Preppy vs. SWPL

In response to my blog post on Twilight , in which I used the phrase “preppy-SWPL vampires,” CK writes:

What do SWPL have to do with preppies? In my experience most SWPL hate preppies and vice versa.

Preppy and SWPL are both subsets of upper-middle class behaviors.

There’s a whole blog devoted to SWPLs, but what’s a preppy? Preppy is a derivative of college-preparatory school, a phrase which, if taken literally, is meaningless today because the liberal educational establishment believes that everyone should go to college so all schools exist to prepare their students for college. Even the worst school in the ghetto is viewed as a college-preparatory school. But more narrowly, the phrase refers to private schools which feed into Ivy League universities, and the Ivy League is very SWPL, at least according to Christian Lander who is the sole arbiter of SWPLness. (Or maybe he has some Asian co-author, I can’t remember.)

Back when I was in high school in the early 1980s, preppy kids wore heavy cotton pinstripe shirts with button down collars and a Ralph Lauren polo pony logo, worn with the sleeves rolled up, but tucked into the pants because people tucked in their shirts in the 1980s. During the winter, a solid wool sweater, also with the polo pony, would be added the ensemble. The sleeves of the shirt underneath could be rolled up over the sweater. Solid polo shirts with polo pony logos were also popular, sometimes even worn underneath the pinstripe button-down! My parents were too cheap to buy me this gear when I was in high school, and I still haven’t forgiven them.

There was also a book by Lisa Birnbach which I’ve never read. I should probably order a used copy from Amazon.com.

Today, preppy seems to have a less specific connotation than it did in the eighties. Among high school kids, it just refers to whatever the rich popular kids wear to school. Abercrombie and Hollister are real popular among that crowd. Preppy guys are often on sports teams, and preppy girls are often cheerleaders. These are the popular kids. When I was in high school, nerdy kids could be prep, so long as they put on some Polo. Back then, Abercrombie & Fitch was just a store at the South Street Seaport which sold casual clothes for wealthy middle-aged Wall Street types. It was 1980s preppy. Boy has that brand morphed.

SWPLs like thick sweaters, which was preppy clothing in the 1980s, but no longer.

Unlike SWPLs, preppies have no social conscience, it’s purely about status and fashion. Christian Lander’s SWPLs are liberals who care about organic food and saving the Planet and helping poor people and that kind of silly stuff. Heather Eisenlord, the 36-year-old Skadden Arps associate who’s going to use her $80,000 and a year off from work “to teach English to monks in Sri Lanka and possibly help bring solar power to remote parts of the Himalayas” is pure SWPL.

Now, the final answer to this question is that the good vampire family in the movie Twilight wore what high school kids today would consider to be preppy clothing, but they also appreciated SWPL stuff like vegetarianism, architecture, classical music and kitchen gadgets, so this is why I called them “preppy-SWPL vampires.”

Comments

[PA]

["Back when I was in high school in the early 1980s"]

Dude, I thought you were around 28 or so. Didn't realize you're older than I am (HS in late 80s).

[CK]

FYI, Abercrombie & Fitch went bankrupt and the label right were bought in the late 90's and a new store emerged. The new one has nothing to do with the preppy style.

I for one associate preppy with a WASPy look: wool, cotton, all natural fabrics, faded and non-basic colors, botton-down shirts, corduroy, cream, pink, green, sweater or polo shirts worn under shirts, etc, ie, the New England and Philadelphia Mainline look.

But today, SWPL-ers hate this kinda of look. They hate being associated with the wasps, because mostly they are not. They do have deep-seated hatred towards the waps and the old New England ruling class, and indirectly that look. This is one reason for them being democrat -- the original wasps tended to be republican. They don't even realize this.

I find there are two types of highly educated people: the ones that hate the preppy look and do their best to look appropriate without looking waspy, and the ones who embrace this look (and sometimes risk looking too stuffy). Based on clothes alone, one can tell if they are preppy or SWPL-ers, but the point is that these two are very, very different.

[CK]

(without seeing the movie) I also wanted to add, that since the movie didn't make the distinction between preppy and SWPL-ers, it must be a prole movie, because proles are oblivious to these differences.

[HS: It's impossible for a movie to rake in $200 million by appealing only to the upper middle class.]

[The Undiscovered Jew]

"Unlike SWPLs, preppies have no social conscience"

Preppies still do not worry at all about poverty in the third world, "equality", Global Warming, and whatever other crusades SWPLs are waging.

When I was in Catholic High School a few years ago the preppies were generally indifferent or mildly negative towards minority ghetto culture. Preppies also tended to be Republicans and, as Sigma noted, the were usually the cooler kids from upper middle class families.

"But today, SWPL-ers hate this kinda of look. They hate being associated with the wasps, because mostly they are not."

That might have been true in the 1950's or even 80's, but today there are many WASPs who are SWPL and ethnic whites who are preppies in the Northeast.

Being a preppie no longer indicates you are a WASP, perhaps because ethnic whites are marrying into WASP families which blurs the cultural lines.

[Peter]

A&F actually began as a seller of expensive outdoors-y type clothing and equipment. If Great-Granddad ever went on an elephant hunting safari in Tanganyika, he undoubtedly got "outfitted" at Abercrombie's.

As for the Lisa Birnbach book, it was called "The Official Preppy Handbook." I read a used copy years ago but don't remember much about it other than that it seemed rather out-of-date. A quick inquiry shows that it was written back in 1980, and as far as I can tell there haven't been any later editions.

[Sheila Tone]

HS wrote: "Back when I was in high school in the early 1980s, preppy kids wore heavy cotton pinstripe shirts with button down collars and a Ralph Lauren polo pony logo, worn with the sleeves rolled up"

Did Polo make long-sleeved shirts? Or were they rolling up the short sleeves?

"When I was in high school, nerdy kids could be prep, so long as they put on some Polo."

So what did you wear, was it just a matter of not having the exact label? In my world, my time, West Coast, a guy like you would probably have been metal. Not crazy-hair metal, just Zeppelin T-shirt metal. You weren't screwed up enough to be punk, and not hip or gay enough to be New Wave.

Nowadays it seems all upper-class West Coast guys under 30 do the douchebag look.

[Peter]

During the late 1980's, there was a (thankfully) short-lived trend among young men of wearing bow ties and suspenders with suits. It sounds ludicrous today but was highly fashionable at the time.

[George]

"tucked into the pants because people tucked in their shirts in the 1980s."

We still do, mr. Sigma, we still do...

[Eric Stratton, Rush Chairman]

Actually, if you're really preppy, you don't need a horsey or a lizard on your stuff. You go for monograms.

[Shnugi]

"FYI, Abercrombie & Fitch went bankrupt and the label right were bought in the late 90's and a new store emerged. The new one has nothing to do with the preppy style."

Old fogey, please don't comment on what my generation considers preppy or not

A&F + Hollister + Ruehl + American Eagle = Preppy.

Forever 21 + Gap + H&M + American Apparel = SWPL.

[J1]

"Unlike SWPLs, preppies have no social conscience, it’s purely about status and fashion"

I think you've missed the point of much of the SWPL mockery. I have a couple of SWPL friends who claim to care about the environment who drive Volvo staion wagons that, according to the EPA, burn more gas than a Suburban. One of the hallmarks of SWPL-ness is the ability to express outrage about some problem or injustice even while vehemently opposing any action that might actually correct it. Amongst SWPLs, expressions of social conscience are purely about status and fashion.

[Baggs]

"A&F + Hollister + Ruehl + American Eagle = Preppy."

Sorry, but CK is correct. Abercrombie and Fitch hasn't been prep since the early 80s, when one could still purchase an elephant gun and field coat there.

Most truly preppy brands are probably ones you've never heard of:
Brooks Brothers, J.Press, Vineyard Vines, Barbour

A&F, Hollister, Ruehl, American Eagle are for Middle-American mall kids.

[HS: There's traditional preppy vs. what high school kids today consider preppy."]

[Abe]

The whole preppy vs. SWPL thing is really about two competing marketplaces for status among the upper middle class

Some members of the upper middle class define their status mainly on the basis of income and wealth (preppies)

Other members of the upper middle class define their status on the basis of a combination of income, wealth, and environmentalism, and fealty to progressive ideals. (SWPL)

In my experience, there are a number of students in college who decide which direction to go in based on their income trajectory - For example, if they are smart enough and aggressive enough to get investment banking jobs, they try to get in to a social circle that will value them and judge their worth based on income and wealth (the preppy circle)

If they know they can't make it is as a preppy, then they get in to the SWPL scene. In the SWPL scene you can be accepted even if you don't make a ton of money, so long as you mouth all the right progressive platitudes

For males, this relates directly to ability to attract girls. If as a male you choose to be part of the preppy / investment banker scene, you know that most of the girls you interact with will judge you based on your looks and your money.

if you join the SWPL scene, girls judge you by your looks, your money AND your ability to perform the SWPL rituals. For guys that don't quite have the income or wealth to succeed in the preppy scene the SWPL scene is a logical one to join.

In general people gravitate to a social group in which they can get a little bit of respect and for those that can't get respect in the preppy group, the SWPL group offers that respect.

Then for people that can't get respect from the SWPL group, the next logical migration is to the "hipster" group. Hipster group offers respect and admiration for some people that couldn't make it as normal SWPLs

[Shnugi]

@Baggs you're showing your age. For now, my generation decides what's preppy. Your generation's time has passed. It's like how what we call classic rock is your rock.

Oh and Brooks Brothers is for balding middle aged men.

[Human Tom]

Preppies and swipples are both upper-middle class. What differentiates them is the source of their upper-middle prestige.

For preppies, it's hereditary. Hence they emulate old money by wearing "old rich" clothes and getting into traditional professions like corporate law, banking and finance. Even if they aren't really descendent from those who came from aboard the Mayflower (and most aren't), they pretend. It's about expression.

For swipples, it's sensitivity. Hence thir patronage of artsy stuff, bohemian fashions and "caring" professions like teacher, social worker, minority lobbyist. Even if they don't really care about the causes enough to actually inconvenience themselves, they pretend. It's about expression.

It may have been different in the 80s, but swipples are currently much more fashionable than preppies. More importantly, swipples are where the girls are.

[Ivy]

What is SWPL????