Let's clear this for once and for all: Preppy vs. Trendy

<p>This stems from several boards talking about "preppiness" at certain colleges. I think people here are mistaking "trendy" and JAPPY/wealthy/suburban for preppy. Preppy originates from white, WASPY people in New England. This is not saying one's better than the other- just making the difference. So anyways, here's my list of things that make a place or person preppy and things that don't. Feel free to add on:</p>

<p>PREPPY:
Polos
Pink and green
Khakis
Sperry topsiders
sailing
boarding school
being from New England
Having Roman numerals after your name
Princeton/Williams/Dartmouth/Amherst/Connecticut College/Hamilton/Colgate
duck boots
Lilly Pulitzer
hunting
crew/squash
horseback riding
BMW's, VOlkswagons, more unassuming cars
oxford shirts
loafers
Nantucket/Cape Cod/Martha's Vinyard
Brooks Brothers
Plaid
pearls
gold</p>

<p>NOT Preppy:
Tommy Hilfiger
Abercrombie
American Eagle
Juicy
So Low
Prada
Louis Vuitton
being from Long Island/New Jersey/LA
basketball/wrestling
Penn/Columbia/Michigan
gelled hair
Armani
Ferraris/Corvettes/flashy cars
Cancun
Gucci
lots of cologne
French manicures
silver jewelry
Ugg Boots</p>

<p>Ambiguous:
Polo
cashmere
Burberry
North Face
Georgetown</p>

<p>All of those things are preppy.</p>

<p>what the HELL!!!... ppl who put this much emphasis on clothes and distinguishing trends should be rounded up on a bus and sent to the pentagon for scientific examination...</p>

<p>Calm down there, ilovetocamp. I told you, I'm not saying I think one's better than the other or even that it's the biggest factor you should look for in a college. It's just that people ask A LOT whether certain schools are preppy to determine whether they'd like to go there. There's been some confusion- I'm clearing it up. Not a serious deal, lighten up.</p>

<p>i was never angry or serious... lol, i guess u misinterpreted me</p>

<p>but the thread is a decent idea</p>

<p>I think, under the Preppy list, you forgot popped collars. I dunno, a lot of this stuff can go either way. For example, Ugg boots are more of an indicator of spoiledness/Japiness, rather than of prepiness or non-prepiness. I think the same holds true for much of that stuff. Come on, Abercrombie and AE are def. preppy. And how can you simply label "gold" as preppy?</p>

<p>Cool... I just think it's funny b/c I went from a wealthy Jewish suburb to prep school where people have VERY different ideas of preppy...</p>

<p>Haha. Its definitely something that is fun to dwell on. As I prepare for entrance into a preppy/Japish college in the fall, I find myself trying to find new ways to "prep-up" every day. I mean, when grades no longer matter much you find things to fill your time.</p>

<p>What about people from parts of new york that's not Long Island? We feel left out in your list...</p>

<p>Are there really any places that have not mixed preppy with trendy? The girls in their pink and green seem to all have LV purses these days. Northface and topsiders. The Nantucket set is driving BMWs.</p>

<p>Westchester is def. preppy.</p>

<p>Yeah, it's true...preppy has all of a sudden gotten "trendy." I was talking about old-school preppy. Also, yeah, Westchester is preppy. And I forgot LL Bean.</p>

<p>westchester is not preppy. are you kidding? westchester is the bastion of abercrombie and fitch and bargain bins...westchester is land of the bar/bat mitzvahs... verrry jappy (nothing wrong there)... westchester is something that might seem preppy, but in actuality is not, like burberry.</p>

<p>Hm.... I thought Scarsdale was more jappy, Westchester was preppier... but maybe you're right.</p>

<p>no my camp friends live there, there are no wasps. at all. but a lot of popped collars and gelled hair. <em>shudder</em></p>

<p>wow, I never knew Khankis are Preppy ... although most at my school either try to be "gangsta", "gothic" or "skateboarder", very few Preppy and I don't think anybody is Trendy .... I'd say I'm normal :)</p>

<p>Westchester is preppy? Au contraire, mon frere...</p>

<p>But as I think about it, I've been living here all these years, but I don't have it quite figured out. It's definitely not preppy, though. It's too diverse for that...</p>

<p>seriously how dare you put abercrombie and american eagle in the same category as armani?? hmm.....
:)</p>

<p>EVERYONE at my school is preppy...it's crazy. We have bazillions of popped collars and Uggs... </p>

<p>We're getting polo style shirts to wear on game days for softball (grrr...) and my teammates were all like, "OMG! Let's all buy Sperrys to go with them!"</p>

<p>It scared me :O Thanks, but I'll be fine wearing my Vans slipons.</p>

<p>I'm nowhere near any of that.</p>

<p>Maybe you should add another category: ghetto.</p>

<p>As sad as it is, I'd probably fall into that, just by living in NYC.</p>