Being Preppy

Since I was a kid, I have always been what I guess is preppy.  I remember going to the Lilly Store in Osterville on Cape Cod with my mom and buying the pants that had the hidden pictures in them.  We wore Docksiders and carried Papagallo bags.  I had every color Fairisle sweater and Critter belts galore.  Polo shirts and Oxfords were (and still are) a basic staple of my entire family's closets.  

After I got married - to the most UN-preppy man in the world, (His fashion sense consists of jeans and T-shirts from bars we've been to) we moved to a very rural area in Rhode Island.  I have found that my entire town is either total hick (overalls) or over the edge designer fashion (Head to toe Gucci or Fendi, etc.).  There is no in between.  I feel like a fish out of water sometimes.  

I will never forget going to my son's elementary school graduation.  I had on a pink Lilly polo shirt with a green Ralph Lauren skirt with pink flamingos on it, with the pink and green Stephen Bonannos of course.  I bumped into a good friend there who started to shake her head and said, "I give you a lot of credit, because you are always so true to you".  I really didn't know whether it was a compliment or insult?  

I guess I've always just considered my style more classic than preppy.  I have been true to my clothing choices my entire life, not just when the trends come and go.  I am a stickler for dressing appropriately for certain occasions and I feel like today, people just don't get it.  

I have learned to come to terms with the fact that my husband will always have a closet full of clothes that I have purchased with the tags still on them.  I have come to terms with the fact that I will probably always fight with my daughter because she wants to wear pajama bottoms to school like everyone else, (This will only happen over my dead body) and I have come to terms with many of my friends and acquaintances shaking their heads at my choices of bright colors and classic lines.  I know that I will never be able to change any of these things and that if my husband or daughter choose to come to my side of the fence, it will have to be of their own accord.  There is however, a silver lining for me.  This summer, my 13 year old son has decided that Madras and Pink and Polo shirts are a few of his favorite things.  

Maybe I will start traveling with just my son! :)