<p>Tangentially related question: clothing. I keep hearing about popped collars, Lacoste, Lily Pulitzer, Vineyard Vines, etc.</p>
<p>Well, we are not wealthy by any stretch (which is why DS applied for the Johnson Scholarship). Our idea of reasonably priced clothing is NOT $195 tank tops. (Please pardon the question, but how super-smart can students be if they’re willing to pay that kind of markup for a logo? ;-))</p>
<p>As it happens, I work in the apparel industry, and I buy my kids’ clothing at the company store and at in-house sample sales. (I get a lot of stuff free, too. That’s one of the few perks associated with working for an apparel company.) Our brands are household names (think Michael Jordan in skivvies), but (with a few exceptions) they aren’t ultra-posh, prestigious, or preppy. Nonetheless, my kids (who are oblivious to labels and logos) will be wearing this stuff to college, I guarantee!</p>
<p>Will they be made to feel weird and out of place at W & L if they aren’t wearing overpriced Lacoste polos? (My employer owns a polo company called Outer Banks, and that’s largely what my kids wear – along with Champion basketball shorts. [I’m the ecommerce copywriter for ChampionUSA.com. We own a LOT of Champion stuff, most of which I got either super-cheap or free.])</p>
<p>As I say, we’re FAR from wealthy (much less preppy), and I wouldn’t pay $195 for a tank top, even if I could afford to. (I know what the markups are!) Would my kids fit in at W & L, with their sample-sale tees and polos and shorts? Will they be judged by their clothes? If so, fuhgeddaboudit!</p>
<p>Thanks…</p>
<p>A mere middle-class mom</p>