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" THE MONOGRAM HAS GOTTEN a bad rap. One of the unfortunate residuals of the Alex P. Keaton era was the impulse of country-club types to sew their initials onto everything from their breast pockets to their boxer shorts. What started out as a functional way to mark your property at the laundry was perverted into just one more way to let the guy across the hall know the size of your wallet. Well-to-do Japanese men even started placing their letters on the collars of their shirts, the equivalent of stapling a hundred-dollar bill to your forehead.  I&amp;#039;m here to say that it&amp;#039;s time to reclaim the monogram, strip it of its elitist image, and put it to good use again. Andy Stinson, a noted style expert and consultant to famed shirt-and-tie maker Robert Talbott, points out that &amp;quot;military officers in the British empire would stamp their initials into the side of their saddle so the troops would know whose horse they were messing with.&amp;quot; Good idea. In this age of the dry cleaner, it&amp;#039;s also an easy way to keep the woman behind the counter from passing your brand-new button-down on to a guy who looks a lot like you. And at a time when everyone seems to be carrying the same luggage, wouldn&amp;#039;t it be nice if a simple stamp on your overnight bag would keep you out of the inevitable confusion at the airport baggage carousel?  Yes, we should bring back the monogram for functionality, but, moreover, the time is ripe for monograms to become another way for you to inject individuality and a little bit of irony into your wardrobe. Why else would retailers like J.Crew and Brooks Brothers be offering to sew your initials into that cashmere pullover? Place those three small letters (no larger than a quarter of an inch) just below your rib cage on a dress shirt and they become a subtle wink when you remove your jacket at a dinner party. Situated on your shirttail, the monogram becomes a tension breaker when revealed in the boudoir. It&amp;#039;s all about those three letters spelling style instead of jackass. So go ahead, take advantage of the name your mama gave you. Just don&amp;#039;t ruin it for the rest of us. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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