Icome from a preppy public school about 15 minutes outside of one of the most conservative cities in the country -- our nation's capital: Washington, D.C. I'm used to preppy -- I'm used to pastels on guys and a smattering of Lilly on girls, seersucker, madras, CK Bradley belts, even an occasional flipped up collar (I must admit, I have been known to flip mine on some occasions). But not this.
Everywhere I turn, there's a boy or girl sporting the look: the Polo or Lacoste shirt, or any other polo-style shirt for that matter, with the flipped up collar. Sometimes the collar is flipped up crisply, standing at attention, ready to cater to the wearer's next fashion whim. At other times, the collar is droopy, almost sad looking, and may lean to one side, like a wilting flower. This flipped up collar type sometimes bothers lookers-on.
Katherine Lang, a first year, comments, "The fact that the flipped up collar is such a 'look' is what turns me off. If the collar leans to one side, it looks kind of stupid, and sometimes you even spot people casting a glance in a nearby mirror, making sure the 'look' is intact."
I've even spotted flipped collars on crisp button down shirts -- this look almost is killer, literally and figuratively. The collar is so tall that it sometimes appears as if the wearer has on a Count Dracula-style cape.
After observing, I was faced with quite a serious fashion conundrum which almost rivals the Homeric Question I've been learning about in both my Comparative Lit and Ancient Greek classes: Why is the collar flipped up? To what extent is the look carried out? Why did this begin? When will this end?
I took a stroll across the lawn and then took a longer way back to my dorm room after class in an effort to find flipped up collar wearers.
To my dismay, there was no one in sight! Did they by any chance have super human anti-collar-reporter sensing powers? I glanced around me and found many males and females wearing their polo shirts proudly, collars down.
I searched a bit more and did find one passer-by with a flipped up collar.
Liz Cramer, a first year, comments, "I don't really pay attention. I put my shirt on and stuff happens. My friends sometimes make fun of me because my collar will be half up, half down."
I wonder if the others feel this way as well. Perhaps Liz is right -- the collar, freed from the closet, takes on a life of its own and moves throughout the day, sometimes up, other times down and many times somewhere in between.
Is the collar-up a style harkening back to the teased hair, shoulder-pad 1980s? After all, this season we do see a revival of 1980s-wear, thank goodness not as horrendous as the first time around. We see easy fit, off the shoulder t-shirts and metal detailing. Maybe the flipped collar is just an extension of the trend?
I don't think so, however, because I'm sure kids here were wearing their collars up before the 1980s were "in" once again. What about if a jacket is worn over the collared shirt? Will the collar still stay up; will the collar on the jacket mysteriously flip up as well?
Another possible theory: The collar up style started out in Europe last year. The United States often lags behind more fashion-forward European countries like Italy and France, and sometimes trends appear in the States up to two seasons later. Although this may be the answer, we don't have much evidence supporting this hypothesis.
I've heard the frat kids are the kings of the flipped up collar. Maybe I should venture over to Rugby on a weekday (Gasp! But shouldn't I be studying?) and ask them why they wear their collars up? They will most likely be too actively involved in their schoolwork to answer my question. So ... maybe not.
For now, I feel that the collar-up conundrum is just that -- a mystery that may never be solved. Maybe one day someone will solve the puzzle, but for now, we can only wonder.
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