Waptrick - Photo Gallery on ur phone!

Title: Prep Is Back: New Handbook for a New Age
News:
by Claudine Zap

Brace yourselves: Prep is back. Prepare to put on that frayed Polo shirt, don the duck boots and grab your L.L. Bean tote. But instead of "The Official Preppy Handbook" to guide you, there's the new, updated version: "True Prep: It's a Whole New Old World."

The author, Lisa Birnbach, has waited 30 years since her last publication on prepdom to teach the latest generation about the ways of the preppie. This time around, WASPs (White Anglo Saxon Protestants) do not rule.

The new millenium prep is way more inclusive than the old prep. Michelle and Barack Obama are, after all, preps. At least according to the new book. So are the movie director M. Night Shyamalan and New York deli king Eli Zabar (both prep school grads). Who knew that Stephen Colbert, (yes, that Stephen Colbert) went to the preppiest college in the country, Hampden-Sydney. That might explain his uniform of Brooks Brothers suits.

What's new since 1980? One big update: The introduction of synthetic fleece to the prepster's wardrobe. (Think Patagonia.) The old handbook was all about natural fibers (usually with little critters printed on them). Also, brands like Tory Burch and J. Crew, which didn't exist back in the '80s, are featured this time around.

Relax, fans of the old prep: The classics are still included, like Lacoste, Sperry Top-Siders, and Ralph Lauren. And probably can be dug out of a deep closet. (In fact, the chapter on fashion is called "I Just Found It in My Closet.")

Prep etiquette is also refreshed for the new realities: How to remarry, dress for a funeral, when to text (not at the table).

Speaking of new technology, preps-in-training are hitting the Web to look up the new, old look. Searches on "true prep" skipped up Yahoo! with a 400% one-day increase. Lookups for "preppy handbook," "preppy clothing," and that "preppy look" also shot up.

In case you don't quite appreciate what's old as new again: The original preppy handbook, which went for $4.95 back in the 1980s can be had — new — for upwards of $149. Muffy would be proud.

You can check out a behind-the-scene video of the making of "True Prep" fashion chapter here.

Follow us on Twitter

< Back