Lisa Birnbach

True Prep is an updated look at how the old guard of cotton-loving, dog-worshipping, G&T-soaked preppies change to the new order of things. Ms.Birnbach considers the prep attitude towards money (ambivalence), schools (good investment), wardrobe (your clothes fit), work (some careers will never be prep), decorating (ask Mummy), scandal (including rehab and prison), and food and drink (with some classic recipes for both). Also looks at weekends (and what to do to get asked back), entertaining, sports (including sailing and shopping), weddings, etiquette, the Internet and electronic gadgetry, political correctness, reality TV, and . . . polar fleece. And last but not least: a do-it-yourself eulogy.… (més)

I bought this book back when it was first published; I was young and impressionable and soaked it up like a sponge. I recently picked this book up and read it again. I realized, from the perspective of 30 years later, how much this book influenced me.

I need to buy a new kilt for my daughter because she has now outgrown the one I bought her when she was 3 (what practical garments they are, no other item from her wardrobe at age 3 still fits her now at almost 7) and told her that she can't get her ears pierced until she is 16. I have done online searches of local training facilities that offer riding lessons in hopes that she will soon enter her horsey phase (which I have never outgrown and am really looking forward to shopping for a pony).

I own an old house (historic restoration is such a rewarding hobby) and have priced documented William Morris wallpapers and haunted the second hand furniture stores and auctions (for those items that look like they've been in the family forever). I garden. My job title is one the list of acceptable prep careers. Although my dogs were not specifically mentioned as an acceptable breed, they are rather rare, (meaning that none of the rednecks around here would ever own these dogs) esoteric and I have 3 of them, which counts as a pack.....always desirable. The car I drive is preppy and it is a preppy color.

So I have to wonder if this book had a subliminal effect that influenced me over the years,or if my own personal inclinations have always been like this and the book just clarified it? Either way I've got to say that this book might actually be a better, more reliable guide to living than the bible.… (més)