to the men’s section. Where virtually everything did.

Amy Smilovic has talked about “pushed basics” — and these are not that — but I do find that I sometimes crave “great, classic basics” to help me wear some of my out-there pieces. Tibi’s pricing is nothing to sneeze at (I understand; the positioning is “luxury designer”), which makes much of Ralph look like a deal if you’ve been doing your Style Class work and know how to wear them. I think choosing from men’s gives some of that ease/swagger that keeps them from feeling average.

The other thing about Ralph is this: All alterations are free. No matter how much the item or what line it’s from. So in effect, anything can be custom. (More on this point shortly.) A few of the pieces that caught my eye:

Cotton vest. All those cricket vibes. I would buy a bigger size for more drape over the butt. I’d like this with a white slip dress and some weird shoe that makes no sense.

The oversized rugby we’re all waiting for from Tibi Resort? How about this to scratch the itch? The cotton felt really good, really premium. And it’s thin enough to tuck easily, too.

I liked the discrete logo at the end of the sleeve.

I also liked the denim. A lot. These painted jeans gave me the Levis vibe I’m forever looking for and never quite finding. I bought them to cut off … but I’m not sure I can!

This denim shirt was from women’s — I loved the fit and wash, and it’s that uber light denim you can wear all summer. If I wanted the sleeves cut off, I could DIY it, or the tailor could do it for me. For free. You can actually get pretty creative.

Suited for Me

But the thing that really got me, from my first visit, were the men’s suits.