<p>^At the risk of completely dominating this thread:</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say Princeton is preppy so much as overwhelmingly normal. You’ll definitely find fewer hipster kids here than at some peer schools–less purple hair, fewer piercings, that sort of thing.</p>
<p>GUYS:
There are more than a few guys who wear madras print shorts and toss around the color “Nantucket red” without irony, but they’re far from the majority (or plurality). Most guys wear jeans or khakis with a tee or a polo. And the polo’s are infinitely more likely to be from Kohl’s or American Eagle than they are Ralph Lauren. So the style isn’t preppy; it’s average, lazy guy. (The only popped collars I’ve ever seen are at Lawnparties, where the point is to be as (ironically) preppy as possible.)</p>
<p>GIRLS:
Girls here run the gambit from jeans and a sweatshirt to very stylish. This winter, fashion-conscious girls were very into the leggings/skinny jeans, a big sweater, and boots thing. Now they’re mostly wearing cute tops, dark jeans, and flats. We’re not huge risk-takers (very short or dyed hair is pretty rare, as is anything goth, etc), but more than a few girls are definitely pretty stylish, if that makes sense.</p>
<p>The preppy Princeton stereotype is, IMO, very much outdated. (After all, Fitzgerald called us a country club almost a century ago.) Especially with the advances in finaid in the last decade and the increased diversity, there’s not much hardcore preppiness left. But we’re certainly less edgy than Columbia, Brown, UChicago, etc. More “normal,” middle-of-the-road.</p>