Preppy Girl Autumn Is About to Start

We regret to inform you that fall is only 41 days away and, respectfully, it’s time to think about your wardrobe. The AW26 runways have spoken: preppy is back, ivy is back, layering is back, and unfortunately for those of us who were hoping to have one final hot-girl euro summer, so are cardigans. Tartan, argyle, polos, badges, riding boots, over-knee socks — the whole “my boyfriend went to Eton” wardrobe is coming in hot, and we are ready to be layering a tiny polo under a weird cashmere thing and calling it a day.  Before anyone calls the class war police: we are not suggesting you become a Tory. We are suggesting you steal their clothes. We remain philosophically opposed to the institutions these clothes were designed to get you into. 

We did the homework so you can reap the sartorial rewards. What we mainly found out is that this season, we’re effort-maxxing our outfits. Besides making it clear you’re not actually a nepo baby with a trust fund and a polo horse, the results of AI making everything polished are leading us to distort the dress codes we know. Getting it exactly right might still require the research methodology of a Rhodes Scholar. Luckily, you don’t need the scholarship. You can just scroll down.

August Barron: formerly All-In, have been making perfectly undone clothes that make you want to scrunch and shrink everything you own into something layered like theirs. They love to Frankenstein existing garments — cardigans, sweaters, nightdresses — into sexy, distorted versions of themselves. The formula is basically: take the right amount of whimsy, mess and chic, splice it all together in a layered cashmere sweater and cardigan, let an asymmetrical lil polo poke out at a weird angle, stick a brooch somewhere through it all, scrunch it up: there you go. Preppy girl autumn for it-girls! Forget ‘I woke up like this’, this fall is asking you to spend 45 minutes putting your cardigans on wrong on purpose. Whole site is on sale, btw. We want everything, especially the lifted cardigan with lifted shirt combo, the double cardi, and the triple sweater,

OGBFF x Angel Frost: the internet’s OG preppy girl has entered her BFF era! Their collab skirt just dropped, and it just so happens to be a mini tartan skirt. How delightful for this listicle. Thank god for merch that understands fans want to dress like their idol rather than dress as a fan of their idol. In OGBFF’s words this “could be worn hungover getting Gatorade at the gas station or on stage at Lollapalooza with a baby tee, polo, or whatever.” For obvious reasons, the only correct response is to do as they say.

Vivienne Westwood: Preppy Girl Autumn Also Means Preppy Boy Pre-Fall! We obviously have to consult the brand that has been making British dressing weird, sexy and rebellious for decades — even after her passing. For our country-club era, we’re looking at the menswear collection: these widely striped polo two-piece sets, complete with logo shield and crisp white collar. Extremely chique. Make it fall-appropriate with big boots and a light coat thrown over. We have a polo match at 3, and then something very important to attend at 5. The nature of this appointment is confidential.

Topologie just released its Ivy-inspired AW26 collection, fully customisable and full of tartans. As women who contain multitudes, we love a preppy wool heritage print — especially one big enough to carry all our academic books. The Tartan Medium Wide Tote in blue check, is a wonderfully collegiate little number perfect for carrying all your books to seminar — but, crucially, it’s customisable enough to appeal to the active among us, too. Whether or not your fingernails are permanently filled with chalk, you can customise the strap with climbing-inspired hardware, making the bag not just boarding-school appropriate but boulder-hall appropriate, flirting-with-your-barista friendly, and capable of carabiner-clipping onto whatever you’ve decided to carry that day.  It also comes in forest green if you’re in more of a Scottish country-club mood. Their Wares System has a genuinely overwhelming number of custom straps: our pick would be a brightly coloured braided O-Rope, but you can go cargo-coded, scrunchie-styled, macramé-mode, go crazy. Add a carabiner AND a pouch. The bag is only the beginning! The possibilities are, as Topologie would have it, endless.

Laura Andrashko: We obviously couldn’t make a Preppy Girl Autumn-List without mentioning Laura Andraschko. The Berlin-raised, London-based designer makes posh British archetypes mixed with absolute debauchery. Wearing it will allow you to look like the girl who inherited the country house has a drug problem. Her whole thing is taking high-class British signifiers — polo clubs, equestrian gear, tennis, chalet girls, “my boyfriend went to Eton” — and making them a little sexier, and significantly less well-mannered. While we’re always here for the riding boots, her tennis bubble dress was recently worn by Chloe Sevigny so now we want that one. Or the Monaco dress.  you’re ready for (doing a line in between) the stables.

Miu Miu is also obviously going on the list — the mini skirts the width of a bookmark, the blue office-ready blouses, the crisp standing collars peeking out from under cableknit sweaters, polos under basically everything. Just because it’s slouchy doesn’t mean it’s sleazy!! Sometimes it means you’re late to your Oxford lecture! We would recommend checking out this babydoll dress or its polo counterpart. Perhaps layer with this cashmere number. The family crest is a Miu Miu logo, obviously. Your ancestors may have owned a castle, but did they have a Prada Group board seat?

Lucila Safdie: is basically the patron saint of the Preppy Accessory. Her headbands are the finishing touch that make you into a completely respectable, collegiate chic woman. The Daisy Randone headband in particular is giving The Virgin Suicides meets country-club darling — dainty, a little twee, just all you need. Of course, definitely check out her striped puff sleeve polos too, or her NSFW office skirts. 

Raphael Everdeen makes silver jewellery that looks like a gift-wrapping bow turned into precious metal. There’s something so delightfully trophy-like about it — like your racehorse just won the Derby and someone immediately turned the ribbon into a choker. Of course, not just in ribbon material, but in 925 silver, laced with diamonds. The tiny, excessively shiny finishing touch that pulls the whole outfit together: congratulations, you won.

Trinite Studio: Remember when having your bra lace sticking out of your top was the hottest thing imaginable? Trinite Studio sure does. It might not have been the preppy part of the outfit, but the girls smoking shisha in tiny polo tops and Uggs were absolutely onto something. Trinite Studio deconstructed a varsity polo and Frankenstein’d it with a strappy lace dress. School uniform meets lingerie meets “my mum is going to kill me if she sees this”. The outfit equivalent of having both a prefect badge and a fake ID. 

Dries van Noten: The nerd is back, and nerds know how to layer. Dries Van Noten gets that one pattern is cute, two is styling, and three means you have either been studying fashion for 20 years or have completely lost the plot. Pants with built-in floral cummerbunds? Yessir. A belt made from something in between a skirt and a shirt? Need. A knit vest over a blouse over a shirt? Obviously. The more it looks like you got dressed while thinking about something really intellectual was occupying your mind, the better.

Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY knows the power of a rugby shirt. The long-sleeve Topsy Turvy Polo has the stripes, the big white collar, the crest, the whole boarding-school fantasy, except the proportions and styling feel just subverted enough to stop it from looking like you’ve actually joined the rugby team. Pop the collar for sure. And what’s a fall dressing list without a cardigan? LOVERBOY’s Double Soft Cardi in coral and pink is the type of knitwear we want this autumn: preppy, unserious, and slightly difficult to explain to your grandparents.

Kiko Kostadinov’s PETREL shearling-lined loafers take the piss out of the classic slip-on and give it a zip closure (we mean closing the whole shoe), an asymmetric opening, and a faux fur fluffy lining reminiscent of those classic Gucci slip-ons that looked like your raggedy pet. We love them in Autumnal Brown, and they also come in a darker shade of Panther Black. Of course, there’s also the classic MEZULARI bag, which has been on our wishlists forever. A giant brown leather messenger with D-rings and asymmetric pockets, it has the functionality of your dad’s thick Gladstone briefcase, but the looks of someone who has a top score on Frenzy.