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Q: Organizations/Associations ( No Answer,   9 Comments )
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Subject: Organizations/Associations
Category: Relationships and Society
Asked by: preppydne-ga
List Price: $41.00
Posted: 27 May 2006 18:17 PDT
Expires: 26 Jun 2006 18:17 PDT
Question ID: 732948
I am looking for organizations/associations that 
1)are purely focused on being preppy, "preppyness" 
or 
2)focus on attracting preppy members, and have events with members who
are extremely preppy. This organization must have a Boston
chapter or Boston events.

The only thing I can find so far is the "preppy cafe", which
focuses on retail and does not have any events of any kind. The
stereotype of someone that is preppy, shops at Brooks Brothers,
J.Crew, Burberry, wears lacoste (with the collar up), went to Boarding
School and a top university after that, vacations on Nantucket,
Martha's Vineyard, or the Hamptons. 

Thank you for your help!
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Comments  
Subject: Re: Organizations/Associations
From: frde-ga on 28 May 2006 11:11 PDT
 
We call them 'Sloan Rangers' in the UK
- although they would consider some of the brands you mention rather 'chav' or naff

I assume you have some cunning plan for infiltration and exploitation
- they quite like a bit of rough
- and they can spot a 'fake person' at 100 yards
Subject: Re: Organizations/Associations
From: myoarin-ga on 28 May 2006 11:30 PDT
 
As a preppy from long before the "Preppy Handbook" was written, I
believe this is a futile search.  Preppies recognize/accept each other
with some levels of differentiation -  and thus would eschew an
organization that tried to appeal to the full spectrum of preppies,
which could only have a commercial goal, appealing to social climbers.
 Each school has its own alumni/ae organization; allegiance is to
one's school, not to a greater world of preppies.
The "St. Grotlesex" alumni/ae  - including those of a few other New
England prep schools -  won't think someone who went to a Midwestern
boarding school is one of theirs.

Having recalled the expression "St. Grotlesex", I found this site for
preppy meeting places in Boston area:
http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_101/TECH_V101_S0594_P007.pdf

Unfortunately, the article is 25 years old, but was accurate at the time.
A few years before it appeared, I dropped into the Casablanca and was
greeted by two classmates from (another) 25 years earlier.

(And don't believe that they all vacation in those places. ;)
Subject: Re: Organizations/Associations
From: myoarin-ga on 28 May 2006 11:50 PDT
 
Frde's comment  - slipped in while I was still writing -  suggests
that maybe I was too hard on Midwesteners.  One who rowed in a crew
that won the Interscholastics or did well at the Head of Charles or at
Henley might pass muster.
Subject: Re: Organizations/Associations
From: preppydne-ga on 03 Jun 2006 08:18 PDT
 
Yes, I recognize what I am searching for might be hard to find.
However, I believe it exists somewhere. Preppy people love other
preppy people and of course people are different, but I believe the
preppy bond is a strong one. Once people graduate from boarding
school/college it becomes harder and harder to find the preppy-types
of people you went to school with!

Of course I am loyal to my boarding school/college, but an "allegiance
to a greater world of preppies" is exactly what I am looking for-even
if the focus or philosophy isn't preppyness per say.
Subject: Re: Organizations/Associations
From: myoarin-ga on 11 Jun 2006 04:18 PDT
 
Hi,  - again,

I have dropped by to read your comment a couple of times, and spent
some time wondering why I feel differently about the subject.  I
disagree to your statement that "preppy people love other preppy
people."  They respect each other to the extent that they respect the
school that the other one attended, and this knowledge gives them a
certain common ground when they meet  - just as discovering that a new
acquaintance also served in the Navy, or played the same sport, or
also had been in the Peace Corps.  But just being a preppie from
anywhere isn't sufficient.
Preppie is a generic term; people don't introduce themselves as a
preppie, but may admit to being one if asked, then naming their school
unless they want to  avoid mentioning the name out of reticence or
modesty.  From my experience, preppies don't need or want a generic
affiliation.  Like everywhere else in life, they just do what and go
where they choose and aren't surprised to find others with a similar
background, much like the website that I posted suggested.

If you aren't running into many preppies in Boston, you probably have
different interests and won't find that preppies you seek out on that
basis alone won't have much in common with you.  Just as well; old
preppies who only have that point of orientation can be boring. :)
Subject: Re: Organizations/Associations
From: yorker-ga on 11 Jun 2006 11:01 PDT
 
As usual, the sage Myoarin is right on target. My first question,
Preppydne, is context: are you looking for Boston preppies for some
business or professional reason (ie, you're writing an article about
preppies, or you're trying to market to them)? Or is it a personal
interest in joining/hanging out with such folk? Know that will help us
answer you more accurately. Myoarin and Frde have apparently read your
question as the latter, and both have provided some helpful guidance.
To follow up on Myoarin's comment, imagine that your question was "I
am looking for organizations/associations that are purely focused on
members who were former members of the US Army's Special Forces". A
little research could certainly point you in the direction of some
appropriate contacts if you were interested in coming at it from the
'outside', but there's certainly no way that you could 'join' them or
even hang out with them if you didn't share that background. It's much
the same with preppies (although probably less useful from a national
defense perspective :-).

So, perhaps we'll be able to help you a bit better with a little more
info. Are you a Boston preppy who's feeling lonely? Do you want to
marry a rich, WASPy preppy? Are you writing a book about preppies? As
an East Coast preppie myself (although of just a tad more recent
vintage than Myoarin) who shops at Brooks Brothers, wears Lacoste,
went to a top prep school and a top university and grew up summering
in the Hamptons, I may be able to provide some pointers if I can
figure out what the goal is [grin].
Subject: Re: Organizations/Associations
From: myoarin-ga on 11 Jun 2006 13:08 PDT
 
Hmmm, did I say something about doing what one chooses and not being
surprised to find others with a similar background?
Maybe we could run a poll here for St. Grotlesex alumni/ae.  ;)
Subject: Re: Organizations/Associations
From: preppydne-ga on 24 Jun 2006 13:51 PDT
 
Well Myoarin I do agree with what you are saying. Most people don?t
actively seek out other preppy people. That being said, people do
befriend other people that are similar to them. Go to Nantucket, you
will find groups of girls who all wear the same clothing, went to the
same schools, and come from privileged families. Do you think that is
a coincidence, no. Do you befriend people that are similar to you,
absolutely. So yes preppies to an extent do seek out other preppies,
the extent it's done subconsciously or consciously depends on the
individual.

I am of course overly conscious of this fact, but mostly because the
social network I had in college is gone-and I would like to rebuild
that network here in Boston.

Yorker to answer your question. I would say yes to all of the above! I
am 22, so not quite sure if marriage is on the radar yet. But I would
love to meet preppy/waspy guys! In all honesty, the preppy type is
really the only type of guy I am attracted to. There is nothing cuter
than a guy wearing a polo, pair of Nantucket reds, and some flip
flops!. And, from my understanding preppy guys feel the same. To a
very preppy guy, there is nothing hotter than a well-dressed preppy
girl. She has to be pretty of course, but preppy girls usually are!

I would like to widen my social circle for both career and personal
reasons. People with certain pedigrees (attended boarding school, top
colleges, etc.) tend to pursue similar career paths, and it is always
good to widen your professional network of contacts. Also I would like
to meet other girls that think going shopping to Saks Fifth Avenue
sales or taking a beach trip to Nantucket, is as fun of an idea as I
do! So I am looking for clubs or groups I can join, where I can
accomplish the mentioned above!
Subject: Re: Organizations/Associations
From: myoarin-ga on 25 Jun 2006 04:50 PDT
 
Greetings again, and again I have read your last comment a couple of
times, wanting to but wondering how to reply.
I am suspecting that you have moved to Boston a few months ago and
still haven't found your "crowd".  (You don't have to confirm, refute
or explain. :)

To repeat a bit:
I think that you are trying to run after something that can't be
chased.  If you HAVE been in Boston for a while and not run into
preppies, your interests and activities don't fit the mold, but it is
superficial, and that is not to be regretted, though you do  - your
examples -  perhaps hankering to pick up past school and college
experiences.  I had to smile a bit at reading them.

You want to widen your social circle, which is certainly the right idea.
I would suggest forgetting about preppies.  If you haven't found them
already, they won't be the persons who will be interesting to you or
for career and social networking.  Forget the clothes, they are only
the uniform, not the individual, and those with character don't need
to wear it.  Looking for the uniform won't broaden your social circle.

But if you are still desperate to find preppies, you might consider
taking up rowing  - not the 100% preppy sport it once was.  Cambridge
Boat Club, Union Boat Club.  I seem to remember that girls from
better-off families do volunteer work  - the "right" kind, of course,
but I don't know what that is, maybe helping with the Head of the
Charles Regatta or something related to a church in the right section
of town.  There is one on Beacon Hill, or just going to the church of
your choice near Harvard Square.

Good luck!

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