The only still-cool way to do preppy

Mi piace molto la marca Trovata. Penso che i vestiti sono attraente e interessante.

But leaving the realm of first-year Italian ("Trovata" is the Italian feminine singular of "found." I'm sure it has some colloquial meaning or something, but I couldn't tell you what that is), Trovata is a line that really has impressed me. I'm soooooo over Lacoste polos. I'm bored to tears with the mass-marketed, overwrought, distressed-prep look at Abercrombie (and Hollister, and Tommy Hilfiger, and American Eagle, and everywhere else where all the assholes at my middle school shopped). Even Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors, the modern kings of classic Americana preppy just don't seem that exciting to me. While I can still enjoy a little cheeky-English-schoolgirl-prep, most preppy looks just don't interest me much.

Trovata is the exception. Their collection is full of classic pieces and shapes, and no one would classify them as non-preppy, but their clothing has a sense of humor. It's all lovely, but it almost seems to poke fun of itself and the concept in general. I mean, their lookbook, the theme for the season, was called "Pompous and penniless." They work well with the preppy aesthetic, but they just never take themselves too seriously.

In middle school, I dressed like everyone else to avoid the vultures (they were vicious). I was never really excited about my clothes, so I almost regret the wasted time, but I went at least two years without getting teased (only two because in 7th grade, I went through a bohemian phase that was pretty, um, criticized). So, if you go to a dress-like-everyone-else-or-your-life-will-be-hell school, give 'em hell and dress your own way. But if you really do enjoy the preppy look, be a little different and wear Trovata.