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Ralph Lauren loyalists may raise an eyebrow at the punky, fishnet-wearing mannequins in the store window of Rugby and wonder whether the King of Prep has gone grungy. Well, not quite. Ralph Lauren won’t be reinventing the lip ring anytime soon. Instead he’s youth-anized his Polo collection with a line quite obviously targeting college-age kids. The result of this campus invasion is an explosion of plaid shirts and dresses and an array of button-ups, blazers, and sweaters in classic, clean cuts and colors. There are a few nods to faux-edginess (red velvet pants, tarty dresses, and, of course, the ubiquitous skinny jeans), but most garments don’t stray too far from a New England prep-schooler’s wish list. For a more athletic look, customers can choose from a selection of 30 rugby patches—all of which look surprisingly authentic—to have sewed on to any garment in the store. Like a kid playing dress up, one could easily mold themselves into a believable-looking Cambridge-kid-gone-bad. — Melissa Noble

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