Black and White Preppy Stylin' for Men...Leave it to Ralph Lauren!

The absolute Black and White Preppy-stylin' for men by Ralph Lauren...

...always perfectly appropriate yet fun like this great button-down and...

...a mod for the modern man complete look like this is...wow...

...along with an alligator and sterling belt I'd sooo borrow big time! Ah...

...but I couldn't borrow these equally-great driving mocs unfortunately!

Decade after decade, Ralph Lauren has been a Preppy bastion of style direction for the modern Prep.

Ever appropriate, it's always a bit of cosmopolitan tweaking, a quirkier twist of layering or an unusual English-inspired combining of colors and textures that gives the Preppy in Ralph Lauren a never-dull or dated look.

What Kate Spade's doing for Black and White with women's clothing styling, Ralph Lauren's doing for men's attire.

The photos above highlight the great, very modern re-thinking of Black and White pieces and total looks available this late summer and early fall season which any male Preppy can easily add into his wardrobe and every Preppy female will no doubt want to borrow.....

The NEW Black and White... Kate Spade super-stylin'...

Kate Spade's modern-rose print trench coat-top is perfection... as is...
...this black n' white printed fitted blazer paired with jeans...and...
...probably the perfect rendering of a platform pump...ahh...
...accessory-ready as well with this beautiful, classic bangle...and...
...don't forget an elegantly-whimsical Kate Spade creative handbag...
...along with this super-stylish computer bag plus...
...even for the home...black and white patterned fine china: love it!!!

Recently I have been living out of suitcases... being in between the island house, the cottage and a few hotel rooms now as I've begun my new job and we've begun transitioning from a tiny island off the coast of South Carolina to eventually living somewhere in or around the Savannah area.

We may keep the island house but for now are concentrating on finding something in Savannah. My uncle's a long-time realtor in Savannah and has been showing us places both on and right-near the water in the very picturesque Isle of Hope and Coffee Bluff areas: near to my work and James' commuting back and forth from the airport. Plus, our kind of lifestyling as well....

To keep simplified during all of this transitioning, I've limited my work wardrobe to basically black, white and cream-hued clothing pieces and shoes. Adding-in pearls and a few shiny-silver jewelry pieces has rounded out what"s-easy-for-work-and-keeping-easily-packed.

Being such a huge Kate Spade fan, it was pleasantly surprising to see while perusing through her latest offerings both in the store I work with and also online...a strong trend for Black and White styling that's anything but boring... SO super chic with an interplay of retro-whimsy...LOVE IT!!!

Hmmm.... I may, just may hafta' add a piece of this into my work wardrobing sometime soon!

THE Preppy-Sporty Hairstyle... 1970's and 80's...

One of my deb portraits with the "iconic" Dorothy/Di hair styling

And...going a tad bit shorter with it for the Cotillion Ball that winter in Savannah (pictured here with my brothers Wylly and James III)

Sporting a middle-ground version of it for cheerleading season

After I posted my Add-a-Beads post, both here and on Facebook I received a lot of comments about the ole' Dorothy Hamill morphing into Princess Di stacked-bob which was the uber-Preppy Sporty Hairstyle for the decades of the 1970's and 1980's...

It got me to wondering IF that as well is trending-back? Hmm. We'll see I guess...

Here are two pictures of me with that hairstyle back in my senior year of high school, circa 1986.

I had that style for years n' years and how knows, maybe one day I'll try it again ;)

Preppin'-Out...the Stepford Wives Stylin' back in the 70's

Fairly-tame version of the Preppy Stepford Look... me at piano recital

Ready for another recital and looking a bit more Stepfordish...

...and here's the full-look which the ladies in the picture next...

...would sooo go grocery shopping with me in a version of, heh heh!

Remember the Stepford Wives movie?

That brilliant and disturbing dark humored original 1975 film version?

I absolutely loved that and have a dvd of it plus the kooky Disneyfied-remake as well.

Well...in packing-up things around our island house here, I ran across several photos of my Stepford-Wives fashion styling with some pics taken of me in those looong twirled n' ruffled n' patterned n' bowed maxi-dresses which the movie made popular.

Here are a few pictures of me in 'em before a few piano and viola recitals back in the late 1970's: Stepford-Stylin'...what a hoot!

Not quite the more subtle Ralph Lauren Preppied-Boho look of late but definitely super-styling amidst those upscale suburban enclaves we lived in during the 70's and 80's both in Georgia and when we moved up-North.

Finally, there's a picture as well from the film itself with all those maxi-dresses showcased!

Stepford-Stylin'.... pretty Preppy circa 1970's Suburban Stylin'....

Add-A-Beads...a Preppy Necessity that's coming back into Style

Preppy Add-a-Beads... mid-1980's Highschooler Stylin'...

Preppy Add-a-Beads early 1980's Junior Higher styling...

Every female Preppy worth-her-Preppy-salt back in the 1980's had either an Add-a-Bead necklace or an Add-a-Pearl necklace "going-on".... i.e. being added to by their mother, aunts, grandmothers as a new bead or pearl or two would show-up in Christmas stockings and in the piles of Birthday gifting loot.

I was fortunate to have both which was wonderful.

I ran across just the other day these two school photos showing my growing Add-a-Bead gold necklace. They also showcase how Preppy Clothing evolutionized from being super-singular in the early-80's with the yoked pink ski-sweater on top of multiple-layering and a very Dorothy Hamill/Princess Di hair cut with absolutely no makeup on to... the more subtle adaptation of Preppy by the mid-80's with a paler pink linen coat-top, cream turtleneck, a more fashion-forward short hair-do and some makeup wearing beyond Chapstick.

Preppy can be a costumed-thing or it can be more gently-absorbed into a modern styling and I guess (aside from my Lilly Pulitzer and madras-pieces worn mainly while on-vacation) you can probably figure-out which way I tend to "express my Preppy upbringing" within my lifestyle :)

I still wear quite often the completed Add-a-Pearl choker necklace but I need to go and dig into my jewelry boxes to pull out once again my ole' Add-a-Bead gold necklace and begin enjoying wearing it once more....

Happy Memories of growing up Happily Preppy!

P.S: when I do find it, I'll post an updated-picture here of wearing my Add-a-Beads 25 years later

Croquet Day.... such Stylin' Preppy-fun!

The old-fashioned elegance of a springtime's croquet-playing

Tents, check... mallets set up, check... sporty roadsters, check...

Your's truly found her dream-car: a classic MG roadster from the 1930's

Every dyed-in-the-wool or dyed-in-seersucker Preppy relishes any chance to get decked out in white linen and seersucker, pack up an elegant lunch or tea repast and tap away with croquet mallets in the late spring sunshine....

At least this particular Preppy did earlier this spring!

What a truly fun afternoon it was enjoying a croquet tournament that was uber-tres' elegant. I loved every minute of it and am inspired to have a classic croquet set one day soon for enjoyable times spent out on our lawn as well.

Above are a few of the wonderful photos from that delightful afternoon... ah, croquet!

Busy, busy and all-good but still such a busy Spring into Summer

Busy...and all good-busy but boy, am I one tired Lowcountry Preppy this Spring

Hello everyone: my readers, my passers-by and the friends and family on Facebook who read this as it streams into there from this blog site....

I hope you all have been having a wonderful Spring into Summer season as have I :)

It's been so much fun and so very festive that I haven't posted as many blog posts as I usually do but I hope to get back to doing so in the next little while.

This warming-months season of 2011 I've been super-busy with work, inundated with projects around both the house and the grounds here, helping out with a myriad of charitable and social events, volunteering around church, catching up with friends over lunch hours and lingering dinners and so for and so on....

Thank goodness for our 10 day Florida Keys getaway: we needed that relaxing "breather" both before and after it that's for sure.

And so soon I'll do some fun blogging about islander parties, croquet playing, summer fashions, Lowcountry cuisine, decorating for hot n' humid months and the like but for now...

...off I dash once again. Today's "busy" is driving James back to the Savannah Airport this afternoon then heading back into town for evening church service, delivering some baby presents, going out to dinner with good friends, swinging by the grocery store afterwards then when finally back at home, setting out my work outfits for this next coming week plus writing some more bills to mail out before heading to work early tomorrow morning... and I thought Sundays were to be a day of rest ;)