What Is ‘American Style’?

Back in the mid-nineties, my friends and I spent a lot of time in nightclubs dancing to A Tribe Called Quest and Nas. The de facto uniform was baggy Maurice Malone jeans, stout Champion sweats, and anorak pullovers from preppy brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Nautica. But the most stylish among us wore Polo Ralph Lauren. Color-blocked sportswear met Polo Bear knits, all-over-print shirts, and choice items from the Stadium and P-Wing collections. Decades later, fashion writers described this aesthetic as a way for nonwhite youths to appropriate the status symbols of blue-blooded Wasps. That’s partly true. Ralph Lauren’s Polo logo is woven into the American image of financial success, and many of us simply wanted to stunt. But there’s another story here about the thread that laces through this country’s clothing history and the complicated, sometimes contradictory essence of the American spirit. Despite its aspirational nature, American style is, at its core, a celebration of the everyday person. [View in Browser]( [Esquire]( [SHOP]( EXCLUSIVE [SUBSCRIBE]( [What Is American Style?]( [What Is American Style?]( Back in the mid-nineties, my friends and I spent a lot of time in nightclubs dancing to A Tribe Called Quest and Nas. The de facto uniform was baggy Maurice Malone jeans, stout Champion sweats, and anorak pullovers from preppy brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Nautica. But the most stylish among us wore Polo Ralph Lauren. Color-blocked sportswear met Polo Bear knits, all-over-print shirts, and choice items from the Stadium and P-Wing collections. Decades later, fashion writers described this aesthetic as a way for nonwhite youths to appropriate the status symbols of blue-blooded Wasps. That’s partly true. Ralph Lauren’s Polo logo is woven into the American image of financial success, and many of us simply wanted to stunt. But there’s another story here about the thread that laces through this country’s clothing history and the complicated, sometimes contradictory essence of the American spirit. Despite its aspirational nature, American style is, at its core, a celebration of the everyday person. [Read More](   [10 Winter Parkas That'll Keep You Feeling Warm—and Looking Cool]( [10 Winter Parkas That'll Keep You Feeling Warm—and Looking Cool]( It's time to invest in some truly weather-ready outerwear. [Read More]( [You Can Score $250 Off the Newest MacBook Right Now]( [You Can Score $250 Off the Newest MacBook Right Now]( Plus, a shit ton on other massive Apple deals. [Read More](     [Two Fathers Lost Their Sons the Same Way, But In Grief Their Paths Diverged]( [Two Fathers Lost Their Sons the Same Way, But In Grief Their Paths Diverged]( At approximately 4:53 P.M., the Broncos’ bus driver, fifty-nine-year-old Glen Doerksen, noticed the truck speeding toward the intersection. “Whoa!” he screamed. Some of the guys stood to see what was happening. Doerksen slammed on the brakes, and the bus skidded almost eighty feet into the intersection at between sixty and sixty-six miles per hour, T-boning Sidhu’s trailer. The truck flipped, and the bus was ripped in three pieces, its front obliterated and everything above floor level sheared off. Passengers were thrown across the asphalt and into a frozen ditch. Fourteen people died at the scene, including Doerksen, Haugan, and Schatz. In the frenzied aftermath, the survivors, some so disfigured they were unrecognizable, were rushed to nearby hospitals. Brons and another victim died within the week. In an instant, dozens of lives on the bus and beyond were ripped apart in one of the worst sporting disasters in North America in nearly fifty years. For those involved, on the bus and off, the tragedy was only beginning. 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