Get Your Fade On

Just what is the story behind Nantucket Reds, those cheery, dignified reddish trousers – some might say the anti—jean short – most often seen strolling through the eastern seaboard’s stately summer enclaves and across country club lawns?

Legends abound. One such yarn goes that the original Nantucket Reds pant was actually slate grey, until their proprietor fell in a cranberry bog, dyeing them a pinkish hue. He liked what he saw, and the rest is… well, fake history.

Here’s what really happened. In 1945, businessman Philip Murray purchased The Toggery Shop, a small clothing store on Main Street in Nantucket, a then-sleepy island just south of Cape Cod. Along with fisherman’s slickers and hearty sweaters, Mr. Murray began selling pants made of crimson-colored sailcloth from a purveyor in Boston. The heavy fabric was tough enough to withstand the choppy Atlantic, yet curiously, as you washed the pants, they softened, and the color gradually lightened to a mellow, smoked-salmon pink.

Philip Murray’s son, Philip C. Murray, joined the family business and eventually took the helm of Murray’s Toggery Shop. In a stroke of branding genius, he decided to name the signature pants “Nantucket Reds.” As more and more families flocked to the island like well-heeled gulls, the pants recalled a simpler, saltier time. They became a huge hit for locals and seasonal residents alike.

While J.Crew attempted to mass produce a version of Nantucket Red pants and shorts in 2005 and 2006, a traditionalist wouldn’t dream of donning a pair of knockoffs. After all, to fully capture the sartorial ethos of the coastal WASP, one’s attire must reflect a true sense of heritage, an aversion to trends, and familiarity with the perfect ratio of gin to tonic.

Proudly worn by The Office’s preppy savant Andy Bernard, yet just under the radar enough to avoid being ironically co-opted by hipsters, Nantucket Reds achieve a very specific cachet. And everyone on the Island knows the proper way to achieve that perfectly patrician pink: Drag your pants through the ocean to soften them up, then sit them out on a sunny porch of your choice. (Ours would be the particularly breezy one at the Wauwinet.) Be sure to rinse, repeat and of course, be sure to return next summer.

Murray’s Toggery Shop is located at 62 Main Street on Nantucket Island.

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