For girls though, prep style must be treated with the greatest delicacy. Like many things in life, it’s tempting to overindulge. Simple sweaters and skirts, monogrammed jewelry, a well-tailored tweed jacket are all acceptable staples. But if a girl walked into lecture wearing madras shorts, pearls, headband, and some pasteled variation of a shirt, I would smack her in the face with a tennis (or squash?) racket and then proceed to ralph. As in, barf, not Lauren.

For boys though, it’s a different matter. Overindulging in prep style is a plus. Are you wearing green pants with a pink oxford? Fantastic. Are you wearing two clashing variations of madras–one for the top, one for the bottom? Awesome. Like any Lady GaGa costume, the crazier the better. Boys need to take advantage of this freeform art and wield it to their best ability. Yes, you might (actually, probably) be called a douchebag. But so what? You’re paying homage to a great sartorial tradition. Embrace it and go crazy.

Stylish or douchebag?

You would expect the Ivy League to be teeming with prep style, but a quick scan of Harvard Yard on any given day will tell you otherwise. The look still survives, but only through a few brave souls who choose to toss the khakis and embrace the Nantucket red. The 60′s however, were a different story. Take Ivy, a wonderful collection of photos published in the 60′s by Japanese photographer T. Hayashida, serves as an exemplary commemoration of the titular “Ivy League style” at its best and within its heyday. Hayashida’s photos are romantic visions of young men dressed–nearly all of them–in that distinct, prep style that has long been abandoned for most Ivy League men. As a plus, Hayashida not only captures the sartorial distinctiveness of the Ivy campuses, but also what a regular day would be like for any Dartmouth or Princeton boy. There are photos of students walking to class, doing laundry, riding bikes, getting lunch in the cafeteria, studying in the library. There is one black and white photo of J.Press, the storied men’s clothier sitting prettily at the corner of Mount Auburn Street, where it still remains today–probably the only highly visible vestige of the classic American prep style that once reigned on Ivy campuses everywhere.

So where have all the preps gone? Why are Ivy League campuses no longer ridden with madras, seersucker, and lobsters? One obvious guess is the diversification of campuses. The term “WASP” after all, stands for “White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.” And clearly, campuses are no longer made up of this homogeneous group. That’s not to say though, that diversity brought with it the decline of sartorial genius. Personal style on college campuses today is something to be noted and appreciated; campuses are burgeoning with interesting forms of self-expression, especially in style (which is why we created Noicethreads in the first place). But there are some other factors to be taken into account other than the solely racial.

One disheartening reason is that oftentimes (okay, most of the time), anyone who embraces the prep style will be labeled as a douchebag, faster than you can say “Brooks Brothers.” Is it true that most people who flaunt this particular style are douchebags? Sometimes, but not always. Guys and girls alike need to get over the fear of being labeled as such and instead embrace the prep! It’s understandable though, that some would want to avoid dressing this way because of these very fears. See: Harvard Yard clothing line debacle and general PR fail. (The line, by the way, was inspired by Take Ivy.)

There may be some fairness in equating “prep” with “douchebag,” but it’s time to see beyond that. Prep style is great. It’s simple. It’s stylish. Best of all, boys look great in it (cough). With the right touches, restraint, and styling, prep style can work for anyone. There are some unspoken rules or go-to brands and articles of clothing, yes, but you should never treat these rules too seriously. Take a cue from the bow ties and oxfords and put your own diversified spin on things.

From "Take Ivy"

Blogs for further reading: Unabashedly Prep, A Continuous Lean, Ivy Style.