Guide to Disguise: The Queer Roots of Prep
From knit sweaters and tweed to polos and loafers, modern fashion loves a little prep in its step. As one of the few styles to consistently survive the test of time, its influence continuously infiltrates a wide variety of aesthetics. Distinguished by clean-cut lines and neutral colored garments, the iconic style symbolizes an undeniable sense of “togetherness”. At its emergence, the high social position associated with preppiness made it appealing to those trying to hide their queerness. The distinct elements of the fashion made it easy to blend into heteronormative culture by dressing in the style. As more gay individuals adopted prep, the community began to create stylized codes and conducts to convey their identity. As queerness gained visibility and influence, many hung on to their preppy roots, transforming it into a symbol of homosexuality.
Prep was not just a look, but rather a lifestyle for those with enormous wealth. Men attending preparatory and Ivy League schools sought to differentiate themselves from average students by adopting fashion trends exhibited by older British university uniforms. Button-down shirts and blazers became a visual sign of immense education only available to those with the wealth to obtain it. This look exuded an air of academia and establishment of a higher class for which others quickly aspired.
Fashion functions as an unspoken language to visually communicate identities and orientations. The distinct nature of prep made it easy for those who desired to fit into the upper-class, heteronormative world to adopt the style, so as to be perceived as a member of the idealized community. Individuals who dressed prep were immediately associated with traditional American values, even if they did not follow these ideals. For queer individuals, this disguise was critical to surviving a culture that actively repressed homosexuality. By appearing to be prep, one could “pass” as heterosexual, ensuring an individual's safety.
The publication of The Official Preppy Handbook created space for prep to no longer just be replicated, but reinvented. This piece, written by Lisa Birnbach, was intended to be a satirical commentary on wealthy lifestyles. It laid out a step-by-step guide on how to look and act preppy, with the encouragement of every-day individuals to not “be intimidated by prep, because it is mostly an aesthetic— a grand aesthetic, in fact, and easily copied!”. Despite its cheeky pokes at the absurdity of upper class lifestyles, the book sold over a million copies and started a The Official Preppy Handbook counter-culture movement.
Pages 48-49 from The Official Preppy Handbook. Lisa Birnbach, 1980.
The handbook was published in a time of intensified American homophobia after queer visibility had pushed through in the mid-1970s. Queer individuals knew they were not alone but had to carefully seek out community. The satirical nature of The Official Preppy Handbook created a space to laugh at the absurdity of prep and the people who embodied it. This inspired many queer individuals to turn the style into a symbol for themselves, re-inventing the valued aesthetic of those who oppressed them. The style became a social indicator of queerness to those in the know. The time between the original creation of Ivy League prep and the emergence of queer prep put distance between the two fashion movements. This allowed queer individuals the space to view the style and its garments with irony. To the few who still believed in the elitism of the style, preppy queers were still seen as respectable, and therefore safe from day-to-day prejudice.
Prep gave individuals a way to explore their sexuality and gender, as the style allowed wearers to manipulate their gendered form and presentation of the body. Elements such as khaki shorts and unbuttoned polo shirts permitted men to discreetly show off their bodies. The male body was on display and gazed at within social conventions. Peter Bailey defines this phenomenon of “a little sexuality [being] encouraged as an antidote to its subversive properties” as “parasexulaity”. While this term was initially used to account for certain Victorian fashions, the concept of fashion allowing for sexual exploration prevails in queer prep. Additionally, the structured silhouettes of many prep staples allowed a more masculine or feminine presentation of bodies as individuals desired. This allowed for a discrete experimentation of gender and gender fluidity that was socially permissible. If one desired to escape gender, prep supported androgyny in a way no style had yet. In the handbook, androgyny is stated as one of the fundamental elements of prep, encouraging “men and women dress as much alike as possible and clothes for either sex should deny specifics of gender”. This allowance of exploration increased prep popularity in queer communities as individuals sought to discover an identity that was taboo to talk about.
As queer prep style grew, traditional preps became aware of the sudden shift and attempted to take it back by wearing their own style ironically. This served as an attempt to re-associate prep with heterosexuality, causing confusion between what prep really suggested about the wearer’s identity. This overlap in fashion’s social message can be traced across many trends and makes it difficult to distinguish social cues over time. Modern prep styles may or may not be perceived as queer based on the wearer and audience interpreting the look. While the style may not be as strong of an indicator of queerness as it used to be, its elements still appear and allow self-exploration in modern contexts.