A History of Preppy Style: From the College Quad to the Runway – The Wall Street Journal

IN 1937, Life magazine sent a journalist to Vassar College to observe student life at the wealthiest of the Seven Sisters. Along with ho-hum details about academics, the ensuing article included a revelation that altered the way American women dress: an illustrated breakdown of what Vassar girls woretweed skirts, Brooks Brothers sweaters, polo coats, saddle shoes and jeans.

So enthusiastic was the response to Lifes fashion reporting that Macys hurriedly launched an ad campaign announcing that anyone could buy every item Life listed at its stores, a development the magazine trumpeted under the headline Vassar Girls Set Styles for Millions. Preppy, a look whose name comes from the prep schools its adherents attended, had germinated in Americas elite universities. But now it had slipped loose the bonds of the quad and implanted itself in both the countrys closets and its brainpan.

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A History of Preppy Style: From the College Quad to the Runway - The Wall Street Journal