04/06/2026
Please join Fashion History Club for “The Performance of the Everyday: Clothing, Conduct, and the Meaning of Preppy with Avery Trufelman!” 👔👞🎓
🗓️ Tuesday April 14th 2026
⏰1-2pm
📍Business and Liberal Arts Center, Room B736
Avery Trufelman is the host and producer of the podcast Articles of Interest, named one of the best podcasts of the year by the New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, and many others. She was named one of the BOF 500 by the trade journal Business of Fashion.
Described by Avery as the “most incredible fashion arc of the 20th century,” the story of Ivy fashion reveals much about American ideas of taste, class, and democracy. Prep, also known as “Ivy” style, began as a niche subcultural look on the campus of Princeton University in the early years of the 20th-century, transforming into an almost universally adopted aesthetic worn across genders and considered appropriate for most occasions and all times of day.
Through this history, we will explore the intersections between the personal and the historical, examining how clothing choices reflect broader social and political contexts. This talk will consider how everyday dress becomes a kind of performance, shaping and expressing identity, belonging, and cultural values. Via the lens of Ivy style, she will also investigate the notion of “timelessness,” and what it means to dress “normal.”
This presentation draws on research conducted for the seven-episode 2022 season of Avery’s podcast Articles of Interest, which she describes as a show about “what we wear.” Like the podcast itself, this talk will investigate the origins of preppy clothing, its many evolutions, and the personal and cultural meanings that lie within our wardrobes.
RSVP on FitLink:
https://fitnyc.campuslabs.com/engage/event/12338919
