Figure 1.-- A reader has provided us an image of a teenager dressed for croquet on the lawn of some estate in tan shorts, a red and white arqyle sweater. This looks to come from a fashion magazine rather than a catalog, because we doubt many teenagers dressed like that in the 1990s.

Ed Westwick played the role of Chuck Bass in the TV Series Gossip Girl, an adaptation of the series of paperback novels of the same title. The first of which was published in 2002. Westwick showed up for a lawn party filming sequence in the croquet outfit Bermuda shorts and argyle knee socks. This looked rather like the country club set dressed in the 1950s. This rather elegant image of a teenager dressed for croquet on the lawn of some estate in tan shorts, a red and white arqyle sweater, a bow tie, brown and white argyle knee socks, and sporty brown and white shoes. I expect that at certain country clubs on the east coast or at Long Island estates in the Hamptons, high school a nd college boys from wealthy families might actually have worn such clothes, but in the 1950s. A reader writes, " This is the sort of thing we sometimes see in magazines such as The New Yorker. I used to be invited to croquet parties as a prep school boy, but the dress was quite different of course in the 1940s. However, the designer of this outfit clearly had a certain retro image in his mind." The outfit for some reason was not worn in the actual scene. The episode was titled 'Summer, Kind of Wonderful' and aired during Season 2, Week (September 1, 2008). Westwick was born in 1987 so he was most likely 20 or 21 years old when this was filmed. The characters Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf (as herself) are in a relationship and throughout the series Chuck and Blair are found in many different (and endearing at times) romantic settings and situations. The time of the setting in the story is not clear, but it could be in the 1990's. I somewhat doubt the croquet outfit was worn in this historical context.

Created: 11:37 PM 1/3/2011
Last updated: 11:37 PM 1/3/2011