Preppy + Americana = Americana

I am often asked, “What is the most common thing that people get wrong with Preppy?”

Preppy (or perhaps The Thing Before Preppy) is so evocative partially because it can be mushed around. It can become more Sloaney and horsey. It can become more nautical and yacht club, or tennis and country club. It can be dressed up or dressed down. It can become a bit more sleek and urban. Or tweedier.

And yet, as the preppy aesthetic speaks to an ever wider swath of people, it is continually being watered down, even cheapened.  

While preppy arguably has its roots in New England with its abundance of prep schools and Ivy League colleges - and we have indeed been arguing about this for almost 15 years now on my blog -  there is now what people like to call Southern Prep, Western Prep, Parisian Prep, Irish Prep, Euro Prep, Mole People Prep, etc.