12 Prepped-Out Patterns
Playful preppy designs have always been a personal favorite. In fact, I have met people at conventions who recall me years after “Becky with all the whale pants.” If you prefer to rock some Vineyard Vines style on your laundry, odds are you’d enjoy preppy patterns around the home. Following is a peek at a dozen prints that won’t ever go out of prepster style.
Tobi Fairley Interior Design
Plaid. Whether it’s from a prep school uniform, either a Scottish clan or the Burberry store, plaids will always be preppy. Here designer Tobi Fairley has added a lively plaid (and a monogram; more on that later) for this very tailored bedscape.
Elizabeth Dinkel
Paisley. First introduced to the Western world by the East India Company, this British colonial import brings a preppy look that could go from crisp to wild, depending upon the colour palette.
Vielle and Frances
Leigh Settee by Lilly Pulitzer – $2,500
All things Lilly. If it’s a Lilly Pulitzer tag, it’s mechanically preppy, no matter the print. Did you know if you look hard, you can view “Lilly” hidden within any Lilly Pulitzer print?
Forum Phi Architecture | Interiors | Planning
Herringbone. Most frequently seen on a prep’s sportcoat, herringbone patterns have spread across floors, more than furniture and up walls. It’s a more preppy routine compared to its cousin chevron.
Kayron Brewer, CKD, CBD / Studio K B
Houndstooth. This lively checked pattern jazzes up the preppy look. A small-scale pattern similar to this one is the preppiest form of houndstooth, however it’s fascinating to have any fun with it by blowing it up.
See more houndstooth round the house
Elizabeth Dinkel
Trellises and lattices. These patterns remind preps of their outside armature that affirms the climbing roses in the actual or imagined family compound on Nantucket.
Tamar Schechner/Nest Pretty Things Inc
Faded florals. Talking of roses, they are a preppy British import when it comes to fabrics. Some of these preppiest floral fabrics come from the studios of Cath Kidston, Kathryn Ireland and Laura Ashley.
Schranghamer Design Group
Stripes. While there are many types of preppy stripes out there, this enlarged ticking stripe pattern in a nautical palette is the preppiest of them all.
Witt Construction
Madras. “If there’s one fabric that is quintessentially Preppy, it’s madras,” says The Preppy Handbook.
Authentic madras is vegetable dyed and stems from Madras, India. It’s most often seen paired with khakis and loafers, but it also functions with Ugly Dolls and Angry Birds.
CapeRace Cultural Adventures
Gingham. This lively type of plaid is always as fresh and clean as Gilligan’s Island‘s Mary Ann.
See more gingham round the house
RLH Studio
Polka dot. Some polka dots are more preppy than others. Those rendered in a medium green and cream, and paired with a gorgeous scalloped cream valance trimmed in green are additional preppy. This room looks like it came right off preppy design muse Dorothy Draper’s drawing board.
Monograms. “Preppies have known it for years: Who needs LV or YSL if you can lay claim to your discreet EBW III?” States The Preppy Handbook.
Monograms are not actually a pattern, however they’re a quintessential preppy stamp that goes on all from canvas ship bags to leather wastebaskets.
See more monograms round the house
More:
So Your Design Is: Preppy
Old-School Prep and Modern Prep