‘True Prep’ sequel to ‘The Official Preppy Handbook’ redefines lifestyle, dress with modern standards
The preppy fashion trend from the 1980s is still prevalent among students today. Gina Wanless, left, and Amy Ly describe their look as the modern version of this style.
By Alex Goodman
Sept. 17, 2010 12:01 a.m.
Michelle Obama is preppy, because she went to Princeton and wears cardigans from J.Crew. Anderson Cooper is preppy, because his mother is a Vanderbilt, and he was a child model for Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren. Stephen Colbert is preppy, because he went to Hampden-Sydney College and insists on the French pronunciation of his last name.
Thirty years ago, it wasn’t so easy to say. But in 1980, author and editor Lisa Birnbach and a small group of writers published “The Official Preppy Handbook,” and suddenly a movement had its bible. For anyone hoping to embrace or understand preppy, the book provided a guide to life, divided into five stages, plus two chapters devoted to the look and the language.
“It is the inalienable right of every man, woman, and child to wear khaki,” the book declares, on a page titled “Initiation.”
But a lot has changed in the last 30 years. Ralph Lauren built a fashion empire upon the foundation of preppy style. The demographics of country club members shifted and diversified. Banking, one of the quintessentially preppy careers, came to be associated with the economic downturn. New times call for new guidelines, so Birnbach teamed up with Chip Kidd, a writer and book designer, and on Sept. 7, they published “True Prep.” The subtitle reads: “It’s a whole new old world.”
“Thirty years ago, preppies were sort of the power elite of America,” Birnbach said. “They ran things, they were presidents, they were Cabinet members, they were in the Bohemian Club. Wherever important decisions were made, even at the restricted golf club, that’s where the preppies were. But now, society has changed.”
The biggest change, Birnbach writes in “True Prep,” is the introduction of fleece into the preppy wardrobe. But the book also deals with such modern topics as daddy’s new girlfriend (there are four types), rehab (“the new boarding school”) and “Gossip Girl” (“a travesty”). Birnbach even provides texting acronyms for the technologically preppy, including “ILYLAAS” (I love you like an argyle sweater) and “NEP” (not enough plaid).
Preppy clothes are also a lot easier to find these days; theory, Tory Burch and L.A.-based designer James Perse all received Birnbach’s stamp of approval. And for college students looking to get started, the entry costs are a lot less than a country club membership.
“The great thing about dressing this way is it doesn’t cost a lot of money,” Birnbach said. “You can always start at a lost and found and see what works. If, in the lost and found, there’s some polo shirts, or some crewneck sweaters that are unclaimed, you could have them cleaned and start with that. If the sweater doesn’t fit it doesn’t matter, because you can just tie it around your shoulders.”
Of course, some students arrive at UCLA with something of a head start.
“I think my family tends to dress preppier than other families, so I’ve kind of grown up wearing these kinds of clothes,” said Gina Wanless, a fourth-year history student and self-proclaimed owner of more cardigans than she can count.
“I think my parents like that it looks clean. … I’m one of four, and I think it was really important that we don’t look like we’re invading places.”
Wanless and her roommate, fourth-year biochemistry student Amy Ly, consider themselves to be occasionally preppy ““ they grew up near Palm Springs, one of the acceptable suburbs listed in “The Official Preppy Handbook.” But Ly has not found an abundance of blazers and boat shoes since coming to college.
“I think there are people who, on some days, dress preppy, but I wouldn’t call them preppy all the time,” Ly said. “I just don’t think it’s a very West Coast thing.”
Birnbach would beg to differ. She acknowledged that there is a brand of preppy unique to California ““ slimmer people, with darker tans and tighter clothing ““ but it is true prep nonetheless.
And UCLA in particular holds a special place in the preppy pantheon for her.
“Thirty years ago … I once hosted, for Greek Week at UCLA, a preppy contest,” Birnbach said.
“That was the most over-the-top, out-of-control thing I have ever seen in my life. Every fraternity had to put up a contestant. One house submitted a sailboat ““ they got people to carry in a sailboat, stacked with shirts and shorts and Top-Siders. One fraternity brought an armoire filled with clothes. One brought servants. … I have a soft spot … in my heart for UCLA because of that.”
Wanless and Ly may never show such commitment to preppy, but they said that the style seems to be making a comeback. Wanless pointed to the popularity of cardigans and the expansion of J.Crew, and suggested that even Urban Outfitters has deviated slightly from its hipster look in favor of more preppy leanings.
“It’s no longer grunge, it’s no longer those velour tracksuits, whatever it was when we were in middle school, with those huge fatty sneakers,” Ly said. “We live in a little bubble of college and now we’re trying to get jobs. … A lot of people we know are picking up blazers … because of what we need now.”
Wanless and Ly shouldn’t worry about their friends arriving too late to the party; the college years, according to Birnbach, are when many people come to embrace true prep.
She said she didn’t see a man wearing three collars at once until she attended Brown University. But Birnbach might suggest that dressing preppy may come in handy even before job interviews.
“If you see people on your campus who look good, who look casual, who look like they didn’t try too hard, they’re wearing bright colors and their collars are popped, it’s going to rub off,” Birnbach said.
“If you’re looking for an extension on a paper, I think it’s much more persuasive if you’re wearing basic, simple clothes than if you wear something trendy and expensive. You’re not going to look very sympathetic if you’re wearing Juicy (Couture).”
