Why dressing like a public school boy is on trend

You’ll no doubt have watched Emerald Fennell’s clash of the classes Saltburn. Silly, twisty and deadly serious at times; the film skewers the indolence of the English elite, it places a microscope on those who covet their privilege, and the wardrobe is a celebration of a certain boarding-schoolboy-at-home-for-the-weekend aesthetic which thrived in the early- to mid-Noughties.

From Felix Catton (played with spot on indolence by a rangy Jacob Elordi) and his bootcut jeans and V-neck sweaters with white T-shirt combos, to the ill-fitting Moss Bros tuxedo worn by Oliver to his college “bop” in the opening scenes – and not forgetting the perfectly placed eyebrow piercing which Elordi wears for the first half of the film – Saltburn is set in 2006-2007 and costume designer Sophie Canale has dressed her characters to period perfection. Popped collar rugby shirts and chisel-toed loafers abound.

“Fashion is cyclical and people often talk about the 25 or 30 year trend cycle, so I think Saltburn is riding the crest of that wave,” Canale tells The Telegraph. “Jacob Elordi’s Felix captures the Noughties posh boy aesthetic perfectly with his self-assured manner. He’s cool and approachable but there’s also an aloof, unobtainable side to his character, which is what makes him so charismatic.”

It’s not just the popularity of the film – it took over £16 million worldwide – which has provided a clarion call to British men to dress like an Etonian with a first generation iPhone. A number of major brands have placed the “Neo-Posh Boy” look’s sartorial calling cards at the centre of their seasonal collections, with surprising levels of success.

At The Row, pythonesque twinsters Mary-Kate and Ashely Olsen showed a three-button, Noughties-inspired dress suit with high lapels and a Felix-friendly wing-tip collar shirt. There was also a selection of oversized, tertiary-hued blazers which looked as though they’d been picked up at Oxfam on the Cowley Road. Bottega Veneta’s creative director Matthieu Blazy presented a high-key take on the Noughties “jeans and sheux” look first immortalised by the original Top Gear trio. He teamed leather trousers, treated to resemble denim, with roomy suit jackets and clompy leather shoes.

At Neil Barrett, the 59-year-old British designer (who founded his eponymous brand in 1999) showed grey V-neck sweaters worn with white t-shirts and charcoal school uniform trousers; whilst both Officine Générale and Dior showed deep V-necks worn with suits. AKA, peak Neo-Posh Boy chic.

“Nostalgic nods to school days brings a sense of comfort and sophistication to any outfit. Recently, the trend has come to the fore once again, as men look to dress up and move away from the comfortable tropes of casualwear,” says Damien Paul, head of menswear at Matches Fashion. “This has come through in our menswear division for Spring Summer 24. Categories such as chunky loafers have increased in sales by 30 per cent year on year, with brands such as Marni, Prada and JM Weston driving performance.

“Sales of straight leg jeans have increased by 90 per cent in the same period, from brands like Our Legacy, The Row and Acne. V-Necks from Arch 4, Ben Cobb x Tiger of Sweden and Comme des Garçons Shirt are also performing well.”

But why is dressing like teenage Prince Harry on Short Leave suddenly all the rage? For stylist Dan May, who was fashion editor of 10 Men magazine in 2007, the look has long been doing the rounds – like a top lad on the lash at The Botanist. It’s just now that it’s trickled down into the wider fashion vernacular.

“Walk around Chelsea, Sloane Square, Parsons Green or Kensington and you’ll see that bootcut jeans, loafers, blazers and V-necks are still the go-to uniform – as I’m sure they are at every public school sixth form in the country,” says May. “I think the look is becoming more prominent now because of films like Saltburn and Netflix’s recent One Day adaptation. It’s also why preppy brands like Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger are still such a part of the zeitgeist. Their continued dominance plays a huge part in influencing both how men dress and what other brands produce.”

Performed with proper public school braggadocio by British actor Leo Woodall, One Day’s Dex provides another good example of why the Neo-Posh Boy aesthetic feels so relevant right now. All oversized blazers, pairs of Levi’s Twisted jeans and bang on-trend pinky signet rings – Dex’s look is imbued with an arrogant ease, which not only feels like the next logical sartorial step following the apologetic yet prevailing “quiet luxury” mood, but also provides a welcome dose of millennial swagger in our increasingly discontented age.

What’s more, the Neo-Posh Boy aesthetic is, at its core, class cosplay. And as Catherine Hayward – who was fashion director of Esquire magazine in 2007 – explains, “It’s tribal. Fashion loves a gang that denotes class. Especially a photogenic one.”

In 2005 Joe Casely-Hayford became the creative director of Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes. The late designer was responsible for dressing members of the establishment in the roomy blazers which sat at the core of the ultra-preppy Sloane Ranger uniform. Casely-Hayford’s son Charlie, now a menswear designer, believes that today’s Neo-Posh Boy aesthetic is this generation’s version of that look.

“The re-emergence of the public school look feels similar to Indie Sleaze, the Noughties movement which adopted garments from the Sloane Ranger toolbox – Barbour jackets, shrunken tweeds, boat shoes – in conscious juxtaposition with the then prevailing indie aesthetic,” Casely-Hayford explains.

“The new public school boy look is this era’s Sloane Ranger rehash, and once again serves as a backdrop for discordance and friction,” he says. “From that comes a new visual language that isn’t just a pastiche, it’s tongue-in-cheek, energetic and fun.”

If you’re up for trying the Neo-Posh Boy aesthetic yourself, the key to looking as good as Elordi driving a Defender in Saltburn (and nothing like Jeremy Clarkson ragging a Lotus Elise in Top Gear), is to focus on the proportions of the garments you choose to wear.

Picking an oversized blazer from Our Legacy or Acne, for instance, will look intentional, rather than like you’re wearing something you inherited from your Tory grandee grandfather. Likewise, some straight leg raw denim jeans from Bottega Veneta or The Row will provide that mid-Noughties vibe, whilst looking considerably more relevant than the pair of baggy Levi’s Twisteds that have been sitting at the back of your wardrobe since before Elordi was born. A good pair of solid black loafers will be a forever investment, whether you’re dressing like a Neo-Posh Boy or not.

Alternatively, you could keep it simple and just go shopping in your own wardrobe. “You’ll always find an oversized tweed jacket or a grubby knitted V-neck somewhere in a man’s circulation,” says Hayward, who also extols the virtue of buying second hand. “Vintage clothing taps into that very English, punk attitude of breaking rules and ‘making do and mend’. It’s part of the British sartorial psyche. It’s understated.”

So, dressing like a twenty-something toff with a trust fund it is. But what of eyebrow studs? Should we all start booking piercing appointments at Claire’s Accessories?  “It’s a massive NO from me,” says May. “Not even Jacob Elordi managed to pull it off.”

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