If you want to be a preppy girl, you’ll need a guide to walk you through the steps to get there. At first blush, it may seem that prepping out is as simple as going on a shopping spree; but, it’s actually not that easy to pull off.
Prepping out is not just about clothes, it’s a lifestyle choice about how you want to show up in the world.
First, you have to get the attitude right, the athleticism, and the social grace down first.
Then you have to consider the clothes, the accessories, and the shopping.
Ready to perfect your prep?
Attitude, Athleticism, and Social Grace
The Attitude
You have to be confident. You’ve probably read about the complex psychology of raising self-esteem and how it’s impossible to become confident with a snap of your fingers, but that’s just one perspective. According to Tony Robbins, your body language sends a message to your brain. You begin to think and feel the way you sit, stand, walk and talk. If you slump your shoulders, you’ll put yourself in a negative trance, but if you throw your shoulders back, you’ll feel ready to take on anything.
So, to be a preppy girl, you need to be a confident one, and the way to do that without deep psychoanalysis and a year of hanging of support group therapy is to stand tall, hold your head high, smile, and speak in a quiet, confident voice.
Do this for awhile and you’ll be surprised how good you feel all the time. You’ll stop pretending to be confident and actually will be that way.
Once you’ve got the confidence down, the next step in building the right attitude is to be classy.
Again, apply the same rules of neurobiology: assume the state you want to make a part of your personality.
How do you become classy?
First, be nice.
Second, don’t be stuck up.
Third, be polite.
Fourth, read some good books.
And fifth, avoid being loud, crude, or tacky.
The way to be confident and classy is to think of them as a skill. While you won’t get it right away, keep practicing. Sooner or later, your subconscious mind will catch on to how you want to run the show.
The Athleticism
You can’t be a preppy girl if you look frail, chubby, tired, or stressed out. Preppy girls look alive. They have a sparkle in their eyes and a spring in their step. They exude a subtle sense of vitality, strength, and purpose. While calisthenics, working out, swimming and aerobics is one way to be athletic, a more fun way may be participate in performance or team sports like dance, ballet, soccer, golf or lacrosse. In other words, make it fun so that you’ll stick to it. If it’s some kind of team sport, it may be more engaging.
The Social Grace
There is no point in looking good if nobody likes you because you’re not pleasant, rarely smile, gossip, or bully people. Strike a polite conversation with people in the grocery store. Help a child with their homework. You get the idea. Social grace is about being nice. Be someone people think about when their making their guest lists for a party. Float like a butterfly, but don’t sting like a bee.
Clothes, Accessories, and Shopping
The Clothes
Although the money for grocery shopping will not get you far, you can still build your wardrobe inexpensively over time.
The best way to shop is to go through a magazine and pick out the types of clothes that you’d like to wear.
Here is a checklist to consider:
Tops:
- Polos
- Cardigans
- Fleece Vests
Bottoms:
- Skinny Jeans
- Leggings
- Daisy
- Shorts
- Skirts
- Chinos
- Khakis
Shoes
- Oxfords
- Topsiders (Sperry Topsiders are very preppy!)
- Ballet flats
Naturally, you want to make sure that you get the right size and the most suitable colors. Remember the advice of Coco Chanel, “The best color in the whole world is one that looks good on you.”
Accessories put a finishing touch to your outfit. While one is always enough, with two or more, you risk overdoing it.
Here are some ideas to consider:
- Charm bracelets
- Diamond stud earrings
- Rings
- Necklaces
- Ribbon belts or Madras belts
- Headbands
- Monogrammed canvas tote bags
Shopping
Once you’ve made out your list, shop online and offline. While you can get most of the good stuff online at a great price and that usually fit well, you may want to enjoy the tactile experience of things like shoes. When shopping focus on quality brands and avoid the temptation of getting offseason items at a strong discount—because one reason they didn’t sell out was that they had a trashy look or feel to them.
While it’s a good idea to save money, there are times when you need to spend more to get more. Sometimes, you can find garments online that are difficult to find offline and you can even find great deals on them. A good example of this is the ‘behind the scenes‘ sale Johnnie-O offers on West Coast preppy clothes.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, prepping out will raise your self-esteem, improve your social life, and help you move through the world with grace and charm. Clothes are just the packaging behind your dynamic personality.