PASTELS: Vineyard Vines is what's hot

If you have a Unionville teenager in your life as I do, I am sure you know ALL ABOUT Vineyard Vines. It's this Christmas season's red-hot preppy clothing line, kind of like "Hang Ten" or Ralph Lauren Polo shirts were back in my day. There are shirts, hats, jackets, ties, iPhone covers, stickers and even pencils emblazoned with the fanciful whale logo. (Without realizing it, I've seen numerous Vineyard Vine car magnets at the Kennett Y.)
The prices are what you'd expect. You get free shipping if you order $125 worth of merchandise, and it's incredibly easy to do so: even simple T-shirts will set you back $40 or more. (My engineer brother immediately started calculating what the company's profit margin must be.)

Naturally, there are subtle gradations in the items that are evident only to adolescents. The Young Relative and I were scrolling through the site looking at potential Christmas presents for him.
"Oh, I like that color!" I said, pointing to a T-shirt where the whale logo was done in a blue tropical print.
"It's not about the color of the whale!" protested the Young Relative. Apparently, in some complex youth calculus, sleeve length and the pocket placement have far more to do with the item's cachet.
I suggest you order now. The "Clean Catch" T-shirt (an unfortunate name indeed) that we finally settled on was sold out in all sizes except XS. I told him to text me his second choice.