Among the visual overload of costumes, class banners, and P-rade vehicles, something about Princeton Reunions stood out to Karen Stolper — the class jackets. The illustrator, a graduate of Parsons School of Design, moved to Princeton from New York City when her young family needed more space. They would regularly check out downtown during Reunions because “there was so much stuff to look at, and it was just so much fun.” Class jackets turned into a source of artistic inspiration.
Though Stolper didn’t attend Princeton, she learned about the history and tradition of class jackets, which originally began when students in the Class of 1912 designed full-body “beer suits” to keep their clothes clean during drinking sessions at the Nassau Inn bar, according to the Princetoniana Museum. Nowadays, it’s customary for each graduating class to distribute a class jacket at graduation, as well as a Reunions costume every five years and a blazer at the 25th reunion.
Stolper, who has illustrated in pastels, acrylic paint, and pen and ink, started creating digital posters of class jackets that appeal to her in 2023. She mostly works on vintage styles. “They remind me of illustrated posters of clothing ads. They’re so jaunty, stylized, and fun,” she says.
To begin each class jacket illustration, she consults the Bob Rodgers ’56 Reunion and Beer Jacket Collection, which is available online through the Princetoniana Museum, to get a good look at the jacket’s design details. Then she starts with a hand drawing. “Once I’m pretty sure I have it the way I want it, I scan it, I put it into Photoshop, and then I start drawing on that,” she explains. “I’ll add layers, add in more things, and eventually the piece is a digital poster.”
Princeton’s rich history provides endless inspiration, particularly the traditions of each class and era. “Pictures, for me, are about telling a story,” Stolper says. That’s why all of her class jacket images incorporate a local New Jersey flower such as wood anemone, tansy, or spring starflower.
At the bottom of each poster, Stolper shares the class year associated with the jacket and some historical information. Her illustration of the Class of 1933 jacket notes that Albert Einstein came to Princeton that year, and below her drawing of the Class of 1973’s jacket, she acknowledges the women who were the first to receive degrees after a full four-year education at Princeton.
Stolper isn’t sure how large this project will be, or where it will take her; so far she’s designed eight posters and has ideas for many more. What she does know is that she’s enjoying it.
“I like to draw pictures, and I just think it’s such a fun history and tradition,” she says. “I just couldn’t resist it.”
Nina Bahadur ’12 is a writer, editor, and media consultant based in New York City.