If any trend has ever been able to reach nearly every demographic, it’s the monogram. These identifying letters have been stitched on your grandma’s hanky, displayed on your varsity jacket, dangled above the décolletage of many a dewy-faced celebrity, and sent down the runways of covetable designers. They are integral to the black market (cc: Chinatown), which is constantly trying to discover the exact secret formula for the design house’s monogram. Growing up in the South, I associated monograms with jean jackets and color-coordinated soccer moms. You can imagine my surprise when people like Anna Wintour started to call this look “trendy.”
The history of the monogram extends all the way back to the Dark Ages, when artisans used them to mark their work. They were associated with aristocracy in the Victorian Age, and it is these three initial Victorian monograms that are still the standard today. People always love to express their individuality, and this is the ultimate form of personalization. Just last year, the monogram necklace started a celebrity craze. Granted, almost every girl in my local middle school had one, but the initial necklace wasn’t exactly fashionable until it was photographed on Katie Holmes, Jennifer Anniston, and many more A-list celebs. Jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer makes a gold crystal-encrusted monogram that has been sought after by many celebrity moms despite its $1,500 price tag.
Katie Holmes wearing Jennifer Meyer’s 14-karat gold diamond letter necklace (source: InStyle.com)
Rebecca Minkoff is hosting custom monogramming events at select Bloomingdale’s in California this month, and she also featured a DIY service at Fashion’s Night Out in New York City. You can customize your bag, wallet, or phone case with your initial in pretty much any way imaginable—upper or lower case, small or large, gold or silver, embroidered or stamped.
Rebecca Minkoff Monogram Duo Leather Pouch and Bracelet Cuff (source: thestylester.com)
The girls of the popular fashion blog Who What Wear claim that “this once preppy mainstay has evolved into a high-fashion accent.” Indeed, the clean-cut letters that were seen marching down the runway in some designer’s pre-fall collections seemed almost like a comedic homage to the early 2000’s obsession with designer logos—we all remember the ubiquitous G’s, CC’s, MK’s, D&G’s, and LV’s. Vogue.com articulated how this season, designers like Jil Sander and Kenzo featured a “playful nod to collegiate culture” by embroidering the first initial of their design house on their clothes. Basically, this monogramming trend is catering directly to us Penn Students—all I need is Proenza Schouler or Preen (or any other P-name designer) to make a monogramed red and blue sweater, and I’m sold.
These designers are making monograms “cool” again; but don’t worry, hipsters and devoted fashionistas alike! You didn’t conform by going out and getting it monogrammed yourself—it was all in the name of high fashion.