<p>As far as the preppy dress goes, that’s pretty standard for a nice day at Princeton after an extended period of subpar weather. As soon as the temperature cracks 70 and the sun is out after a few cloudy/rainy/chilly days, we go into a default preppy Lawnparties-type mode, kind of like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon. After the sun and warm temperatures become more consistent though, we tend to resume normal dress patterns after replacing jeans with shorts, boat shoes with sneakers, and so on. </p>
<p>I expect that Princeton has more of a southern/prep feel than any top-tier school north of Duke. Part of it probably has to do with the country club stereotype - I wasn’t preppy at all in high school, but on certain occasions here (Lawnparties, the first really nice days of spring), I’ll dress like a prep. This isn’t to fall in line with any social pressures, but more because it’s pretty fun to ditch the grungy t-shirts and jeans for a day to sit outside and relax with some friends in Holder courtyard with a jug of iced tea and not worry about my COS exam tomorrow or my math problem set due Friday.</p>