Preppy

Preppy (also spelled as preppie or prep) is an American subculture associated with the alumni of college-preparatory schools in the Northeastern United States. The term is an abbreviation of "preparatory" and used to denote a person with the characteristic of a student or alumnus of these schools. Characteristics of preppy individuals include a particular subcultural speech, vocabulary, dress, mannerisms and etiquette reflective of an upper class and old money upbringing. The term preppy derives from the private college-preparatory schools that some American upper class and upper middle class children attend. The term preppy is commonly associated with the Ivy League and broader group of oldest universities in the Northeast as well as the preparatory schools preparing pupils to become their students, since traditionally a primary goal in attending a prep school was admittance into one of these institutions. Preppy fashion derives from the fashions of these old Northeastern schools in the early to mid-twentieth century. Lisa Birnbach's 1980 book The Official Preppy Handbook was written to poke fun at the rich lives of privileged Ivy League and socially elite liberal arts college students. It portrays the preppy social group as well-connected, and although exclusive, courteous to other social groups without fostering serious relationships with them. Being educated and well-connected is associated with an upper-class socioeconomic status that emphasizes higher education and high-income professional success. While the Preppy fashion style has roots in the "Ivy" style of dress, and is named from Ivy League universities, the style originated around 1912 and had become widespread by the late 1950s. The Ivy League dressing style was inspired by leisure activities commonly enjoyed by the upper-classes in the United Kingdom and northeastern United States (such as polo, sailing, hunting, fencing, crew rowing, lacrosse, golf, tennis, rugby, squash, and swimming) and adapted the sportswear associated with these activities as everyday wear.