Do Sloane Rangers still exist

[Arbesque]

There used to be a lot of talk about them in the early 80s. Young people from wealthy families living rent free in expensive parts of London. The girls often worked in easy going jobs- helping out in a friend's gallery or somesuch, to pass the time until they married some Rupert or Hugo and moved back down to the country. The men walked into high paying jobs in banking because of their connections.

Jilly Cooper used to write brilliantly about them. Do they still exist or are they an extinct breed?

DS is obsessed with tractors - maybe he’ll go to Cirencester and get himself a rich wife!

@Neverfullycharged he’ll need Harper Adam’s for that one, they have a great agricultural and off road vehicle engineering department. The lecture theatre walls open so a tractor can drive in!

@mumonthehill I still have a copy! Great reading but very dated now.

I find it fascinating how little class indicators such as tea versus supper remain prevalent. People don't talk about it, but it shows who is in the know. I don't know anyone who says "looking glass" any more though.

Also look at Max Fosh on Youtube, aka ‘Streetsmart’.

Oh so revealing! 😁

@38thparallel you say yourself that was bullying and of course it’s unacceptable. I imagine you spoke to the school and that you didn’t need a change in the law for that?

Sevenoaks is nouveau riche, not many Sloanes there.

I remember this breed being ride in Reading Uni 8n the late 80s. Very common in Agriculture Depts and History of Art etc. Hurray Henries were the male version, I think.

LadywithaLapdog of course my dh spoke to the school.
They did nothing about it and she was removed from the school.

@38thparallel I’m sorry to hear it, as the move must have been disruptive for your DD.

Yes they are. I always think somebody like Marina Fogle epitomises the new Sloane ranger - beautiful home, job on the side, Range Rover, horses, glossy hair etc etc

@38thparallel you’re being obtuse. Your daughter was bullied. That hasn’t actually anything to do with her being posh or any other characteristic people are bullied for Just a nasty group who enjoyed the power.
Or maybe we shouldn’t call them bullies as thats stereotyping a group that speak and behave a certain way….

Light I don’t understand why I’m being obtuse. My stepdaughter had her accent mimicked, was called Lady Muck etc and it was very upsetting for her.
However there’s a lot of sneering at posh people on mn so presumably children hear their parents saying that sort of thing and think that sneering at posh people is acceptable.
Is it also unacceptable to sneer at university students for the same reason as they are considered adults?

Why is pointing out a certain group behaviour “sneering”? Jilly Coopers books weren’t sneery.
Sloane Rangers were/are a typically British version of well heeled youngster. Preppies were the US version.
“Lady Muck” is just an insult plain and simple.

Whats Uni students got to do with anything? The majority come from state education even at Oxbridge, Durham or other “posh” Uni’s. More likely to have a reputation as clueless,as party goers than anything else.

I must admit I am a bit lost as to why some have taken exception to the thread.

I understand.

We moved from the SE to the North when ds was 16. He’s got quite a posh accent. He was mercilessly ribbed and the called him Prince Harry, told to fuck off back to Buckingham Palace. Thank god for lockdown and home learning or I think he would have walked out if his new college, it was horrendous for him.

Whats Uni students got to do with anything? The majority come from state education even at Oxbridge, Durham or other “posh” Uni’s. More likely to have a reputation as clueless,as party goers than anything else.

Sorry, what I meant to say is if it’s not acceptable to sneer at school children for being posh, is it acceptable to sneer at posh uni students as they’re adults.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=j5pZS4jdI-o

any excuse to post the Red Trousers song

Kate Middleton is surely the poster girl for sloane rangers. She's got brown hair to disguise herself, but you know those pearls, posh wellies and twin sets are lurking.

Why is pointing out a certain group behaviour “sneering

Lightisnotwhite
Here are some comments from this thread. If you don’t think they are sneering then it’s you who is obtuse.

Braying, entitled, a bit naff.
Tbh, if it weren't for Dad's money they'd look more Towie than Jilly Cooper.
Yes, on my sisters road the last 3 new flats (700k plus) have sold to parents buying them for their blonde dc 😆
Sloanes aren’t required to get proper jobs.
The others didn't mix with the plebs and had their own social scene.
twenty somethings are all called Max and Olivia and talk too loudly in their drawling gap yah voices
But probably a yah
They're mostly thick as mince.

Do you think it’s acceptable to describe people as oiks and chavs?

There are far fewer of them now, due to house prices and cost of living (and meritocracy). I also think they were edged out by the Eurotrash, who took a lot of the job at the big banks (this may change with Brexit).
They have moved out to the home counties now, places like Reigate, Cobham, Virginia Water etc. Kids are in minor public schools, not the leading, high profile ones. Mums wear Joules and walk the spaniel or labrador in Hunter wellies :)

Vocal fry. It is a strange affectation , I find it incredibly annoying for some reason.

I have never met a alone ranger ( I am not in any way posh) so I have no idea if they still exist or not but I read this review of Susannah from Trinny and Susannah’s book and it sounds very amusing. She used to go out with Princess Margaret’s son.
amp.theguardian.com/books/2022/sep/20/ready-for-absolutely-nothing-by-susannah-constantine-review-memoir-former-what-not-to-wear-host

Yes, the modern boarding school accent... I remember looking around schools that had a "Spoken English" department. I'm guessing those have disappeared in the last 20 years!

Some of the 80s descriptions were great. A lot of my friends are dinkys at the moment.

Are we reading the same thread? The prevailing tone is one of nostalgia and affection with a gentle ribbing.

And in any event it is different punching down and you know it is, stop being so disingenuous.

Anyway.. I grew up with a girl from the same low income background as me. Her Mum was endlessly messed around by men and was basically pig sick of being poor/ having to graft for a living so she discouraged her two girls from having regional accents and brought them up to 'marry well' (which seemed like a weirdly punk attitude in a community that prided itself on its salt of the earth work ethic!).

The older daughter partially 'succeeded' by marrying a solidly middle class bloke but still has to work. Whereas the younger, wilder, much more fun one, really smashed it.. got herself a circle of Rah friends and then married one of their brothers. His family have several country piles and I think she helps run one of those as a luxury wedding venue or something. I'm not really in touch with her these days but she seems wonderfully happy on social media (and not in a live, laugh, love way), gorgeous kids, handsome hubby, loads of money and a total 'devil may care' attitude. You have to admire her.

I wonder if her circle knows about her background, and if so I hope they know how lucky they are to have nabbed her.

You find quite a lot of them at Bicester Shopping Village. Grim. I can't face going there any more.