Prep I Ain't

  Nevertheless I still love a good Slim Aarons photo

Ever since I've fallen in love the PITA aesthetic (though first ivy then trad then americana and prep in that order), I feel like a wolf in sheep's clothing. Although I do love a good pair of go-to-hell pants, critter prints, madras shorts and top-siders, I know at heart I am no prep. In spite of the fact that I do somewhat fit the textbook definition of the word "preppy" in a way by attending boarding school and now attending a four year private liberal college on the East Coast but by no means am I a WASP and I sure as hell know that I cannot identify with preppy blogs (save for Unabashedly Prep which should be in a separate category of its own) nor bring myself to like all things pink and green by way of Lily Pulitzer. This leads to the question that is it possible to appreciate the aesthetics of a closely related style (namely ivy/trad) yet not care so much for the context from which the style arises? Would it be ironic to embrace a style that has social implications of elitism and wealth? I am not entirely comfortable with that idea, given the increasing plutocratic nature of society and the impending death of the middle class. In the end, I believe that if I were to completely disregard the connotations of said style then I will probably end up as a sad paradoxical joke of a person promoting an ideal that he/her does not identify with. This is an interesting subject to discuss at length and warrants a more detailed insight than this, but I suppose I have to make do with this for now. I hope to revisit this topic again in the future.

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