Preppy Is Back

When I was in high school during the 1980s "The Official Preppy Handbook" was extremely popular. It was written as a joke, satirizing the WASPs and their world. It led the way to a whole preppy movement in clothing. However, since I grew up in Newport Beach, dressing preppy was not a passing fad. People had been dressing conservatively there for decades. At any given event, I saw my friends, our classmates, and their families sporting button down and polo shirts, oxfords, khaki pants, seersucker jackets, Lily Pulitzer dresses, twin sets, and other preppy looks.

So when I heard that the sequel to "The Official Preppy Handbook," called "True Prep" was coming out, I was curious. An interest in the Mad Men style, along with strained economic times has prompted designers to promote a more simple, streamlined, classic style. Cardigans, longer skirts, jackets, and well-cut men's suits are everywhere right now.

Meghan Daum's article in the Los Angeles Times on September 9, titled "A Preppy Guide for Hard Times" maintains that a message deeper than how to dress can be gleaned from the new book. I am going to quote a long passage at the end of her article because I could not paraphrase it better: "Perhaps preppiness is less about demographics and style than it is about living decently in an often indecent world. As stuffy and elitist as its preoccupations can be, preppiness at its core is ultimately about self-respect. It's about pulling your pants up. It's about being able to come up with an acceptable answer when asked what book changed your life. It's about knowing that you don't necessarily need to have money to have class."

I am all for promoting self-respect and displaying integrity and class. If adopting a more preppy or conservative way of dressing leads people down that road, hooray!