1. The first, and perhaps the original- Rene Lacoste!
Born in 1904 Rene Lacoste was a French tennis champion! He was nicknamed "The Crocodile" by his fans because of his tenacity on the court. After years of wearing stuffy tennis shirts Lacoste had had enough and he decided to create his own tennis shirt. Thus the Polo, thus called because after the shirt spread through the tennis crowd polo players adopted the attire, was born. Lacoste's original polos, like his pre- polo tennis shirts features a crocodile on the left breast area. Nowadays there is a great controversy regarding whether or not the animal is a crocodile or an aligator, however I feel we can all agree that Lacoste and Rene himself will be remembered not as the crocodile but as the "Innovator"!
2. My personal favorite- Jackie Kennedy!
This beauty, although Northern born and bred, is the original dress code for preps everywhere. What made her style unique was its embrace of all the best of the past and the best ideas of the future. Jackie knew what worked for her, and she never strayed from the clothes that worked. As a socialite Jackie grew up with bi-yearly trips to Paris for clothes and meetings with Coco Chanel! When she married and became first lady a few things changed; the first lady still loved her Parisian fashion but as the first lady she had to use American designers. The solution to her Parisian problem? Oleg Cassini. This Russian born Parisian trained upcoming American esigner was discovered by Jackie and she quickly put him to use. Over the years Oleg Cassini's designs would become synonimous with Kennedy Camelot fashion, as with Jackie's beauty!
3. And now for Jackie's contemporary- Lilly McKim Pulitzer Rosseau!
Lilly atended school with Jackie in New York and would eventually go on to dress her and have her dresses promoted by Jackie during her First Lady years. When she was a young woman Lilly eloped to Florida and began to run a juice stand. As she made the juice she realized that the juice was staining her white dresses and was inspired to create brightly colored dresses which would disguise the stains and allow her to dress fashionably. As demand for the dresses grew it was out with the juice stand and in with the design studio and the company grew to be the standard of Southern prep fashion while Ms. Pulitzer became the idol of preppy women everywhere!
4. 90's prep= Carlton Banks
This "Fresh Prince of Bell Air" star took preppy to the west coast and became the king of sweaters tied over the shoulders and oxford shirts tucked in! For the true representation of California prep look no further than the recent cultural icon, and study his famous "Carlton dance" to relate :P
5. The preps of today are represented by none other than Blair Waldorf of Gossip Girl fame!
I could go into why she is the perfect prep for hours but instead I think I will post one picture. This should say it all!
Preppy Living Yall!
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