Your Inner Preppie Will Help You Survive the Summer Heat

In my mid-20s, I would show up to summertime confused. What the hell was I supposed to be wearing? In my teens I would wear jean shorts and tank tops, but that formula didn’t play nice with my adult proportions. Jean shorts, specifically, would make me look like a toddler, and no amount of buying and returning the cool shorts du jour would change that.

Flowy dresses were a good option, but as I’ve gotten older (and moved out of the city) I yearned for something more casual.

During the pandemic, I watched “The Talented Mr. Ripley” for the first time, and the whole thing got unlocked for me. That’s how you dress in the summer! Loose linens and rolled up button downs. Of course!

But this rubbed up against my stubborn contrarianism. You see, I grew up in the eye of the prep storm. Vineyard Vines was inescapable. Salmon shorts were a town staple. The simple majority of girls in my grade wore Lily Pulitzer to our graduation. As a teen, refusing this aesthetic was the only option for my personal brand. I wore a black leather dress to the prom and was known for wearing spiky studded loafers and gigantic black headphones.

So the Ripley uniform took some soul-searching to adopt. Could it be that the WASP world had… a point?

One weekend in a poplin pant and loose button down convinced me, and now I spend all summer in my own little version of Coastal-Connecticut-Core. It feels like an homage to the world I am from, even if I can’t commit fully. You won’t see me in a whale print belt and Madras shorts any time soon.

Here’s how you can adopt the prep uniform, fuck it up a little, and sail through the summer heat.

Literally all you need is some cotton/linen shorts or pants, an oversized button down, and maybe a cute sweater. Don’t overthink it.

I like to buy a few vintage Ralph Lauren shirts on eBay at the beginning of the season, and attack them with my sewing machine, or embroidery needles. Since the uniform is so basic, I think it needs some personality sometimes.

Of course, you can also buy basics pre-customized, for a price.

Be sure to add your weirdest bag, your most offensive sandals, your biggest sunglasses, your wacko hair accessories.

The ideal endgame for this formula is that a friendly onlooker assumes you are on your way to, or from, the beach. That maybe you are going to buy some clams today, and have been on a sailboat before.

Stay cool!