Sloane Ranger (Sloane)

n

British

a young upper-middle or upper-class person, educated at a public school and affecting certain well defined modes of dress and behaviour. The phrase was applied to a recognisable sub-category of British youth displaying characteristics of what used to be known as the 'county set'. The equivalent of the American preppies and the French B.C.B.G.s (for 'bon chic, bon genre'), Sloane Rangers were defined and described by the jour-nalists Peter York and later Ann Barr in articles in Harpers and Queen magazine and publications such as The Official Sloane Ranger's Handbook (1982). The first time the words appeared in print was in October 1975, but Peter York was not the originator of the expression. It was used by bar-room wits of the early 1970s to refer to would-be 'men about town' fre-quenting Chelsea pubs, only some of whom were the upper-class youths (then known solely as Hooray Henrys) later so described. The source of the pun, the Lone Ranger, was the dashing cowboy hero of a 1950s TV series; Sloane Square is in Chelsea.

► 'The appalling Sloane Ranger look. Worn by strapping, horsey girls aged 20 going on 53. Other components: striped shirts, a tame string of pearls, impenetrable pleated skirt, blue tights and prissy shoes. Printed headscarves optional. Thick ankles mandatory.' (Description of female Sloane Ranger, Judy Rumbold, Guardian, 11 December 1989)