The Top 10 Preppiest Bands / Artists
When I was thinking how the preppy lifestyle can encompass nearly every branch of life, not just clothing, I began thinking about music. Though there is obviously not a genre of music called preppy, I feel that there are some bands that just have a sort of feel, that goes well with the prep feel. (I realize I use the words prep and preppy a lot but there aren’t really any other names for it…) That is why I have composed a list of ten preppy bands. These to me feel like good music to listen to when doing things preppy, but I wouldn’t necessarily listen to them 24/7. Afterall this is Diet Preppy, and I still enjoy songs like Get Low by Lil Jon when I’m in the mood. But I digress. On to the List!
10. Bloc Party - Bloc Party is not really one of my favorite bands, as I haven’t really been able to get into them, but there is no doubt that they play good, preppy feeling music. The British vocalist really enhances the feel somehow, and has made Bloc Party an Increasingly popular band.
9. MGMT - When I first heard the song “Time to Pretend” by MGMT in the movie “21″, I instantly wanted to download it and listen to it on repeat. The extremely catchy beginning never seems to get old, and is perfect driving music with the windows down and sunroof open in the summer. T
his song just makes you feel good, and for that reason I chose MGMT as a good preppy band. What surprised me though was that their other songs were good as well, since usually bands like this have onereally good song, while the rest are just average. “Electric Feel” and “Boogie Down” have a slightly similar feel to “Time to Pretend and are almost as catchy. Lets hope they live up to the hype, and produce even more singles.
8. Jack Johnson - This laidback, Hawaiian singer songwriter plays a lot of mellow songs 
with acoustic guitar. His good singing voice and lack of angst makes his music feel a little surfer-ish but is good to play in the background when doing summer preppy activities like sailing or playing frisbee in the park with some friends. While he himself may not be preppy, the songs that he plays particularly “Sitting Waiting Wishing” and “If I had Eyes” go so well with preppy activities that he makes the list at number eight.
7. Kanye West - In terms of rap, Kanye West is by far the preppiest. Though some may liste n to his music and not understand how it could be preppy, one must realize who Kanye is. Kanye w
as raised in an upper-middle class suburb in the south, and even went to college for a period of time. When Kanye is out on the streets his clothes combine a mixture of both hip and preppy styles. Some may find this ugly, but I think that its quite interesting that he’s so confident. He seems to not be ashamed to not have a real street life, and was never a gangster, like rappers like 50 Cent were, and has his own sense of cutting edge style. His lyrics are hip hop but they don’t revolve really around traditional rap subjects and are more just bragadoccio. Songs like “Homecoming” and “Flashing Lights” are good songs, especially when your in the mood for some hip hop. Plus I hear the Glow in the Dark Tour is supposed to be amazing.
6. Guster - Although Guster can be a little hippy-ish, their clean sounding alternative feel, with good vocals
makes them a good preppy band. Songs like the ever-popular “Amsterdam” with sunny music videos, enhance that preppy feel. Read more
Is it okay to wear a tie at college/high school?
So I have a friend who wears primarily American Eagle clothes and doesn’t consider himself preppy. He’s a little unique but thinks he has a sense of style (which is essentially just wearing American Eagle clothes). One day he comes into class with a short sleeve shirt much like the one to the left from American eagle, only white, with a nice red tie. He looked like an IT guy or some nerd who was there to fix the system mainframe. People asked him “Why are you wearing a tie today?”mostly assuming that it was for some sports event later that day.He responded to this question always defensively, saying “I like to look nice and wanted to wear a tie.”
Frankly he looked rediculous and obviously this kind of dressing just looks silly. If you are going to wear a tie, it should always be with a nice shirt, with perhaps a sweater covering it in an informal situation. American eagle short sleeve shirts just look ridiculous this way.
But I was wondering, is it acceptable to wear a tie in an informal situation, like high school, college or going out? Guys are always wearing ties in J Crew ads, or Ralph Lauren models, but if you are not a successful businessman who is used to wearing a tie every day of his life, doesn’t it look a little silly? I really don’t know where I stand on this, because on the one hand, it makes what you are wearing look classy, whereas on the other, if your in college where most people just wear t-shirts and polos, you look like you have over dressed to the extreme. Is this sort of thing only acceptable at places like Yale or Harvard?
A day in and already a change in direction
So instead of starting off this blog in just a random fashion. I figured I’d put some thought into what I was going to write about. I decided that the best things would be 1. Things that interest me, and 2. Things that I would like to read about and want to read this blog in particular for, yo. So I decided instead of commenting on things like the previous post all the time, I’m going to try to do some sort of news, about new developments that could affect or interest fellow preps, as well as features on different clothes, activities, events, products, etc. related to preppiness that I feel are intriguing. i know I’m probably not writing to very many people right now, but as my reader base grows I hope to get some input on whether this is what people want to read about.
Here’s to success!