With the upcoming release of its spring line, Concord Button Downs has joined forces with five additional clothing companies to help expand the importance of American made clothing. In partnering with these other organizations, Concord Button Downs plans to release a lookbook highlighting products exclusively made in the United States. The project has been coined, “The Made in America Collaboration.” Along with this new partnership, Concord Button Downs will release their new line of fine shirting, as well as a renovated website. Just like their previous line of men’s shirts, Concord Button Downs’ founder, Dan Castelline, continues to produce quality products that are made in the United States. To help with “The Made in America Collaboration,” Castelline connected with: Collared Greens, an eco-friendly neck wear company located in North Carolina, Jack Donnelly Khakis, a Georgia based pant company, Lemon & Line, a bracelet brand founded in Rhode Island, Gameday Blazers, a South Carolina company producing colorful sport coats, and Orvis, a renowned sporting brand with headquarters in Vermont and Virginia. All five companies seek to create products that represent the richness and history of American-made clothing. “My hope for this lookbook was to create a collaboration of quality products made in States for alike customers. We want to highlight the craftsmanship of domestically made goods via multiple boutiques and companies” said Castelline. Concord Button Downs is excited to bring its customers a completely renovated website, spring line, and a new collaboration on Thursday, May 16, 2013. To purchase these products or learn more about upcoming promotions, visit www.concordbuttondowns.com.

“The Made in America Collaboration is a stockpile of photographs, which highlight garments produced by local craftspeople. This collaboration was established to further unify companies that promote American made products, and believe in domestic ingenuity. Through the generosity of five independent clothing brands we outfitted our model entirely in American made apparel. As a result, this lookbook accentuates the unsurpassed quality of American products, while also demonstrating each company’s allegiance to support alike organizations. We feel privileged to have hosted such an event, and believe this shoot proves that Made in America is stronger now than ever before.”

-CBD Founder, Daniel Castelline

I’m really looking forward to seeing this “Made in U.S.A.” Lookbook as well as Concord Button Downs’ new site and Spring Line. Keeping a clothing brand’s manufacturing process domestic is no easy task. Celebrate the quality and history of domestic apparel by hash tagging #MadeinUSAcollab and liking CBD on Facebook.

Both outfitted entirely in Vineyard Vines

White and pastels were common

Stripes were clearly a popular choice

What are your summer staples?

St. George’s School in Middletown, RI

Reflecting upon my 5 years spent in the Independent School League, (I didn’t repeat; I included my year in the lower school) I’ve seen a fair amount of each campus in the distinguished league. After playing in a lacrosse game at St. Sebastian’s yesterday, I realized that while a handful of schools in the ISL have beautiful campuses, some are a bit inglorious in comparison. After discussing this observation with Groton alum and Chief Editor of T&V, Will Holley IV, we decided to put our heads together and rank the campuses of the ISL.

The Groton School on a rainy Fall day

3 Categories: Layout, Buildings, Grounds

Each category rank 1/5

#1: 15 Points – The Groton School

#2: 14 Points: – St. George’s School & Middlesex School

#3: 13 Points: – The Governor’s Academy, Nobles & Greenough School , Roxbury Latin School

#4: 12 Points – Lawrence Academy

#5: 11 Points – Milton Academy & St. Paul’s School

The Rest: Belmont Hill School, Brooks School, The Rivers School, St. Sebastian’s School, Thayer Academy, St. Mark’s School, Buckingham Browne & Nichols School

The famous castle of Nobles & Greenough for boarding students

Groton ultimately takes the cake due to its gorgeous grounds. Its landscape was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted who is famous for his design of Central Park in NYC.

While the endowments of the ISL range from unpublished (cough..Thayer..cough..) to $433 million (St. Paul’s), each school has a uniquely beautiful campus. As F. Scott Fitzgerald put it, “Riches have never fascinated me, unless combined with the greatest charm or distinction.”

The Rivers School

Roxbury Latin

St. Paul’s School

St. Mark’s School

Milton Academy

Have any good Figawi photos worth sharing? Send them over.

Wearing High Cotton

Done in under 30 seconds, with better dimples than a clip on.

I found this great tutorial from SarahBelle93x, who is just fantastic.  I actually found her on instagram after seeing that she was in the same business as an old friend of mine, Allie Evans.   If you haven’t come across her instagram or youtube account yet, I definitely recommend checking her out!

As promised, the bow tie tutorial:

If your prom hasn’t come up yet (mine isn’t until June 3rd!), consider one of these bow ties that all of the girls will love!
Rep where you’re going next year! Go Tarheels!

Old school prep

Match her dress

Koozies are perfect for this time of year in the spring and summer when an ice cold, refreshing drink is always craved. Not only are they a necessity to have, but most of them are so cheap! I’m planning on getting a new koozie soon and possibly making a little collection out of them. So, I’ve found five koozies that I would want to buy for my drinks.

The first koozie is from Southern Anchor Clothing. I first found out about Southern Anchor Clothing about a month or two ago through Twitter. They’re a fairly new brand, and they used to only have car decals. Now their shop has widened to a shirt and koozie! This koozie is plain yet nautical with the anchor and bowtie.

The second koozie is from Southern Coast Clothiers. This koozie comes in ten different colors: navy, teal, coral, yellow, lime, hot pink, red, black, grey, and orange. Being a girl and having pink as my favorite color, I chose the hot pink one. This koozie is similar to Southern Anchor Clothing’s koozie with the anchor and bow tie. However, I like this koozie better because it has a wide color selection instead of just coming in one color!

The third koozie is from Country Club Prep. The design of this koozie made me laugh because of how clever it is. However, I’m not sure if I’d actually want that phrase on a koozie. I do love the color, though!

The fourth koozie is from Marley Lilly, one of the most amazing monogram shops. I love that the colors of this koozie are pink and green, my two favorite colors! There are two designs for this koozie – circle dots (as shown above) and chevron. I like the chevron a little bit more, but they’re both adorable!

The last koozie, and my favorite!, is the Lilly Pulitzer koozie in Bloomin Cacoonin. Lilly Pulitzer never fails to make adorable, fun, and bright products. The reason why this koozie is my favorite is because it’s not plain – it’s covered in a colorful design.

Do you have a koozie that you love to use in this type of weather?

The line gives a modern twist to the decadent fashion of the roaring twenties. 

The narrow lapels and hightened armholes on the jackets are great ways in which BB altered the line to display the classic Gatsby style. If you’re in need of a new three piece suit for your prep school’s Graduation festivities, the Gatsby line is the way to go.

The thoughts and prayers of the Twines & Vines family go out to everyone involved in today’s terrorist attack, the entire city of Boston and the state of Massachusetts.  A few of our writers are from the Boston area and I personally have been to several Boston Marathons; this one definitely hits home.  

I would like to quote something which a friend and classmate of mine posted today on Facebook regarding the event;  Ward Scott is a sophomore at the United States Naval Academy and a proud American.

I normally don’t post about these things, but I felt compelled today. Boston’s a great city full of great Americans and great people.
Just at a time when popular support for the War on Terror is at what seems to be an all time low, this happens.. It’s incredible to see how time and time again, the terrorist for some reason thinks that his tactics of targeting innocent civilians will strike fear in the heart of the American, that his bombing our cities will shake us, will make us weak and prompt us to hide and revert to the pre-WWII isolationism that emboldened Imperial Japan and Nazi-Germany.
But just as Bin Laden learned, these attacks on our innocents do NOT shake us; these attacks do NOT make us weak. Contrary to their incredibly short sighted and historically ignorant strategies, tactics and goals, the United States only comes closer when cowards attack from behind.
Behind Boston, we will stand, and we will make sure that any ass-clown that thinks bombing a street in the US will scare us into isolation learns that you don’t mess with the U.S. I am certain that we as a country and a community will only come closer and rally behind this to ensure that this type of cowardice is wiped from the face of the Earth. I only hope that our leaders – especially our politicians – can do so in a more informed and responsible way than has happened in our past.

God bless the city of Boston… It stands today, and it will stand tomorrow.

*this is my own personal opinion and in no way reflects the opinions of the USN, USMC, or DoD

God Bless Boston and God Bless America.

Tim Chaloux of the Pingree School in South Hamilton, MA

From Boston.com

By Jeremy C. Fox, Globe Correspondent

Tim Chaloux was a senior at the Pingree School in South Hamilton, a talented infielder on the school’s varsity baseball team looking forward to graduation on June 9.

Early Saturday, Chaloux was killed when the 2011 Honda Civic he was driving veered off Route 128 and into a wooded area near Exit 23 in Danvers, according to State Police.

Chaloux, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities believe the North Reading resident’s car left the highway and rolled over between 1 and 1:30 a.m. Saturday, State Police spokesman David Procopio said in an e-mail.

But he wasn’t found until hours later, when another motorist noticed the car and called police, Procopio said. Chaloux’s family had reported him missing about 10 minutes earlier, he said, when they realized the teen hadn’t come home all night.

Procopio said Chaloux was wearing a seatbelt. The accident is under investigation.

Buddy Taft, dean of students at the Pingree School, said Chaloux was known by almost all of the small private school’s faculty and approximately 338 students, and he will be deeply missed.

“For me, he was one of those kids that I just … want to see every day, because every day he got better,” Taft said. “He grew every day, and it was just great to see him. It’s going to be a real challenge not seeing him.”

My school plays Pingree in many sports, and some of my classmates may have played against Tim in baseball. Really sad story. Shout out to all you seniors out there. Keep it safe. Graduation is just a few weeks away. R.I.P. Tim Chaloux.

As our Chief Editor, WHolley, and I have blogged before, prep school campuses are loaded with Sperry Topsiders, and we hate it. While the classic boat shoe may be a staple for all prep schoolers to own and wear from time to time, the driving moccasin is a much more stylish and versatile option. Dress them up with your khakis and your favorite blazer or wear them casually with your shorts or swimming trunks.

Peter Millar is currently having a sale on their Tie-Drivers. Some of our other favorite brands for Driving Mocs include Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo, Cole Haan, and Tod’s. Driving moccasins are great investments. The more you wear them, the more comfortable they get. You can wear them with  almost every outfit within dress code. Girls love guys in Gucci. Et cetera, et cetera