Vineyard Vines

Vineyard Vines was founded in 1998 by brothers Shep and Ian Murray, who left careers in New York to start a necktie company on Martha’s Vineyard. The founding story, which the brand has told consistently since its launch, involves the two brothers quitting their jobs to make the ties they had always wanted: the silk neckties in the nautical and coastal prints that the Martha’s Vineyard culture made legible as a visual language. The “Every Day Should Feel This Good” motto and the pink whale logo became the brand’s identity markers as the business expanded from neckties into the full casual clothing range for men, women, and children.

The Georgetown store at 1225 Wisconsin Avenue NW serves the demographic that the brand’s aesthetic addresses most naturally. Georgetown’s residential population includes the Washington equivalent of the Martha’s Vineyard summer crowd: the professional families who summer on the Vineyard or the Delaware beaches, who attended prep schools, who went to the Ivies or the Southern equivalents, and for whom the pink whale logo is a recognizable signal of a shared cultural experience rather than simply a brand.

The product range at Vineyard Vines covers the full casual wardrobe in the preppy register: polo shirts in the seasonal colors, the Performance Polo that extends the fabric technology into an athletic context, shorts and chinos, the harbor pants and the classic five-pocket jeans, the fleece pullovers and vests that the brand’s coastal New England aesthetic naturally produces, and the neckties that are still part of the range though now a smaller portion than the casual clothing.

The children’s line, which mirrors the adults’ range in miniature and which has become a significant part of the brand’s business, allows families to dress coordinated in the Vineyard Vines aesthetic across all ages. The Georgetown store’s children’s section serves the neighborhood’s family demographic.

Hours run Monday through Saturday from 10am to 7pm and Sunday from 11am to 6pm. The performance range that Vineyard Vines has developed in recent years, using stretch and moisture-wicking fabrics in the brand’s classic silhouettes, extends the wardrobe into the fitness and casual active contexts that the original fabric range does not address. The Performance Polo, the athletic shorts, and the stretch chinos allow the Vineyard Vines customer to maintain the brand’s aesthetic through the range of activities that a Georgetown day involves. The seasonal sale events, which the brand runs at the end of each season, produce significant markdowns on prior-season merchandise and are a reliable time for restocking the basics in the colors the Wisconsin Avenue store carries. Hours run from 10am Monday through Saturday and 11am Sunday. The Georgetown address at 1225 Wisconsin is on the boutique corridor that has the Tuckernuck and Ralph Lauren stores nearby, which gives the classic American style customer multiple brand perspectives in a single shopping afternoon. For the Georgetown visitor who wants to cover the full preppy American style landscape, the upper Wisconsin corridor addresses it comprehensively. The phone contact and store hours, along with the full product range, are available at vineyardvines.com.