Deciphering Fall Fashion 2010 for Preppydom

Fashion is... styles galore' Style is... finding the fashion trends that "fit" you

As any dyed-in-the-wool Preppy knows, fashion is very different from style. Fashion is annual while Style is perennial. Fashion consists of trends while Style consists of the classics that are taken on into one's personal taste and lifestyle needs wardrobing.

This Fall Fashion 2010 Season is for the most part a much welcome return to elegance, glamour and appropriateness...for the most part. Some of the garish trends that I truly hoped had died out back in the 1980's are surfacing once again and no amount of so called "reinterpreting" them for "the new century" can cover the fact that things like exaggerated shoulder padding, most leggings, neon bright hues and hair scrunchies are just unflattering no matter what decade we are currently living in.

For the most part, Preppies tend to ignore fashion in favor of generations-tried-and-true styling of all things Preppy. And for the most part, this works quite well. However, with the resurgence of mass cultural interest lately towards the classics, towards living with style and towards Preppies once again... many fashion houses, boutiques and retailers are getting quite nicely surprisingly-Preppy-stylish once again. And on the flip-side of things, many classic Preppy entities such as Talbots, Brooks Brothers and such are adding into their impeccably tailored tradition a bit of youthful fun and couture inspired glamour which elevates Preppy to absolutely Preppy-spectacular! Excellent examples of this can be seen in Talbot's September 2010 catalogue and Town and Country's September 2010 issue. Yes, it is indeed a welcome trending for Preppydom this fashion season on both sides of the Fashion and Style spectrum.

As we all understand, the difference always is within the details...and thus of course in the nuanced discernment of what to keep wearing, what exactly to add into your wardrobe for this Fall 2010 Fashion Season and frankly what to avoid all together...

The following is just a sampling of "Yea" it's perfectly Preppy to wear or "Nay", take a pass:

Preppy Yea: signature denim blue jeans that fit you perfectly

Preppy Nay: "jeggings"- blue jean look leggings

Preppy Yea: outdoor sporting fashions that are in kacki, brown and olive green menswear style

Preppy Nay: the new overtly-military inspired fashion

Preppy Yea: tailored headbands, tortoise-look barrettes, plain ponytail holder bands

Preppy Nay: anything resembling an 1980's hair scrunchie

Preppy Yea: color tones such as camel, deep teal, plum and burgundy

Preppy Nay: color tones such as mustard yellow, dulled turquoise, purple

Preppy Yea: open-link chains in necklaces, belts, as part of handbags

Preppy Nay: bicycle/motorbike-look chains on anything

Preppy Yea: the statement-necklace in a rendering of mixed pearls with chains, ribbon, gems

Preppy Nay: the statement-necklace as interpreted by Mr. T's huge amounts of gold chains

Preppy Yea: neutral-toned animal skin textures and prints for accessory pieces and shoes

Preppy Nay: brightly-toned animal skin textures and prints for entire outfits

Preppy Yea: the "smokey eye" look for evening

Preppy Nay: black, blue, gray nail polishes

Preppy Yea: hair as wonderfully depicted in Town and Country's Sept. issue pgs. 146-153

Preppy Nay: obvious hair-do's, obvious color streaking in hair, overly-styled even for evening

Preppy Yea: fading tans

Preppy Nay: year-round tans if you don't live on an island, tanning-bed tans, fake-bake spraying

Enjoy this 2010 Fall Fashion Season!