[P Hudson]

GTH as used here doesn't mean having a bad attitude toward humanity in general. It usually means nothing more than that one sometimes wears something a bit incongruous, and doesn't care if somebody says, 'hey mate, your socks don't match your pocket square'--or 'isn't that tie a bit loud for an office party?'--or other similar nonsense. The most common GTH item that I've noticed in these fora tend to relate to socks. I think the point most people are making is, 'I didn't get overly worried about the brand of socks in this WAYWT pic'.

It means little more than not being overly concerned with what other people think. Since we're talking about clothing here, it might include a somewhat smug belief that most people who comment don't have any sense of who they are in terms of style anyway. I know I hold to that belief.

 

[P Hudson]

Rojo,

"Pocket squares and socks? I don't mean to sound flip, but what on earth?"

Thanks for the reply, and the call for greater precision on my part. That was meant to be a caricature of people who have a restricted view of fashion without having any style (sorry if that sounds condescending toward my associates). I have little interest in how the Preppy Handbook defines these things, since I am not a preppy nor do I encounter any in day to day life. My response concerned how the term is used here, though of course I must concede your correctness in that sometimes here the term is used in its "proper" sense to refer to exactly the pants (or whatever) you have described.

You are therefore no direct correct if your point is that there must be some degree of continuity between GTH as found in the Handbook, and here on these fora. I don't deny that. I'm just saying that the term is rather useful, and has therefore been extended to express an attitude of insouciance rather than defensiveness when putting on an offbeat pair of socks or maybe a non-trad item in a trad picture. I pretty much substitute "I don't care" for GTH in my own thinking, even though sometimes the item is chosen in an attempt to avoid looking too "put together" (in other words, I do care a bit, but want to look like I'm not trying too hard).

 

[P Hudson]

I'm not at all interested in redefining a preppy term. My response was solely based on what I have found on this forum, i.e. the way the term is often used here. Since word definition is observation based on usage, I threw in my two cents about how I have seen the word used here. I may be totally wrong.

Furthermore, I'm not sure that a group really retains any governance over a word's usage. In fact, as a teacher of ancient languages, I'm sure it doesn't.

 

[P Hudson]

hbs,

That is how I understood it too, but only based on what I've found on this forum. I didn't mean to wade into something beyond my depths. I was just commenting on the way I had seen GTH used around the place--which I took to be a handy and versatile expression.

I'll happily defer to those who want to preserve the preppy definition, esp as I wouldn't want to contribute to any drifting: I've consistently appreciated the posts by those who disagree with me here--Topsider, VW and others.

 

[P Hudson]

Here's a link with another interesting statement. I refer to the one by egadfly, about midway down.

https://askandyaboutclothes.com/community/showthread.php?t=65190