oh you were adorable. i don't have many pictures of myself from that time. (i dont' have many pictures period)

i wasn't nearly as preppy as you, but i came close.

Hee! You're so cute!!!

Actually, you're not laughing material, too cute!

Wow, does that ever bring back memories! LOL If the dresses weren't Laura Ashley, they were Gunne Sax (spelling?). I had the same hair, only it didn't cooperate nearly as nicely as yours. And the indecision caused by the shear number of covers for the Bermuda Bag...I'm just shaking my head here... Those were the days, huh?

Too cute! I loved that look. I was preppy too. Oh there was something about the 80's.

Oh my gosh, how cute are you?

I remember my beloved Capezio shoes from the '80s. The ones that showed toe cleavage!

I'm not laughing~~~thankfully there were no pictures of my "preppy" days that survived...the fire!

I was a prep in high school too. I actually like a classic look now, too. It wasn't the 80s, but I remember tretorns and "boat shoes" and the bermuda bag. :)

Ah, the memories. I can't even remember the 80s.

I'm the same age as the kid ;)

I had the same look. I even had those green cords with the whales -- the walking Preppy Handbook.

Ah....Izod shirts and Tretorns.....
I was thrilled to see that Tretorns seem to be coming back in again. They are the all time most comfortable sneaker!

You're simply adorable. I always wanted to be a prep, but grew up in the 70's, so I settled for a hippie/disco/farrah fawcett look. Not a good combo.

Oh fine- you've won!

Aren't you the cutest preppy girl ever?
(Yes, you are.)
; )

I can't laugh, as I was right there with you. Right down to the Papagallo bag.

Well, now, weren't you just cute as a button?? (still are, btw) My mom bought me all kinds of nice prep clothes when I was elementary school/junior high age, but come high school, jeans were it baby! Patched jeans, at that. I'm still pretty much always a blue jean baby. But I do love me some nice clothes once in a while. Thanks for the grins!

No, I can't laugh. Your Laura Ashley dress looks very similar to my prom dress circa 1984.

I never realized how much your daughter looks like you until I saw those pictures!! A definite resemblance.......

What's to laugh about?! You were going to a preppy school and it was the preppy age. Nothing funny about that. Just normal. :)

I think I had many of the same items, though you're much more "coordinated" in your attire than I was. Did you have one of those handbags with the wooden handles and buttons, that allowed you to change the fabric covers to match your clothes? Those were cool.

Waaaah - 80s flashback! You were so cute - I would've been insanely jealous of you, I'm sure.

OMG! I used to have the same hairdo!

Haha! You were cute!

What a cutie! I didn't realize how much your daughter looks like you until now.

I have no preppy pictures, I'm afraid. I have a lot of black sullen teenager pictures.

Honestly, tho, dearie, you really haven't changed a bit. Not a bit. (Well, maybe less prep to the clothes, but you could just be your younger sister in those photos.)

Honestly, I think it's your Debbie Gibson hair in the fourth picture that is truly THE BEST THING EVER. Love. It.

Those are great pictures. I was to young for that look, but did get in with the big hair and peg leg jeans.

Holy crap. I didn't know people were preppy in the 80's. Wow. You sure were cute--especially with the beer in your hand. :D

Me, I was prep, but it was longlonglong ago. Before the Age of Aquarius. Jeez I'm old.

Hey, I *still* own my Bermuda bag. The one with the cover that has my initials embroidered into it.

Oh, the Bermuda bags. I even had a monogrammed cover. But living up in rural NH, I was a modified prep--I had the penny loafers & the Izod shirts, but I wore them with battle-axe earrings. Ah, those were the days. ;)

Ah, I could only envy from afar - preppy was far more sophisticated than the Midwest ever got. But you looked Marvelous!

Let's do the time warp again!! I coveted hair like yours all through high school.

Somewhere in my mother's house there is a picture of me wearing a Gunne Sax ruffly lacy shirt with, I swear to God, corduroy knickers. Dressy corduroy knickers. Trying desperately to brush my hair into something like your hair is in the earlier pictures.

Sigh. Laura Ashley. I can't even get rid of all of mine yet. I was so sad when they closed the one in Hingham. Thank goodness the one in the mall stayed open just a bit longer. And the UK Laura Ashley...oh, how I loved it. I had my own personal revival among my friends there. They wouldn't even consider LA till I started parading around in it.

Straight out of St Elmo's Fire...wow! You were very preppy, and very adorable! There could have been worse things to be!

I wish my 80's photos were as cute, but I think at that time I was in my Lisa Frank sticker stage and wore those godawful ruffly skirts and unicorn-imprinted tops!

Hehehe!
You know I'm one of the judges, for this here contest, right?

Can I just say, I think you're prettier now?

Your blast-from-the-past posts are always among my very favorites! I love Preppy Carole. :-)

I actually miss my penny loafers. Every now and then I think about getting another pair. Except I'd wear them with socks this time around...

Me too, I thought "how cute and happy you look"! I was all about the Esprit, Limited and Guess in high school. Aye yi yi!

oh my...you were the girl all my friends made fun of in high school (while we were hanging out in the smoking area with our jean jackets and bad attitudes) ;o)

I'm still wearing my tretorns. And a collar standing up... just looks great! You sure were stylin'!

You were one cute preppy chick! The closest I ever came to preppy was....okay, I never came close.

How cute! I am just lucky that I can't find my photos. I got a Bermuda bag, Lilly Pulitzer fabric and a cover pattern not long ago. I used to make bag covers to match my dresses...

oh, you totally win, in my eyes! lol
I had wool shorts, too.

I love the pictures. I wasn't a total prep but I did have long navy blue corduroy shorts from Benetton that I wore with my Gap sweater. You know the one. It was THE sweater. I was just talking to a friend the other day about 80's wear. I had a Gunne Sax dress that I loved.

What?!? No pink or green, or turtlenecks with little whales on them? And you call yourself a prep.

My 80's uniform consisted of jeans or wide-wale cordoroys, the aforementioned turtlenecks with little whales/hearts/etc., the classic blue and white Norweigan sweater from L.L. Bean, and Bean's Blucher moccasins with no socks. When I was feeling festive I'd wear a fair isle sweater.

Thankfully, I don't think many photos from that era survived.

Wow. You are adorable.

Haha, that first picture--February 1984--could practically be me. That was my senior year in high school, so...jeans, oxford shirts, crew neck sweaters. Yeah. :)

Oh wow, you brought my little sister & bro to mind very quickly there, she was always puzzled by my more alternative clothing choices.

YES!! [pumps fist]
You are seriously a shoe-in for that yarn.

That was totally me without the funny named shoes. But penny loafers - brown - with pennies. Yep. The hair, yep. Laura Ashley, yep. But my mom was sewing them for me instead of buying them at the store. My favorite perfume was Emma from Laura Ashley and in July 1985 I got married in a Laura Ashley dress bought at the Somerset mall in Detroit. Oh that was special.

Not so many pictures of me but I should drag one or two out of the closet. If only I was still so slender (and I thought I was so fat back then!).

P.S. We sure spent a lot of time with the curling iron back in those days didn't we? Sheesh, I rarely touch one now. Thank goodness. ha

You are just the cutest thing ever.

I want to be with Margene. I wish I didn't remember the 80's. *L*

You looked adorable and very, very pretty. I wasn't preppy I don't think...I did have some Oxford shirts with my initials embroidered on the color or pocket...that' about as preppy as I got.

You were too cute! These pics remind me of St Elmo's Fire ;-)

Absolutely adorable! I'm impressed you could even find those pictures. I have a bunch, but heaven knows where they are. I graduated from high school in 79, so the ribbon around the neck of the oxford shirt was BIG. Did you have Docksiders, too? (Hee hee).

Tretons? check
Izod shirts with upturned collars? check
Land's End rugby shirts with upturned collars? check
Madras/grosgrain ribbon/Oxford shirts -- nope.

You win for Biggest 1980's Prep!

Hi! Found your blog via Scout. You are a knitter and a re~enacter. I find this fascinating because you are someone both my husband and I could talk to and have two things in common...I love to knit and he is so very interested in the Civil War. I will bookmark your blog and check back frequently!

What adorable pics Carole! You gave me such deja vu as well - I have a giant box FULL of every color bow known to mankind as that is exactly how I wore my hair all thru college in the 80's too! I sometimes wish they would come back!

Great photos! You were too cute.

Holy crap. If you don't win the whole thing you will win something. I just talked with Pippi on the phone because I've been dyeing all day and she exclaimed, "DUDE! DID YOU SEE CAROLE'S POST! OMG!" You were so damn cute and I think I have pictures looking exactly like all of these pictures. I think the last one is my favorite.

Thanks for taking the time to do this. Awesome!

Oh wow, what a blast from the past girl. : )

Oooh, I have a bunch of those pics! I think I'm a couple years older than you...Gunne Sax dress? late 1970's?

Cute Cute Cute! I have to find out if my mom still has my Bermuda bag.

We are the class of eighty-five! Eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-FIVE!

I shoulda known! You are looking mighty cute in these photos, preppy or no.

Not only were you preppy, you were a pretty, classy preppy with a fine eye for style. Some of us made do with oxford cloth shirts, cardis, jeans and tennies. You definitely are due the prize!

Hahahahahaha. I love the 80s! You remind me a ton of meself.

Prep was sooooo much better than those horrid high-necked shirts with bows. Blegh!

OMGosh. You forgot the K-Swiss shoes. I might have had a pair. Or two. A year. Thanks for bringing back all of those memories!

LOL. I'm laughing because my wardrobe was very similar :) The old preppy is back now thanks to the current employer!

aw carole; those pix are adorable. you look stunning! i would have been so jealous of you back then if i were in your school. i could never pull off preppy myself, but i wished i could!

Every summer all through college (in the early 80's) I worked in a women's clothing store in Princeton, NJ (possibly the preppiest place on the planet). I sold a million of those Bermuda Bags! Everyone needed 5 or 6 (or 30) covers for them, monogrammed of course.
Thanks for the laugh and the memories! I could swear I knew you then from those first two photos!

Heehh... how cute are you!
You took your preppiness seriously! :)
I remember that Papagalo bag. They also had some pink and green shoes about that time that were to die for!
Holly

Those were the days! I had a bermuda bag with many covers as well, and wore through many a Tretorn.

Carole, it was the 80's. Those of us who were of a certain age during the 80's understand. :-)

You forgot dresses by "Belle France" If it wasn't Laura Ashley, it had to be Belle France. You were too cute! Those were the days..

You looked so cute. I wore the exact same clothes...ahh, Laura Ashley dresses. I still have a few at my parents house.
The Wheaton sweatshirt..Wheaton College maybe?

Those pictures are funny, but you really don't look too bad! I'm pretty sure I had a matching Laura Ashley polka dot jumpsuit in my childhood.

Hi - Love the pics - Mine look just like that too! Um, Susan, where can I get the pattern for the covers? ::laughing:: I want to make some! i sooooooo miss my Bermuda bag! And all my grosgrain ribbon accessories with the animals all over them and everything else! I still have my original Preppy handbook!

i am still mouring the loss of laura ashley...

i am still mourning the loss of laura ashley...