Two Takes: Exeter’s Fashion Culture
Take 1:
By WILLIAM INOUE ‘27
Khaki pants paired with a white button-up covered by a red “Exeter” sweater. When writing this, this was the image that came to my mind when I thought about the “preppy” fashion style everyone assumes Phillips Exeter Academy and schools alike have. When I first applied to Exeter and got in, my friends immediately told me that my entire wardrobe would change with the introduction of the “preppy style.” They claimed that my whole wardrobe would be filled with khaki pants, tight-knit sweaters, and polo shirts. Yet, do we really dress the way common stereotypes claim we do?
When first stepping foot in Exeter, I expected what everyone would have expected from a high-ranking preparatory school student to wear. That could not have been further from the truth. When I first got to campus for the International Student Orientation, I discovered that the common attire was simple athletic wear and occasional school merch. It was nowhere near the khaki shorts and polo shirts that I assumed they would wear. So how did this happen? It seems the world outside assumed these preparatory schools to be uptight, rigid communities, yet inside, we are arguably freer than normal schools.
We must first discover how stereotypes are created and spread to understand the question. According to a 1984 study by Gudykunst and Nishida that appeared in the American Psychological Association, stereotyping results from the overestimation of the association between group membership and individual behavior. This means that if one person were to do something from any age group or demographic group, people naturally tend to assume that the traits of the specific person apply to the entire group they belong to. This subconscious tendency is the originator of racial, demographic, and all sorts of stereotypes.
Yet, the development of stereotypes can be broken down relatively easily with the knowledge and learning of the larger group. Many stereotypes have been broken down this way. The stereotype that preparatory school students dress this way most likely developed in the past, where the style of dressing was based on what the stereotype assumes. We can see that through the old yearbooks, the “style” that the stereotypes assume is much more prevalent than now, majorly due to a very strict dress code. However, the stereotype was not broken down when the dress code was refined because of the outside community’s lack of knowledge. To break down stereotypes, we must learn and understand the truth to stop the “overestimation of the association between group membership and individual behavior.”
Now that we have established how stereotypes are formed regarding preparatory dressing styles, we can finally move to how Exeter drifted away from this “style” that is still assumed by so many people.
Before coming to Exeter, I conversed with friends from a wide range of schools, and many of them thought that preparatory schools lived in their own “bubble,” where the outside world uninfluenced the insides of the school. They felt as though these boarding schools were essentially their own system and had their own methods of operation. In some ways, this assumption is accurate, as we are deserted in New Hampshire and have little to no outside contact with major cities.
However, in other ways, that cannot be further from the truth. The simple fact that the internet exists ruptures this entire bubble. It could be assumed that in the era of pre-internet, schools such as Exeter were much more dissociated with the rest of the “teenagers.” Yet, with the internet in the equation, we are as connected to the rest of the world as anyone would be. All of the trends that people are participating in in California can be directly shown to us through social media. This makes it so that the people inside the “bubble” of Exeter slowly step out as the Internet connects us more and more to the outside world.
It should come as no surprise that uniforms will be discussed as a topic in this paper. As controversial as this answer may be, I am in full support of a unified uniform system for the entire school. I grew up in Japan, where it was almost guaranteed that both public and private junior and high schools would wear uniforms that the school had organized. These uniforms would differ slightly across regions and schools but were all similar in some ways.
The benefits that these uniforms bring far outweigh any potential downfall. Through uniforms, we are able to truly achieve a sense of “equality” amongst all the students. It is only through a complete set of uniforms that we can truly become what this school should be: an elite educational institute. The school is undeserving of students showing up to class half-dressed or as if they have just rolled out of bed.
Many would only see the issues of uniforms, such as the financial aspect or the lack of individual expression. The financial issue is a rather easy solution as students on financial aid already receive a predetermined discount on school trips and materials, amongst other things. This can be extended to include uniforms as well. As to the lack of individual expression, we should take inspiration from Japanese high school students. In Japan, the uniform of a school extends to their shoes and backpacks, where the former has to be purely white, and the latter has to be purely black. Yet even in these conditions, the Japanese students are able to show individuality through the use of keychains. Walking down the streets of Tokyo, the countless keychains dangling off matte black backpacks will catch your eyes. For us, the uniform does not need to extend that far; it should only be far enough for our attire to be proper and deserving of an elite boarding school such as Exeter.
The human nature of self-expression is most seen through the clothes we wear. Elite preparatory boarding schools often have stereotypes leveled against them, often through the assumption that one person is a representative of a group and lacks knowledge. To us as an entire school, we must be able to recognize that uniforms are the key to raising our school’s standards to what they were.
Take 2:
By CHLOÉ LIND ‘27, JAYDEN SU ‘28 and ANNIE ZHU ‘28
What comes to mind when thinking about fashion at elite boarding school? Before this article commences, here’s a question for you (yes, you): How comfortable do you feel “dressing how you feel” at school? This was the very question I found myself pondering on a crisp autumn afternoon, sitting on the right side of Elm, finishing my dinner whilst simultaneously searching up “Phillips Exeter Academy” on Google. As the white-and-blue icon of Business Insider popped up, its bold headlines loading onto the screen, I felt baffled by the stereotypes the reporter had so confidently asserted about Big Red.
Before this article commences, here are some queries for you to consider: Are you under pressure to dress the same way as your peers? Do you feel comfortable expressing yourself, through makeup or other visual elements of your appearance? Do you feel anxious every morning or night—a stab of panic in your chest, and even though it is not often talked about—insecure about how people will judge the outfit you piece together tomorrow? We have all responded yes to at least one of these questions—even as students at one of America’s most elite high schools.
Phillips Exeter Academy, despite its prestigious name and its reputation as the epitome of New England prep-school elitism, does not fit into the normal boarding school stereotype, despite the numerous online articles boasting the contrary. To quote Business Insider: ”Vineyard Vines-wearing, silver spoon-fed teenagers…bragging about their college acceptances, and sneaking off into the woods to get high.”
The academy’s student body is 14 percent international, 50 percent of students receiving financial aid, statistics that many, Business Insider included, conveniently fail to recognize. Exeter is a melting pot of cultural, economic, and religious diversity. Why, then, is there a stereotype, or rather expectation, for Exeter students to dress in a preppy manner—pleated skirts, tweed blazers and all?
“I think certain students set the standard at Exeter to dress preppy,” says Lower Connie Thomas. Certain demographics of students, particularly the affluent demographic, inspire the outfit trends on campus, and the majority of fad-abiding Exonians follow suit (no pun intended).
Before Exeter, did any of the devout bell bottom, tube-top, cashmere cardigan-wearing upperclassmen even consider donning this apparel (except, of course, the ones who frequented golf courses on the weekends)? Perhaps they felt overwhelmed, as the style of their old schools may not have reflected the prevalent trends of the tucked-away New Hampshire boarding school they now call home.
As one student remarked, “I think it’s preppy here. I’m not from the East Coast, so it’s very different…the way people dress here and go to school.” Maybe, when they walked into their first 8 a.m. class, fresh out of new student orientation, they felt intimidated by the originally smaller clique of students donning Lululemon (or Lulu, as many dotingly call the brand) or the freshest pair of Air Jordans. Newcomers want to look the way the cool kids look, and eventually to be the way the cool kids are: the stylish, handsome group of pupils that are perpetually outdressing their peers, living their best lives, and making sure it is known that they are on their Instagram pages.
“I think once we get to spring term, that’s when you see people wearing golf shirts, polos, khakis shorts, like they just came from the driving range,” remarked lower Victor Angeline. Many other students’ opinions seem to be leaning the same way, and according to them, the pressure to dress to impress affects the female student population disproportionately.
“I feel like there is a lot of pressure, especially on social media platforms like TikTok. In terms of school, a lot of people here come from very wealthy families and because of that, you have to fit in. For girls especially, people wear big brands,” remarked one student. “For girls it is based on brands, like how expensive it is,” commented another. And perhaps the most aggressive of all: “My roommate will tear down her closet to find her fit for the next day.” Wearing the clothes that match others’ aesthetics, it appears, is the new way to “belong” at Exeter. However, do we really want to have the same, conforming, array of outfits?
Now, as a new generation of Exonians enters the school, hopefully we can neutralize this tradition; to have everyone freely represent themselves through fashion, brand name or not. For one student, many of her peers are shifting their opinions on others’ clothing, as well as how they choose to express their styles. As prep Alice Miller commented, “Overall, I think that I feel like I can express myself and I feel like everyone’s style, is, like, so cool. Some people more than others, but it’s a prep school, I see it.”
“I do think [people play into the preppy aesthetic], but you shouldn’t care what other people think about you,” Angeline added.
There may still be hope for the fashion scene at Exeter after all; to make and hold space for all different kinds of fashion tastes, preppy aesthetic or not.
