I used to read Teen Vogue and every year there would be a ‘back to school’ issue – tips on shopping for the new term (or semester as you call it over there…) with girls buying Ferragamo pumps and Chanel totes. This of course was all rather baffling and foreign to me. Going ‘back to school’ in the UK means a trip to WHSmiths stocking up on Parker fountain pen cartridges and snazzy notepads and maybe a trip to M&S for stocking up on tights. With the majority of high schools in America having a no-uniform policy, supposedly it’s a free rein but then the recommendations in Teen Vogue always seem to appear to veer towards preppy/casual with a twist.
So I present my own ‘back to school’ recommendation. Actually, seeing as the label is not even available in the States, it’s a pretty piss-poor recommendation but the female offerings from Yuko Yoshitake’s AW07-8 collection DID make me think that were I an American high school student, it would do me very nicely! The LCF grad, 2003 winner of the Topshop Designer of the Year award is consistently stocked in Beyond the Valley in Soho and her play with sportswear, elegance always results in covetable everydaywear. Primarily, Yoshitake is a menswear designer so it stands to reason that her menswear designs are a tad more considered and stylised. I quite like the role reversal of the more dressy guy and the dressed-down girl.
Ho ho…. apologies if the opening paragraph nearly fooled you into thinking that I would be able to offer any sagely/useful advice for you high school students. Then again, regular readers should know that one is hard pressed to find anything remotely sagely/useful on Style Bubble…..
Love it! I want his clothes more than hers though…
Hmmm… I don’t think I witnessed a single person this cool in my entire high school career. Our school wardrobes consisted of multiple hoodies, jeans, sweat pants, and the occassional dressed up outfit just for fun. I like your version better!
I agree with you ! Whilst I am a fan of Teen Vogue, I’m more often than not wondering what teens actually wear, and moreover how they afford this stuff.
I think non uniform encourages individuality, although in England, you’d end up with 800 ADIDAS clad Chavs.
I adore these clothes,especially the waistcoat and cardigan. Also, being ginger, I am backing the ginger model…
He looks like TinTin…
I think Style Bubble is wonderfully sagely and useful…to the eccentrics, of course, but that’s the only group worth being sage to!
My sixth-form wardrobe was a lot what Erinsays describes, even when we got forced to don smarter attire in Year 13 thanks to a rule change, we weren’t as elegant as this! Heck, I’m not as elegant as this (usually) now!
What’s your email address because when I click on Email Me it opens something else.
Being both a reader of Teen Vogue and a Floridian, I can admit that the back to school edition seems a little far fetched. Back to school really happens down here during the tax free week. In order to be eligible, an item must be under $50… so you can imagine that a majority of people neither do back to school clothing shopping at Chanel or any other high end store, but rather places like American Eagle or Forever 21. After years of reading Teen Vogue, I’ve finally settled with the theory that a majority of what they say is only normal by the wealthier people’s standards.
i go to school in the united states, and we definitely don’t have free rein at my high school. this is my first year at a new high school, but a friend told me they’re very strict and don’t even like us to wear leggings. that, of course, ruins my whole strategy of getting away with short skirts or dresses by covering my legs. sigh 🙁
thanks for the post–i’ve been trying to think of a way to incorporate a bit of neo-trad into my wardrobe… i’ve never heard of yuko yoshitake but this stuff is really really fantastic.
I always used to find Teen Vogue to be very odd because American private schools all have uniforms and everyone I’ve ever met who buys Chanel is from a private school. I love this this though, especially the pseudo Balenciaga vibe (the second boy picture’s jodhpurs and the blazers).
Love the line. wish it fit in with the SoCal.
i actually am a high school student (in america, too, no less! how relevent!) anyhow, let me just say, i would love to have a wardrobe like that. and, while i’m at it, i love reading your blog. you have fantastic style!
I was wondering do you know the typical prices of these clothes?
Also I completely agree with teen vogue showing clothes that are far too expensive for a typical teenager. Living in the UK and being in sixth form means that I can wear my own however I could never wear the clothes in teen vogue. Instead I read it for inspiration and find cheaper alternatives.
Also I was wondering if you knew any shops that sold jodhpurs at a cheaper price?
i love the 2nd and third looks in the right column..
drool
the collar area on the men’s look.. and the loose blazer and shiny skirt combo for the girl.. nice – good for uni too!
xo
marie
Teen Vogue is not realistic at all, it clarifies that the “teen” is more like “a teen with rich/celebrity” parents, most of the time lacking to feature normal, regular girls without the benefits of wealth or nepotism.
For me (Preppy uniformed school, Canada) back to school shopping involving stacking up on grey/navy knee socks and trying to find a suitable alternative to the ugly, up-to-your-chest grey dress pants we are suppose to wear.(By the way, if anyone knows where to find one for $20-$50?) Most of the population in my school are Abercrombie, Hollister, American Eagle, tacky stuff wearers, paired with a pair of Uggs, and a Coach wristlet.(erlack, please grow some originality.
I go downtown and look for sales, quirky finds, vintage, and basics (American Apparel).
Yuko Yoshitake, I love the casual, but still unique look. You can probably find pieces like it though, and then pair it up for a lot cheaper. 😉
I love the first outfit in the pictures there. Now that is something I’d wear back to school! what are the prices on these usually? I can’t imagine buying Chanel or Ferragamo for school clothing. I’ve never even read teen voque, but it sounds very unrealistic for the majority of girls going back to school.
iheartfashion: I do too…in some cases…
Erinsays: When we got to sixth form (AKA the last two years of high school in the UK), we got to wore what we want but yes, by and large most people were pretty casual as you and Eternity have pointed out.
Annah: Me likey ginger too…
Eternity: Eccentrics don’t need sagely advice… I love that readers of Style Bubble aren’t here to be advised…they’ve got minds of their own (woot! great for me as I wouldn’t know how to advise someone…)
Amy: twinkle260@hotmail.com Some computers react funny to that email me link me thinks…
Jess: Ah..thanks for that tax-free week info! Had no idea…
Caroline Stefko: This was what I wasn’t sure of – with a non-uniform policy, are there still rules and guidelines? Perhaps my perceptions is warped from too many cliched American teen movies…
Diana B: The baffling thing of Teen Vogue continues…. I’m wanting that guy’s jodphurs… I think they hark to a more early 19th century breeches type shape…. I prefer breeches to jodphurs in general though…
lola: Warehouse and Gap are doing cheap jodphurs…failing that, try riding shops! Teen Vogue for me was used mainly for aspirational styling too.
Prices are mid-range, anything from £30 to £150.
Georgie: Sounds like you have a great back to school wardrobe… I’m confused though… do you have to wear the knee socks and uniform trousers and then you have free rein on top?
Alex: Prices are £30-£150 Рmid-range.
Thanks for all your comments on YY… and I’m sorry if I gave another non-American tip… but as Georgie said, creating looks like these on the cheap wouldn’t be hard so have fun if you’re a high-schooler…or uni-goer…or anyone else who doesn’t have the restrictions of 9-5 dressing!
haha nobody dresses like they do in Teen Vogue! The regular “uniform” of american high schoolers is just a t shirt and jeans. 🙂
I totally know what Jess is talking about. I’m a Floridan too & there is a tax free week (just passed not too long ago), and when I was in high school it was just as Georgie described. Right from the AE/AF to the Coach bag, and then progessed to Armani Exchange logos, basically anything monogramed/logoed was big, & clone like blonde hair & lots of black eyeliner.
And I never could get into Teen Vogue, I know a lot of people praise it, but it just annoyed me.
Apologies, I forgot to talk about the clothes. I adore the grey women’s waist coat & that finally shirt dress. O how I miss back to school shopping.
The clothes are awesome 🙂
But actually, in America, most people don’t even wear jeans and a t-shirt to school. A lot girls wear sweats and socks with sandals. I have no idea why, but there you go.
When I wear a skirt or a dress people get always ask me why I’m so dressed up… lol
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