The Prep Rock Playlist
[Saturday, January 21, 2012 | 2 comments ]

What does "preppy" sound like? That's the question I set out to answer with this compilation. I had two basic guidelines in mind:

  1. The music should be generally similar to Vampire Weekend (since anyone who knows anything about either Vampire Weekend or prep would probably agree that they're two peas in a pod).
  2. The music shouldn't sound out of place if it were played in an American Eagle store. (Yes, I know the old-school preps out there will choke on their gin-and-tonics and protest that "American Eagle isn't really prep!" But prep rock? Yes, I would say it is.)
I wasn't really concerned with representing a wide variety of artists, so some of them get significantly more time than others (Vampire Weekend and Shout Out Louds, in particular). What I was most concerned with was capturing the right sound and mood. I also tried to ensure that songs flowed nicely into one another, which is why I decided to feature this basically as a CD-burnable playlist, and why I would recommend that you listen to the songs in order, at least the first time.

The zip file includes all 23 songs, plus cover art, and high-quality printable PDFs of CD case inserts (of which I'm rather proud, if I do say so myself). And here's the track list:

  1. Peter Griffin - The Spirit of Massachusetts
  2. Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof
  3. Shout Out Louds - Fall Hard
  4. Canvas Kites - Vacation (Take You Away)
  5. This Is Ivy League - The Richest Kids in Town
  6. Shout Out Louds - Your Parents Living Room
  7. Mystery Claws - Phony Checks
  8. Ra Ra Riot - Massachusetts
  9. Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma
  10. Surfer Blood - Take It Easy
  11. Hungry Kids of Hungary - Wristwatch
  12. Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
  13. Ra Ra Riot - Shadowcasting
  14. Shout Out Louds - Normandie
  15. Spoon - The Underdog
  16. Vampire Weekend - Holiday
  17. Shout Out Louds - Shut Your Eyes
  18. Dr. Dog - Stranger
  19. Two Door Cinema Club - Eat That Up, It's Good For You
  20. Vampire Weekend - Walcott
  21. Shout Out Louds - Impossible
  22. Prep-Unit - Tea Partay (Director's Cut)
  23. Peter Griffin & Company - The Spirit of Massachusetts (Reprise)

25,000 Pageviews!
[Sunday, January 15, 2012 | 0 comments ]

As a matter of fact, it happened around December 20th - but by the time I've gotten around to posting about it now, the number is above 28,000! Thank you to each and every one of my visitors. I know it sounds cliché, but it really doesn't seem so long ago that I sat down in front of my computer, uploaded the "Arthemia Magazine" template, and started ranting about clothes. So where did all those hits come from? Here's a list of the Top 10 most-viewed entries.


Some thoughts on the eternal elements of the Western man's wardrobe and the everything-old-is-new-again nature of fashion.

Initial impressions based on press coverage prior to the release of Lisa Birnbach's True Prep.

After meeting Lisa Birnbach at a True Prep book signing in Toronto, my review of the book, and a consideration of what "true prep" really means.

A brief addendum to the entry immediately preceding it. Probably ranks this high because of the very large image of Sebastian Smythe (played by Grant Gustin) featured in it.

One of my very first posts, and an example of a recurring theme: the tragic number of men who buy suits that look like shit, just because they don't know what they're doing.

It's not very often that I post about really current goings-on, but I found this campaign exceptionally endearing. It has, in fact, continued since Fall 2010; I should probably try to cover the new stuff too!

A successful experiment in targeting a particular entry's topic at search keywords that have brought people to the blog. After a brief mention of velvet slippers in a late-2010 entry (which is #2 on this list), it seemed that people really wanted more information on this elusive trendy-yet-crotchety item.

A product of a Glee obsession which I've mostly gotten over at this point. Hat-tip to Fashion of Glee for originating the concept, and rewarding a couple of my contributions to their list with reciprocal links. ;)

Unfortunately, I posted this entry on Boxing Day 2010, which meant its useful life for that year was pretty much over. But I expected that the traffic would probably pick up towards the end of 2011, and I was right. I'm quite proud of this entry, because it's not only useful for the holiday season, but all year round.

The granddaddy, the king, with nearly eight times as many hits as the next closest contender, this is unquestionably the most popular item I've ever written. It's also one of the most thoughtful and articulate, so I can be unabashedly proud that it's become so popular. I'd like to do more entries on the significance of wardrobe in Hollywood movies... Inception, anyone?


I've got a couple of surprises in the works to mark this milestone, which I'll be posting in the next week or so, but I can also make a small announcement today: Threads Count is now on Twitter! For links, photos, and thoughts that aren't big enough to warrant a blog entry, look no further than


I anticipate being able to tweet more frequently than I can post full entries to the blog (although I will tweet each new blog entry as well). So I hope to see you there!