Prepping For a New Day
Prepping for a New Day
Written by Jagger van Vliet
Art by Izzy Maher
Preppy is back in style! Or so says the fashion world anyway. But is this really true?
Throughout this season’s Spring/Summer shows, you’d be hard- pressed to ignore a profusion of blazers, collared shirts, ties, and still more ties. Increasingly, fashion weeks have looked more like a cross between yacht-club and fraternity. If you told a hypebeast of days gone by that this year’s New York Fashion Week highlights would include J.Crew, Ralph Lauren, and Calvin Klein, they’d likely clutch their Supreme Tee in shock, wondering why anyone would ever want to swap a runway for a country club.
It’s no surprise that prep is returning to the mainstream. For months now, TikTok and Instagram have been overrun with content lauding the “old money” aesthetic. These compilations usually feature any number of dapper trustafarians wearing Brooks Brothers’ ties or otherwise reclining on their family’s second (or third) yacht. Old money, as an aesthetic, has been steadily gaining more traction via films like Saltburn, shows like The White Lotus, and the near-innumerable internet fanfictions that feature inexplicably handsome billionaires and their debonair sons.
It was only a matter of time before this recurrent aesthetic reached a sartorial audience. Jonathan Anderson’s much awaited debut at Dior showed the earliest glimmers of what was to come, as the critically-acclaimed designer presented a show that loosely embodied a theme of “Rich Kids Across Time.” Pannier ruffles met Nantucket chinos met denim Spencer jackets, for a show that sent wide-reaching waves through the industry at large.
The hype didn’t stop here. In fact, it only surged ahead. In September’s New York Fashion Week, the talk of the
town was all Polo Ralph Lauren, J.Crew and even, to a lesser extent, Calvin Klein. These shows each offered an unadulterated dose of prep; a decided shift away from the logo-heavy streetwear, instead moving toward a refreshing dose of classic American
tailoring. When the late Virgil Abloh predicted that streetwear would soon meet its demise, no one could have predicted that it would come in the form of American flag argyle sweaters, and cargo shorts. Yet, here we are.
This turn toward a style seen by many as “timeless” shouldn’t come as a real shock. Already 64 percent of Gen Z have begun attempting to reduce their spending on non-essential items. So, what do you do when you don’t have the money to camp out in front of the Nike store for the newest pair of Travis Scott dunks? The answer is: buy a sensible pair of “timeless” loafers. Maybe even a good belt to match. This idea that preppy styles are timeless, while true in a sense, is also infused with a tangible decrease in the standard of living for many young people. If anything, this trend is more so a coping mechanism—a way of cosplaying financial stability. Even if you’re barely able to afford rent, you can, at the very least, look like a million bucks.
Stylist to the stars, George Cortina, attempted to explain the rationale, stating, “I think that people are looking at prep right now because, where else do you go...Celebrities are wearing these ridiculous outfits, and you almost have to go in the other direction.” While this may be the case, it underscores a deeper truth of the matter; this current revival of prep is all aesthetic. It is a clear response to loud logos, flashy collaborations, and name-brand numbness. The reality is that most young fashionheads can’t afford to drop full paychecks on the Off-White releases. The natural course correction seems to be moving toward more constant fixtures in fashion: a good white button-down and a crisp navy blazer.
Yet, this change also goes hand in hand with a global shift toward conservative ideals. Increases in far-right rhetoric are not merely exclusive to America and have now cropped up in Germany, Italy, and France, among others. In America, the resurgence of traditional standards falls neatly in line with reemerging preppy styles. A recent, now-infamous American Eagle ad comes to mind as a potent example of increased movement toward making fashion itself “great again.”
Another factor to bear in mind: preppy style is innately and overtly heteronormative. In a fashion world that has always been steeped in individual expression, preppiness marks a return to a set of rigid gender identifiers. In a simple sense, men wear suits, women wear dresses, and modesty trounces the queerness that has informed much of modern fashion. This is another damning indication that the fashion world is not immune to external influence, or worse yet, that it is actively promoting designs that fall in line with the reactionary right.
Dressing up regressive politics in respectable fits is nothing new. During the Nazi’s rise to power, the Ordnung (Order) ideal was heavily embraced by the emerging fascists. They promoted “wholesome femininity” and flat-out rejected what they deemed degenerate or foreign styles. Often these were those born of jazz culture, fueled by metropolitan areas, people of color, and immigrants. Compare that to modern-day comments made by the late right-wing propagandist Charlie Kirk, who proposed that society, “Stop listening to rap music, and this degenerate hip-hop stuff.” Consider also the widely accepted media blitz from the American right-wing that has painted urban cities as “cesspools of blood.” The state of preppy pride starts to make a lot more sense when held up to a historical mirror. The American flag has replaced your favorite logo, and this is not an accident.
Still, there are staunch optimists who have pointed out that designers like James M. Jeter are taking preppiness and doing it differently. Jeter, who is Polo Ralph Lauren’s first Black creative director, made headlines in August when he built Ralph Lauren’s Oak Bluffs collection around the rich heritage of Black joy and fashionability in the Oak Bluffs community on Martha’s Vineyard. Jeter was widely praised for the exhibition which styled Black models in nostalgic seaside tailoring. But here again, the idea of preppiness as an accessible status symbol is proven to be a facade. While the Oak Bluffs community does harbor a deep history of black excellence, the collection that Jeter put out drew criticism for being pricey and ironically out of the price range of the same aspirants that he was trying to honor. If nothing else, it is presenting a false, white-washed version of Black history—one that aims to make Black people seem more white (ergo more “respectable”), and one that promotes a rose-colored vision of America’s segregated heyday.
As the world continues to ravenously thirst over Jacob Elordi in Ivy League polos, it would seem that preppiness is coming back whether we like it or not. If the internet’s obsession with “old money” was the start, Jonathan Anderson’s opulent Dior show sealed the deal. By now, the new preppy movement has already seeped into every corner of the cultural landscape, but for all its cable-knit charm, preppiness is hardly ever harmless.