As soon as about a year ago, had you asked me if black was preppy my answer would have been a very quick "no."  I would have encouraged you to seek navy or gray instead.  However, at that time I was working in the construction supply industry and wore jeans most days to work.  I wasn't really aware of the fact there's not a lot of navy blue clothes like their used to be.

Land's End dress also in navy, red
 
 
When I accepted my current position, it was the first job where I've had to dress semi-professionally. No problem, I thought, I'll just go get some navy suit separates.  Went through Macy's. Went through Nordstrom. Went through Dillard's.  Went through Target.  Hmm. There wasn't anything navy. All I saw was black, and it black polyester at that. If I saw a cute dress or blouse, it was black.  Salespeople at most of the stores told me that navy was considered a seasonal color and would be back in the spring. I went later in the spring, and it wasn't there.
 
So what's a prep to do? In particular, what's a plus size prep to do when most store offerings are in black?
 
I have decided to tolerate black in my wardrobe, in small doses. As I wrote in my first post for this blog, "[preppy] fashion is appropriate for the occasion, is relatively simple, and is of good quality and taste."  The picture of the Land's End dress I pictured above meets and exceeds all the criteria.  Black does seem to be inching in on preppy fashion, thanks in part to Jenna Lyons, the president & creative director for J.Crew.  What was once a respectable mall prep store became a place to buy a nice cashmere twinset and sequined harem pants. Even one of the most respected Trad/Preppy writers in the country, Christian Chensvold of ivy-style.com, has written on how black has started to enter his closet.  Is black going to continue to move into preppy style? I think it will, as I know most people my age (late twenties) whom consider their style to be preppy have a considerable amount more black in their wardrobes than their parents did in the '80s.  Is it going to be a big thing tat you should put some money into? Put your AMEX away, black doesn't age as gracefully as navy blue.