<p>i think preppy is j. crew, lacoste, ll bean, north face, ralph lauren, brooks brothers, birkenstocks, sperrys etc. but also just basic stuff like sweaters and v-necks that don't have to be brand name. UGGS are not preppy!!! (i'm bringing them to bs anyway :P otherwise my feet will freeze off)</p>
<p>ok, well if we go by my definition (no j.crew or northface or any store you would find in a mall, really) then the big schools aren't going to be "best dressed" in the preppy sense - ie andover, exeter, those with large student bodies. smaller schools like st george's, groton, brooks - they would have a "better dressed" student body. this is only because with the exception of groton, the smaller, lesser-known nationally schools still draw from a smaller segment of the populations than the andovers and choates and hotchkisses of the world. not that this is good or bad, just the way it is.</p>
<p>preppy in the nouveau riche sense, not classic old money ;)</p>
<p>seriously, prep is preppy and all but we're freaking teens. do we want to be stuck with headbands and cable-knit sweaters and knee-high socks and all kinds of different plaid colors that are three times older than us? not really. we want them three times younger than us, at the least!</p>
<p>i was speaking of the old-money sense of the word. i don't consider nouveau riche preppy, although they have infiltrated murray's. but anyway, i don't think that those who are preppy are better than those who are not. i simply think of it as a lifestyle, and when you live that lifestyle you tend to wear certain clothes. other people lead different lives and they wear different clothes. whatever, as long as everyone looks nice it's not really an issue.</p>
<p>I had never heard of J-Crew, Northface, Uggs, or Birkenstocks until I went onto CC. Then again, I've never called anyone preppy (labels are for jelly jars), so I guess I'm ignorant in that respect.</p>
<p>Anyway, I thought the kids at Lawrenceville were dressed well.</p>
<p>haha pinkpineapple, i normally go by your definition of preppy. because preppy isn't a dress, it's a lifestyle (as you said)</p>
<p>but most students at boarding schools don't all come from old money families, which is why a lot of labels mentioned here are sort of "commercialized preppy" if you get what i mean. you see them in malls and shopping centers more often than department stores or something of the like.</p>
<p>I have to say westcoast, I love cable sweaters (well not knee high socks and headbands because i'm a guy) and plaid and I'm 15. I didn't realize how much the student body at prep schools had changed until I started reading CC. I wonder what percent of the student body is old money nowadays?</p>
<p>Suppose it depends on your definition of "old money". How many generations does big money have to be in your family for it to be old money. And, do you have to be a WASPY family to be old money, would a rich dictator from Somalia be considered "old money"? I'm not sure lol. My guess about boarding schools would be that you see a lot of kids walking around with iphones and top of the line laptops (old money and new money would probably blend together in that way), but I bet there is a steep drop off once you hit a certain income where it goes from a bunch of kids at 250k+ and then very few at 75k-250k and then quite a few at below 75k. </p>
<p>As I always say, sorry for the random babbling.</p>
<p>Lol I have an iPhone and expensive laptop, I am by no means rich. But I see what your saying</p>
<p>tohabr, i meant the common idea that old money prep tends to be a series of hand-me-downs, but that doesn't have such a negative connotation, it's kind of like handing down an old title to a son, a mini version of what inheritance is.</p>
<p>i love cable knit sweaters and plaid and headbands as well (and i can like headbands because i'm a girl :P ), just if they were my mother's, i dunno, there's a high chance that it isn't what i really like to wear</p>
<p>Before, when you said 'three times older than us' I thought you were just talking about the design, not the actual age.</p>
<p>I am proud to declare that St. Andrew's-Sewanee school would never be on anyone's best dressed list. We spend way to much time outdoors doing science experiments, tending herb garden, learning to rock climb, etc. to be concerned with whether we have the latest A&F fashions.</p>
<p>(True, old money, preppy, btw, was all about a lack of concern with fashion, not being up on the latest fashion. The wealthiest kids at my school wore Carharts. The kids whose family money was still drying were the ones spending big money on costuming, I mean, clothes. ;-)</p>
<p>^^I'm well aware, however in general wearing work clothes would not be appropriate (I guess it doesn't really apply since it's 2008 and they're children). True preppy style is timeless and is not at all fashionable. And if you read the previous posts most people have said that A&F, AE, J.Crew are not preppy, nor are they fashionable.</p>
<p>Yep, sbergman, Carharts are big. The SPS alpine ski team wears customized Carharts coats.</p>
<p>I’ve always considered J. Crew preppy, why is it not…? can anyone explain that? Thanks!</p>
<p>J Crew was around and preppy in the 80s when I was a teen.</p>
<p>why are we arguing the definition of preppy?</p>
<p>because J. Crew is not classic; it is a national chain much like A & F even if the clothes are not exactly the same.</p>