West Coast "Preppy"

On the east coast, preppy style is the result of years of WASP culture and lifestyle; where the cloths echo an age old heritage. Fall and winter is full of fair isle sweaters, wool top coats and newsboy caps, Bean Boots and corduroys.Spring and summer consist of seersucker suits, madras shorts with boat shoes and no socks; Nantucket reds and "go-to-hell" pinks and greens, a time when people go wild with color after a long dreary winter.

So somewhere along the line as this style moved westward it was mutated and perverted until it became the abomination it is on the west coast. Some how "preppy" on the west coast came to represent a Californian look that is made up of over-sized board shorts and sandals, t-shirts and hoodies with over branding,along with tainted versions of the polo,pre-ripped chinos etc. A look that seems to stem more from surf culture then from a University.

Luckily for me I discovered the true Ivy influenced prep style that defines places like New England, The Hamptons, Nantucket, etc. For me this style represents America; an America when men had more pride in the appearance, regardless of social and economic standing. When dressing your best for Sunday was a must,and now man would be caught dead in a t-shirt and sweats in public. For me style like this is timeless and goes beyond clothes and into everyday life, affecting the way a man carries himself and treats others. So In closing I would urge more men to take pride in what they wear and to trade in their graphic tee from hollister for a polo at the very least, and to save their sandles and board shorts for the beach.