Preppies

People who fit the stereotypical description of students and graduates of prestigious preparatory schools

The stereotypical culture of college-preparatory schools became an influence upon and focus of mainstream American culture during the 1980’s. Preppies dressed and acted conservatively, and the preppy look and manner came to stand as a conservative alternative to the more outlandish fashions of the decade.

The term “preppy” received widespread recognition after Ali McGraw’s character applied it to Ryan O’Neal’s character in Love Story (1970). It quickly caught on as both an identifier of a certain class of privileged young people and, for those who disparaged them, a derogatory label for a snob. The term gained renewed currency in 1980, when The Official Preppy Handbook was published. Similar to books cataloging the features of mythical creatures such as gnomes, the book used illustrations and lists to explain the characteristics and behavior of the modern preppy.

The most innocent usage of the term “preppy” meant a student or alumnus of a private college-preparatory school, such as Phillips Exeter Academy, Andover, or Emma Willard School in the Northeast, or the Altamont School, Baylor School, or Foxcroft Academy in the South. Those schools’ alumni seemed able to recognize one another, even if they were graduates of different years or different schools. Used negatively, the term referred to those thought to display “superior” attitudes of ennui, sarcasm, exclusivity, and an excessive enthusiasm when around their peers.

Outstanding Characteristics

Preppies were associated with moneyed families, usually “old” money, and were the product of selective “good” breeding, with couples matched to each other with careful thought and planning. Their children were raised with instruction in good manners and good taste. When of school age, the children were sent to day schools or boarding schools, such as the Chapin School or the Dalton School in New York, Deerfield Academy or Groton in Massachusetts, or the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. By the time they were ready for college, they had experienced extensive travel on at least one continent other than North America and had a fair to excellent fluency in at least one language other than English. A preppy was likely to attend the same college or university as had his or her grandparents, parents, uncles, and aunts. High on the list of preferred schools were Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, and lesser-known preppy schools such as Colorado College and Trinity.

The most often remarked feature of preppies was their style of dress. They tended to follow classic American fashion, wearing clothes made of natural fiber fabrics, with simple lines and fine workmanship. The Brooks Brothers suit was the uniform for business and formal attire for men, and it was worn with button-down oxford cloth shirts in pastel shades. More casual wear included cuffed khaki pants, Izod Lacoste polo shirts with their distinctive alligator icon, and topsiders (sailing shoes) worn without socks. Female preppies wore ribbons in their hair, headbands, cardigan sweaters, and pearls. Both sexes seemed partial to the color combination of pink and green.

It was this style of dress that made preppies most significant in American culture, because it was easily imitated. As a result, over the course of the 1980’s, “preppy” ceased to refer solely to attendees of elite schools and came instead to refer to anyone who dressed in similar clothing or cultivated the haughty and overly cultured attitudes associated with the preppy stereotype.

Preppies spent their leisure time or vacations in Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard, for instance, a tradition of several generations. Because they were usually in good physical condition, they were often avid sportsmen and -women, indulging in skiing, tennis, golf, swimming, squash, horseback riding, and boating. Preppies hoping to impress a potential boss or future fiancé strove to participate in at least the trials of the America’s Cup races, the ultimate display of expert boatmanship.

Impact

During the 1980’s, class became a significant topic of discussion both in the media and in popular culture. Some of the most popular teen films of the decade were written or directed by John Hughes, who often produced stories about the fraught relations between teens of different classes. As the Ronald Reagan administration successfully rejuvenated the U.S. economy, class disparities became more evident than ever, as poor and rural people failed to benefit from an economy that was making others wealthy. Moreover, as Reagan’s conservatism both mirrored and increased that of the country at large, many subcultures and countercultures arose, and many of them featured outlandish styles of dress.

The image of the preppy in American society became laden with meaning during the decade. For some, it was a signifier of the detachment and simple cluelessness of the wealthy in the face of poverty. This version of the stereotype received one of its most famous portrayals by Dan Aykroyd in Trading Places (1983). For others, preppy styles represented a palatable mode of dress in the face of punks, goths, and Madonna fans who wore their lingerie outside their clothes. Preppies’ association with old money complicated their class significance still further, as they stood in opposition to the rise of the young, newly rich yuppies. Meanwhile, actual preppies had to negotiate all of these positive and negative associations.

Bibliography

Birnbach, Lisa, ed. The Official Preppy Handbook. New York: Workman, 1980. The definitive (and humorous) book describing all aspects of the preppy lifestyle, from birth to married adulthood. Photos, drawings, and lists are included, as well as a lexicon of preppy words and phrases.

Fussell, Paul. Class: A Guide Through America’s Status System. New York: Dorset Press, 1992. Deals with the “visible and audible signs of social class” reflected by choice, not race, religion, or politics.

Walker, Matt “Johnny,” and Marissa “Mitzy” Walsh. Tipsy in Madras: A Complete Guide to 80’s Preppy Drinking. New York: Berkley, 2004. Commentary on how to drink in preppy fashion, with recipes for “classic” preppy drinks, and on literature and customs to help the reader identify a preppy.