Typical preppy clothes to create a unique look

Whilst you could describe preppy clothes as outdated and overly chic by many people, preppy clothing has to offer many more than just outdated looks. 

The preppy aesthetic is about the privileged life of the upper-middle-class and upper-class people who support Ivy League principles. Therefore, they will portray the aesthetic in their clothing.

Preppy aesthetic

The preppy aesthetic consists of wealth and elitism. Typically the preps are the children of families of the upper-middle-class and upper class. As a result, they study at renowned universities, preferably Ivy League universities like Yale or Harvard. 

Because of traditions and long family history, prep likes rules and the flair of former generations but unlike old money, likes to mix it with something new and trendy.

Preppy clothing

Preppy clothing is based on the style you would associate with an Ivy League university where many privileged young adults from wealthy families come together to participate in sports and have exclusive parties. 

Two typical styles are chic old money clothes combined with trendy or sports clothing and school uniform-like outfits that might look a little out of fashion. 

This article contains a list of clothes that describe the preppy style as the best for you to look just like a million dollars.

Though the general ideas of preppy style are the same, there are some differences between the male style of clothing and the female one regarding preppy aesthetics.

Preppy clothes for men

You can define the preppy style for men by certain activities they participate in. As a result, the combination of something chic with something sporty fits the male preppy style very well. Although you have to keep in mind that they aren’t wearing sweatpants to their activities. To get to know everything about it, check out my article about preppy style for men where this will be covered in full detail.

Some of the typical activities are golf, tennis, polo, swimming, and horse racing. Because of their exclusiveness, most of these activities require a certain style of clothing to even participate in that activity, like polo shirts. 

Therefore, a list of clothing will show you which items prep wears in correlation to activities.

• Polo shirts
• Button-down shirts
• Nantucket Reds shorts 
• Cardigans
• Breeches
• Vests
• Fisherman like sweaters
• Aquaberry sweaters
• Wax jackets 
• J. Crew vest
• Baseball caps
• Knee socks
• Hats

These rather sporty clothes you can combine with some traditionally chic clothing to create a contrast to the old money style. Furthermore, the colors can differ from muted, if you’re playing golf, to glaring if you’re attending a polo match. The traditionally chic and neat clothes for preppy men are:

• Oxford button-down shirts
• Slack pants
• Chino pants
• Blazers
• Cable knit sweaters
• Trench coats
• V-neck sweaters
• Neckties
• Dress pants
• Sweater vests

The listed clothes can create some unique preppy outfits. In addition, preppy men can wear a small selection of accessories to finish their outfits. Metal rings are a great option to wear, especially signet rings with the logo of an Ivy League university. Furthermore, these exclusive rings can be worn to show everyone that you were part of the most exclusive universities in the world and graduated. 

Apart from rings, small watches and necklaces can be worn. The watches could be from exclusive brands like Patek Phillipe and the necklaces can represent the WASP aesthetic with a cross to refine the outfit.  

Preppy clothes for women

The preppy style for women, whilst following mostly the same principles, is a little bit different. The preppy aesthetic for women is more about beauty than for men. Nevertheless, it still likes to combine trendy, sporty clothes with something more elevated and chicer. 

Therefore, most of the sporty items on this list that men could wear, also work for women. There are some things though that women wear but men shouldn’t:

• Mini skirts
• Tennis skirts
• Plaid skirts
• Tennis dresses
• Golf shirt dresses

These items, along with the ones from the male section, can create a beautiful look when paired with some chic clothing. The go-to options will be covered in the following list: 

• Trench coats
• Button-down shirts
• Nantucket Reds shorts
• Bomber jacket
• Blazer
• Knit sweaters
• Blouses
• Sweater west
• Chinos
• Dress pants
• Lilly Pulitzer shift dresses
• wrap dresses

With a combination of the featured items on this list, there is besides preppy shoes only one thing needing to be worn to complete the preppy look, accessories. Since prep typically comes from wealthy families, the accessories can be more expensive than you would usually buy them. 

• Bracelets (Cartier, Van Cleef)
• Necklaces (Cartier, Van Cleef, Kendra Scott)
• Pearl earrings
• cable bracelet (Cartier, David Yurman)
• Aviator sunglasses (Ray-Ban, Polo Ralph Lauren)
• Scarfs (Burberry)

Fabrics, Colors, & Patterns

The preppy clothes are uniquely designed with extraordinary patterns. Accordingly, most of these patterns are based on school uniforms and patterns you would normally describe as outdated. As a result, the preppy style consists of the following patterns: 

• Gingham
• Argyle
• Plaid

These are commonly used to imitate school uniforms. 

To create another preppy look, stripes, and quatrefoil fabric is often used as well as wool. With these patterns and fabrics, a mixture can create a great contrast, such as a plaid fabric skirt combined with a wool sweater. Nevertheless, mixing different patterns apart from plain fabric should be considered carefully. 

To avoid looking boring, some colors are crucial when it comes to preppy clothes. As a result, these colors are outstanding and sometimes garish. Therefore, bright red, baby blue, green, yellow, orange, and white are colors, prep likes to wear.

Summary

As a result of their collars and patterns, preppy clothes are meant to stand out and soften the stiff traditional clothing of the upper-middle and upper class. Unlike the old money style, preppy clothes create modern outfits, that are nevertheless elegant and chic. A combination of traditional clothes and sporty or trendy items is the perfect combination to wear, especially if you are part of an Ivy League university.