My new nickname is "Skip" or "Chip"

The other day I was doing my usual skim through the local thrift store bookshelves when I ran across The Official Preppy Handbook. I'd been aware of this book for some time, and even knew that author Lisa Birnbach (along with designer extraordinaire Chip Kidd) were planning an update of sorts with True Prep, which is slated to come out in a couple months.

What I didn't know was that the aforementioned Preppy Handbook was out-of-print (so my 99 cent buying price ended up being a pretty good score). I also didn't know that it was largely a snark fest.



I guess that if I'd actually paid attention and read about the book a little more, I would have realized such, but I honestly figured that it was something like Take Ivy with more prose and illustrations instead of pictures.

And actually, after looking through it, there is some quite useful information, including definitions that I hadn't quite picked up on and some other little nuggets that are entertaining at the very least. That said, there are times where it borders on Mad Magazine-esque humor.

Or, at least I think it does.

Perhaps it's meant to be straight-up serious and my midwestern roots simply can't comprehend it all.

At any rate, it's a fun little book to have, but probably no substitute for Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion or The Esquire Handbook of Style: A Man's Guide to Looking Good when it comes to actual advise on not looking like a slob.