
Hello! Apologies for radio silence after promising this was going to be a weekly thing, but my book came out, then it was the Jewish holidays, then I had to do more stuff (mostly on Zoom) for my book, then I was exhausted from doing all that and also depressed about, well, 2020. But now I’m back and ready to go.
1. I Want to be a Sloane Ranger (Sang to the tune of Bender running down the hallway trying to cause a distraction)
Just like preppy comes back every few years in the U.S., the Sloane Ranger looks like it’s making a comeback, at least according to the true paper of record*, the Daily Mail.
In their '80s heydey, Sloane Rangers could be been trotting up and down the King's Road, impeccably dressed in pearls, a pair of loafers and a pashmina wrapped around their shoulders.
Although the style was definitely distinctive, it was never 'cool'. In fact, it was described by social commentators at the time as 'middle-aged dressing for young people'.
Middle-aged dressing for young people, you say? The article cites Bella Hadid rocking penny loafers and Alexa Chung’s affinity for Barbour jackets, which makes me think that maybe people in America have been having a Sloane Ranger thing going for a few years now and not even realizing it?
The Sloane Rangers have been an interest of mine for a long time, ever since I started digging into America’s brief-lived obsession with all things Brideshead Revisited thanks to the 1981 adaptation that made its way over here at the same time as the preppy trend was going on.

For a brief, glorious moment, Americans were obsessed with British stuff. Yet the Sloane Ranger didn’t totally make it here — which always sort of surprised me. It did in fits and starts (the aforementioned Penny Loafers, Barbour jackets and Range Rovers), but never as a full package. Barbour jackets got really popular over here a decade ago when we started getting obsessed with “heritage” brands, so you were more likely to see them paired with Red Wings or something like that.
Still, the U.S./U.K. connection did yield The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook, the very British take on the iconic Official Preppy Handbook (there’s also The Young Fogey Handbook and The Official British Yuppie Handbook as other satirical takes on British subcultures), but, for my money, the Sloane Ranger Handbook is the closest thing to the American book that really started the trend. It’s a lot to read, but necessary if you want to understand this particularly niche British trend that’s supposedly having a moment.
But if you want a quick glimpse into the world of the OG Sloane Rangers, just Google any pictures of Princess Di from the late-1970s into the mid-1980s and you’ll get a pretty good understanding of what the look was. And if you want any more proof that the look is “back,” Rowing Blazers has a couple of young Diana-inspired pieces in their collection for men and women.

2. Speaking of British Stuff…
I was rewatching Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy the other night and there’s a scene where one guy is buttering toast while sitting on a couch and wearing a nice suit. It’s the best toast buttering scenes I’ve ever seen. The second? Snoopy.
3. Spooky Dead-End Streets
Finally, I’ve been listening to this from Numero Group a lot. It’s been sort of a weird few days hear weather-wise. It’s been a little on the colder side and humid, and then it gets hot for a few hours. Really disgusting weather, actually. I’m waiting for true autumn so I can do a lot of walking while listening to spooky, twangy noir sounds.
* I’m kidding