Now I remember in the 1980s, with the preppie movement, many young New England women monogrammed their sweaters, and maybe their handbags with the changeable covers.
But here and now they label everything.
Normal things like backpacks and clothing are to be expected. But it wasn't until I saw a young woman at school with what looked to be $250 leather cowboy boots with her initials stitched into them that I realized that this was a phenomenon.
I have seen cars, coolers, and coffee cups monogrammed. I have seen motorcycles, leggings, sweatshirts, laptops and hats monogrammed.
Here is a smattering of an ordinary day in my classroom. All of the following pictures in this entry were taken in one day at work. Only one of them outside my classroom.
There were several more bags and lunchboxes, but displaying the full name of a student seems like crossing a privacy line. Although the students gave me permission to do so, I chose not to snap the photos.
Interestingly, I have noticed that African American women tend to put the whole name or the full first name on their items, while the White and Latina population tend to stick to the three initials - the large one in the center being the surname.
Now that Christmas time is here, radio ads promising to monogram ANYTHING in time for the holidays are filling the airwaves.
One of the best videos I have seen regarding the sheer breadth of items that can be monogrammed is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZn_Uc8ZHYU . It's a high school student showing off her various monogrammed gear.
If you want to know where to get items monogrammed, check out the video of this experienced monogrammer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdPYDWupihU
The videos are not professionally done, but if you are curious about this phenomenon, and you have ten minutes, you might find it interesting.
The kids tell me that they think that the monogramming trend is on its way out. Kids usually know. But it makes me wonder if the trend, instead of dissipating, might migrate north.
