Striped blouses, polo shirts, chinos: preppy style is back

By Britta Schmeis Sep 22, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Hamburg - The so-called preppy look has long been associated with students, lawyers and scions of the wealthy.

Neat and proper, the preppy look includes polo shirts, cable knit sweaters, striped blouses and trousers with pleats in the front.

The '50s and '60s are setting the tone in the fashion world and this time the upscale, elite society of the US east coast is the source of inspiration for a number of current styles. Preppy chic has come back into style.

The name preppy comes from private preparatory schools where wealthy US families send their children, usually paying high fees along the way. These schools prepare children and teenagers for going to an elite US university.

Preppy, meaning dapper, neat or proper, has been accepted slang for decades. In the '80s it was best exemplified by Lacoste and Ralph Lauren. Now the look is celebrating a comeback and is found in other fashion labels, including the popular European brands Marc O'Polo and Cinque.

The remarkable thing about the current preppy look isn't that it's just being imitated or retrieved from mothballs, it is a bona fide fashion craze.

'This isn't just a short trend, rather a clear style,' said Maria Hans, a fashion consultant in Germany. For a number of years people have been wearing various elements of the preppy look. Now the style has been reinforced and perfected.

Today's preppy look encompasses the classic garments: Polo shirts with a logo over the left breast, rugby shirts with the emblem of a sport club or college, chinos, striped blouses, cardigans, V-neck sweaters, trenchcoats and tweed suits.

Today these elements aren't worn from head to toe, rather they are worn separately, said Winfried Rollmann, a trend expert at a German fashion institute who has run a fashion consultancy in Paris for more than 15 years. An example is the classic blue blazer worn with chinos.

'A polo shirt alone isn't sufficient to achieve the preppy look,' said Hans. Young people exaggerate the image of the nerd. Tommy Hilfiger adds nerd glasses as an accent and felt trilby hats are also popping up.

The ultimate neo-preppy look in Rollmann's view is the silhouette created by the high-waisted pencil skirt worn with a tight pullover and a preppy element such as puffy sleeves.

Well-known combinations go with this new trend: Sexy hotpants worn with stockings and almost boyish lace-tie shoes or loose chinos worn with ballerinas.

Fashion consultant Silke Gerloff sees three signs that the style has evolved.

'For one thing it has become more casual, which is clear from the nerd glasses and the trilby hats. Then there's the fact that it is more feminine than in the '50s or in the '80s, which is demonstrated by dresses, tunics and sexy skirts in the collections.

'And above all it has become more individual because everyone interprets the look a little bit differently,' she says.

For fellow fashion consultant Andreas Rose, the style adheres to a kind of respectability.

'It is formal and conservative, but also youthful and sporty,' he said. Maria Hans added that she also considers the look polite and dutiful, but said the straightforward and sometimes even bold colours are fresh. 'I can't find anything boring in these friendly, neat and mostly cheerful outfits,' she said.

Rollmann also defends the trend, saying he believes it represents something playful more than a new smugness. 'In particular young women take to the look with a lot of irony,' Rollmann said.