Blogging has opened me up to so many different styles that I would normally not see in my hometown, but one style that is very prevalent here is preppy. I’m not talking preppy in the sense of impeccable tailoring and layering of stripes and plaid, but as in the mid-south’s definition of preppy: Abercrombie, American Eagle, and Aeropostle. I won’t lie. In high school, I tried to stuff my body into the clothing these stores sold since they were so popular, but they never fit me correctly and I didn’t think preppy was a look I could pull off. A couple of weeks ago I saw a preppy outfit floating around tumblr that I actually felt could work for me, so as soon as my Evans green jeans came in, I was off to try on my preppy-ish look.

My look definitely missed the crispness of the typical prep style. The folding of my jeans was haphazard, and the collar of my shirt won its war with me, but the style pushed me to layer in ways I typically do not. Letting the boldness of the jeans shine, I went with a neutral top with a button down shirt and textured sweater. I’ll admit; this outfit was pretty warm, and I definitely could only wear it when I know I’ll be in air conditioning!

After falling in love with my Olivia + Joy Miss Priss Satchel (seen here), I went on a search to see what other styles Olivia + Joy offered. I somehow trekked upon a deal where I paid $40 for $90 dollars worth of merchandise, so I hopped on that deal and got my second purse. It has the same opening as the satchel, but with different details in the synthetic snakeskin pattern and shape. I also added a stone ring to simply accessorize the outfit.

Button Down Shirt: Old Navy,  Sweater: Gap Outlet, Jeans: Evans, Shoes: Target, Ring: Forever21, Handbag: Olivia + Joy

I may not have ever reached my hometown’s idea of preppy (although at this point I wouldn’t want to), but I did figure out ways that preppy style can work for me. Want some preppy inspiration (much better than my look here!)? Check out this post from the blog Unabashedly Prep. It definitely widened my ideas about “preppy” and is making me have tweed-envy. I love that a preppy style is completely appropriate for school, work, meeting someone for drinks, or even going to a casual party. The crispness (even if I missed the mark in my look) elevates it to being dressy, but it’s still a comfortable and casual style to wear everyday.

Do you like a preppy style or aspects of it? What kind of style is popular where you live?

–EDIT–

A reader just sent me a twitter picture of her version of the preppy look inspired by this post. Thank you E. for letting me post this! Doesn’t she look amazing 🙂 I’m loving the sweater’s color.