50 Preppy Quotes About This Unique Fashion Style

Read this entire collection of preppy quotes and understand why this style is still so loved today.

The preppy style was made famous almost one hundred years ago, yet the aesthetic remains popular today.

Find out what makes this classic American swag timeless with our preppy quotes below.

What is preppy?

The word preppy conjures different meanings depending on who is asked to define it. 

Many consider a preppy person to be a student or graduate of an expensive prep school.

They may use the term to describe someone who dresses in a preppy style and aesthetic. 

When people think preppy, they think of tweed blazers, argyle sweaters, and tennis skirts.

To pull off the preppy look, you will need some of these classically essential garments:

• Boat shoe
• Rugby shirt 
• Sweater vest

Where does the preppy look come from?

All looks have an origin story, and the preppy look is no different. 

The fashion term’s origins go back to the beginning of the twentieth century. 

The word was initially derived from adolescent-aged students attending expensive preparatory academies in New England.

These wealthy young people were groomed for Ivy League education and created an exclusive fashion sub-culture. 

By the 1950s, the preppy trend exploded. 

Movies such as Greae or Pleasantville made twin sets, sweaters, collared shirts, and boat shoes more popular than ever. 

Next, people started wearing rugby shirts off the field, and before you knew it, bowling shirts and denim became the preppy starter kit. 

How has preppy changed over the years?

By the 1980s, the preppy look went through another transformation. 

A very famous book, The Official Preppy Handbook, was released.

The book aimed to be iconic and humorous, but it rewrote the definitions of what preppy was.

The book sparked a preppy craze that swept the nation.

The preppy look was popularized in advertisements, commercials, movies, and television shows. 

This era of preppy would produce several new subcultures and offshoots. 

To learn more, check out our preppy quotes below. 

Short Preppy Quotes for Fashion Lovers

Check out these fabulous quotes about all things preppy.

1. “Preppy never goes away.” — Michael Bastian 

2. “The preppy lifestyle has gone global.” — Tommy Hilfiger

3. “I love preppy style; I like J. Crew for guys.” — Olivia Culpo 

4. “I’ve always been a little preppy street.” — Malcolm Jenkins 

5. “Sometimes I like to be feminine and preppy.” — Pom Klementieff

6. “I love funky styles. Not preppy or rock, just funky!” — Vanessa Hudgens 

7. “My style is always different. Sometimes it’s preppy; sometimes it’s chic.” — Selah Louise Marley 

8. “I am preppy, geek-chic with a touch of Bozo the Clown with a touch of Showgirls.” — Brad Goreski 

9. “I went through different looks. At one period, I was preppy because that’s how I grew up.” — John Waters 

10. “I wear fitted, business ones, and perfectly preppy sweater vests that I can knit myself.” — Hannah Kearney Well 

Top 10 Preppy Quotes from A.C. Slater

In Saved By The Bell, A.C. Slater, played by Mario Lopez, took the nickname preppy to the next level. 

Here are some of his best preppy quotes. 

11. “Fat chance, preppy!” — AC Slater, Saved By The Bell

12. “You look pretty in pink, Preppy.”  — AC Slater, Saved By The Bell

13. “Preppy, is that you? Nice  legs!” — AC Slater, Saved By The Bell

14. “See, preppy. I told you I was good.” — AC Slater, Saved By The Bell

15. “So what happened, preppy? Did she turn you down?” — AC Slater, Saved By The Bell

16. “What, no rose for me, preppy? And I thought we were real close.” — AC Slater, Saved By The Bell

17. “Look, Preppy, you can’t just spend the rest of your life in your room.” — AC Slater, Saved By The Bell

18. “Uhhh, yeah, preppy, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. I’m disgusted.” — AC Slater, Saved By The Bell

19. “Ok, preppy. While you’re treading cola, Kelly and I are going to the beach.” — AC Slater, Saved By The Bell

20. “Why have a litter of preppies when you can have little studmuffins like me?” — AC Slater, Saved By The Bell

Famous Preppy Quotes for a Clean, Fitted Look

21. “Laugh out when you strike your pose. Take off all your preppy clothes.” — Avril Lavigne

22. “I’m a big shoe person. Sometimes I’ll be punky, the next day I’ll be preppy.”  — Hannah Montana

23. “I’ve been lucky enough to play roles that are not just the preppy cheerleader or sullen emo girl.” — Tara Lynne Barr 

24. “I came from a private school, and public high school was the first time I ever went to a public school. So I went into it very preppy.” — Cassadee Pope 

25. “If you’re a classic dresser or preppy dresser or a modern dresser, you wear a lot of black; whatever it is your home should reflect that as well.” — Nate Berkus 

26. “Tall, blond, blue eyes. I always felt a little self-conscious because I wanted to be more Caucasian. I tried to get bigger eyes. I would dress preppy.” — Michelle Phan 

27. “I’m very choosy, which is why I haven’t played the typical role that people expect to see from someone of my stature and size, as the mean jock or the preppy.” — Kellan Lutz 

28. “So I went for a kind of preppy, psycho-killer look: I had short hair, grey flannel pants, and a button-down shirt. I think it worked, because nobody else was looking that way at that time.” — Loudon Wainwright III 

29. “I got my first Charvet knit tie when I was 15. I actually stole it from my father. I love them because you can wear them day to night. They’re French and preppy and have been around since the 1800s.” — Nate Berkus 

30. “Khaki trousers soon became the province of hipsters like Jack Kerouac and Miles Davis. They were taken to new heights by Ralph Lauren, who helped popularize them among college professors and preppy men.” — Roger Stone 

The Best Preppy Quotes about Style

31. “My mom would put me in these preppy little suits and slick my hair to the side.” — Alexander Wang 

32. “We feel that our business has grown so well because preppy travels so well. It’s all-American classic.” — Tommy Hilfiger 

33. “I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to build some kind of lifestyle brand that was preppy and cool.” — Tommy Hilfiger 

34. “I am all about comfort and whatever comes along with comfort. I wear a lot of sweats. But I’m also very preppy naturally.” — Yara Shahidi 

35. “Producers have a tendency to put you in a pigeonhole: What does this white, middle-aged preppy know about 1960s Kingston?” — Whit Stillman 

36. “I was a camp counselor for kids whose moms were on welfare, unfortunately, and right across the camp was the best, most pristine, and preppy camp in the universe.” — Harvey Weinstein 

37. “The Cosby Show allowed me to have something on my resume that was real, and then the producers of Guiding Light let me play a preppy killer just the following month.” — Michael Weatherly 

38. “I was preppy, then suddenly switched around age 14. I asked my mother to go to this vintage store, and she let me buy a leopard swing coat, pink cigarette pants, and lime-green gloves.” — Kate Spade 

39. “I remember going to one party of this preppy, bourgeois crowd, and there was some obnoxious character there, really bad news, and saying, Oh my God, so the caricature you always see in films actually exists.” — Whit Stillman 

40. “I watched the documentary ‘I Hate Christian Laettner,’ and I really hate Christian Laettner. It made me understand why everybody hates Christian Laettner and Duke basketball. I mean, they’re just a bunch of preppy white boys from Tobacco Road or whatever.” — Seth Rollins 

Preppy Quotes and Sayings about Life

41. “Wardrobe fit, preppy angular.” — Cappadona 

42. “I never really fit into that preppy look.” — Emily Weiss 

43. “Preppy? Not me mate, I like the street look.” — Idris Elba

44. “I used to do the whole baggy, hard-core, I’m-a-boy look. Then I went through a preppy phase.” — Brittney Griner

45. “I’m not your typical preppy put-together girl that wears high heels or whatever. I love unique pieces.” — Brandi Cyrus 

46. “We lived on a waterfront community. It was good, even though I don’t really fit the preppy boater kind of style.” — Christian Siriano 

47. “I love designers like Lanvin, Yves Saint Laurent, and Karl Lagerfeld, but I also like the preppy look championed by Tommy Hilfiger.” — Gok Wan 

48. “People ask how can a Jewish kid from the Bronx do preppy clothes? Does it have to do with class and money? It has to do with dreams.” — Ralph Lauren 

49. “When you think mid-seventies, you think of Studio 54, but there was a whole other thing going on. Where I was, it was more deep-woods preppy. Real-guy preppy.” — Michael Bastian 

50. “Hey, you gotta love a gangsta girl. Even the suburban and preppy girls wanna be gangsta girls. That’s the whole gimmick to it. Everybody wants to be a gangsta girl.” — Mannie Fresh 

What is your favorite version of the preppy look?

Do you like vintage preppy? 

New-age preppy?

Or do you prefer something different?

Be sure to let us know in the comments section below.