<p>You read a lot of comments on CC about certain colleges being very preppy. Or a certain student being really preppy. I'm gathering people are talking about more than popped collars and top-siders. </p>
<p>What does "preppy" mean to you?</p>
<p>I think of it mostly as dress, but perhaps an overly peppy attitude goes with it. If a college’s students have a preppy look, all of them look as if they spent some time in front of the mirror before they left the house.</p>
<p>LL Bean, LaCoste, Boat Shoes, frats, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Equestrian, Squash so on…</p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>That’'s what I think off when I hear “preppy.”</p>
<p>LLBEAN?? My DD would laugh out loud at that one. She and her friends wouldn’t walk across the street to LOOK at a catalog from Beans.</p>
<p>Preppy (to me) means well dressed (not sloppy), trendy in fashion and ideas.</p>
<p>Kids that went to boarding school like Andover.</p>
<p>People who went to Establishment private schools – boarding schools and mainstream day schools – and the social markers that go with those institutions. Not just dress style, or vacation destinations, sports, etc., but the whole gestalt.</p>
<p>Squash is a great marker. So is Mount Gay Rum. </p>
<p>Artists of high prepdom: Whit Stillman, A.R. Gurney, of course John Knowles, Curtis Sittenfeld. Not: The Preppy Handbook.</p>
<p>Preppy is a look and an attitude (always acting confident, sure of themselves and who they are). It’s prob. different in different regions but here in the south, preppy is whatever the greeks are wearing. You can easily pick them out at Fall football games.<br>
Ralph Lauren Polo,Southern Tide, Vineyard Vines, Brooks Bros.,Sperrys,leather flip flops, khaki shorts/pants,Patagonia jackets, seersucker,sometimes bow ties with button down shirts. Girls with Pandora bracelets and classic jewelry…often monogrammed,bright colors, Lilly Pulitzer,LaCoste (girls and guys) Jack Rogers shoes,classic stuff, always put together in an effortless sort of way even when wearing jeans and a sweatshirt,never overly trendy looking.</p>
<p>republican</p>
<p>Republican , waspy , and conservative old money . Nick names like bitsy and muffy . Junior League , " the club " and Lilly Pulitizer . Old money and debutantes . Talbott’s clothing . etc .</p>
<p>To me, preppy is more than a fashion style of popped collars, khaki’s, and boat shoes. It’s when the style is accompanied by the attitude of:</p>
<p>–looking down at anyone different from you
–entitlement syndrome–I get what I want and this makes me better than you
–take money for granted because they’ve never had to break a sweat for it
–very bigoted—whether directly to your face or behind your back</p>
<p>Socially confident/comfortable around all ages, impecable manners, classic clothing style, lack of facial or tongue piercings or too many ear holes, etc., does some outdoor sport both male and female: sailing, tennis, skiing, lacrosse, golf, hiking and for the most part upbeat personality. </p>
<p>I don’t think it’s about “clothes” per se, I’ve met just as many dreadlocked preppy kids that wouldn’t be caught dead in topsiders as I have clean cut ones who live in topsiders. It’s more about lifestyle and values. New money is loud, in your face and not preppy. Old money is typically quieter, restrained and preppy.</p>
<p>This is all very fascinating. What a variety of descriptions and opinions we have here. </p>
<p>To me, preppy is not the blue blood jet set. In the northeast, I’d say preppy is the nouveau riche, who wish they could be among the true blue bloods; but they’re trying too hard to actually break in. In the south, I think preppy is just a style that reflects the “raising ladies and gentlemen” culture there. </p>
<p>True blue bloods are too sophisticated to be preppy. Their styles are so far out of the preppy league that it would be comical to see them that way. Anything that’s gone mainstream (Lilly, LaCoste, etc.,) is unappealing to them. </p>
<p>At least that’s how I see it. $0.2. ;)</p>
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<p>My DD is preppy. She does NOT look down on others, she worked very hard all the way through college and has no feeling of entitlement, she earned her own money so it was hard to take it for granted, and she is NOT bigoted in anyway.</p>
<p>She does have her share of conservative clothing, she is a registered DEMOCRAT.</p>
<p>^You’ve raised a wonderful girl. My opinion of preppy is not the way someone dresses, but rather the attitude that they carry with them.</p>
<p>I agree with MD Mom. Especially the part about looking in the mirror.
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<p>If asked to select a political party associated with being preppy, I would answered wealthy Northeastern Democrats. So I think it is interesting that others have answered Republicans. </p>
<p>As my mother would have said “It doesn’t cost anything to pass a mirror on the way out of the house, tuck in your shirt, be tidy with your house, and be polite”</p>
<p>And DD is in the Peace Corps now…no room for the things in post #10 when you’re in the Peace Corps in a place with no electricity, and no running water…and no transportation except your feet and some crowded and unreliable buses.</p>
<p>thread is fascinating to me as well…actually made me laugh out loud…</p>
<p>D2 is the preppiest kid ever; JCrew; the works… spends 2 minutes (at the tops) getting dressed in the morning…but always looks good; neat and dressed…has worked continuously since she has been able to…and gets BEYOND upset when ANYBODY looks down on people…</p>
<p>Jewish, democratic leaning, and, similar to Thumper’s D, would be right at home digging ditches somewhere without running water…</p>
<p>and no, (haha), we are not considered “rich” (at least up here)…</p>
<p>I like the urban dictionary’s definition [Urban</a> Dictionary: preppy](<a href=“http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=preppy]Urban”>Urban Dictionary: Preppies)</p>
<p>I associate the term with a dress style (which, LOL doesn’t include dreadlocks!!), an attitude (which doesn’t include bigotry) and often, but not always, an association with greek life.</p>
<p>I think it really does depend on the region. The fashions do overlap, but not necessarily the attitude. In the South, I would absolutely agree with Republican, money is required (old or new), frat culture and a sense of entitlement assumed. In the North, it is either true old money (in which LL bean would be fine because it is functional and well-made, the mark of the original preppy brands), but the bow-tie, popped collar would be more for those that want to convey wealth that may not exist yet. In the Midwest, I see it as a fashion statement of the middle class where wealth and fashion no not coincide. In the South, I imagine Wake Forest. In the Midwest, I think DePauw or U of Notre Dame.</p>
<p>If anybody has any doubts: [Ivy</a> Style Southern Frat: The 1979 Are You a Preppie? Poster](<a href=“http://www.ivy-style.com/southern-frat-the-1979-are-you-a-preppie-poster.html]Ivy”>Ivy Style)</p>