<p>Oh! And my imaginary family has a dog that is very comfortable on their boat. It’s a golden retriever.</p>
<p>Re: Auntie Mame. Remember the aryan from Darien??</p>
<p>I agree that it must a regional thing. I live in coastal CT, S went to a prep school and the love of sailboats, old clothes and older homes is ubiquitous. Lots of wannabees but when you see one you know one.
Who ever mentioned wearing grandmother’s hand-me-down cashmere - after being first worn by an older sister was spot on in my neck of the woods.
Ralph Lauren? Never!
Also baystateresident’s description of the headmaster was exactly my interpretation of prep.</p>
<p>Today’s Oliver Barrett IV would be the Vinklevoss twins.</p>
<p>and Woody, don’t forget the handmedown JEWELRY and FURNITURE. Even old couches are useful…haha! I had my grandmother’s wing chair shipped to me and the upholstery was too shabby chic even for me, so I was telling a neighbor that I was on my way to the fabric place. She said, “Why don’t you just buy a new chair?” WHAT?? New furniture?</p>
<p>When I watched the Social Network I was under the impression that the Winklevii were new money, not old money. Does anyone know the truth?</p>
<p>“I’m curious as to what it means on the west coast these days”</p>
<p>It essentially has no meaning on the west coast. It’s just a “look” here that few choose to pursue.</p>
<p>Unless you are 70 and live in San Marino.</p>
<p>@ dke: agreed—our house is more than half furnished with hand-me-downs—and with new fabric it is often better than anything that we could buy today.</p>
<p>@ baystate: I believe that they’re old money from Greenwich but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>Hard to say, born in Southampton, raised in Greenwich, all the typical schools. But dad was/is? a professor at Penn. Not a typically prepster thing to do. Hmm…</p>
<p>disagree----a very prepster thing to do—teaching at a private school is often the path of the intelligent, old-moneyed prep</p>
<p>I thought their father was a hedge fund guy who built a boathouse in Connecticut where they learned how to row. But, I could be wrong. Maybe he was a professor of business at Wharton?</p>
<p>Yes, old money can afford to live well on an academic salary. (think Endicott Peabody)</p>
<p>Yes, yes, I agree that the prep school headmaster or history teacher is certainly a preppy occupation but a COLLEGE professor…I’m not so sure.</p>
<p>I think I remember a hedge fund thing with the father as well. Doesn’t exactly scream old money…</p>
<p>A note on regional preppy/trad. Japan embraced the preppy look in the 60’s and it continues today. J Press, the leading trad/preppy store in the US, sells more licensed product in Japan than they do in the US.</p>
<p>[Take</a> Ivy | A Continuous Lean.](<a href=“http://www.acontinuouslean.com/2008/05/19/take-ivy/]Take”>Take Ivy | A Continuous Lean.)</p>
<p>You don’t have to BE old money to be preppy. I am pretty preppy, and money has never had the opportunity to age in my hands, or my parents’. Plus I’m Jewish. But it’s a style question – not just clothes, everything else, too. That’s the style I grew up with, and how I live more or less. (My wife does mock the fact that I rarely wear anything other than chinos and a button-down shirt, or sometimes a polo during the dog days of summer. I used to wear Topsiders a lot, too, but not so much recently.)</p>
<p>woody—agree with your distinction—now I am curious whether it was old or new—certainly the way their behavior was portrayed in the movie would suggest the latter, so I’m not sure why I was under the opposite impression</p>
<p>JHS, did you read the updated preppy handbook that came out this past year? They got some things right, including the newer inclusion of Jewish and Black preps.</p>
<p>The Southern preps I know are far more overtly religious than the Northeast ones (who are generally fairly secular, modestly Episcopalian with some forays into UU), which leads to a different style and way of life as well.</p>
<p>JHS…
My wife also. Can’t stand my blue, pink, red, or purple gingham plaid shirts. I am starting to wear more spread collar shirts…English trad I guess.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Are you serious? Look at the lists of famous alumni of any of the old-line New England prep schools. You’ll find those lists studded with academics. It’s an almost ideal job for old-money types: socially respectable, indoor work where you don’t get your hands dirty, no heavy lifting, no money-grubbing, plus if you want you can take the summer (or a good part of it) off. Or you can continue to “work” while “summering” on the Vineyard or in the south of France. And the salary is a nice little supplement to your trust fund income.</p>
<p>Completely agree with bclintonk.</p>
<p>WINKLEVOSS twins care too much about money to be real preppies…
BUT not working for money IS preppy!</p>