The ACL Podcast 005: Lisa Birnbach

As someone fascinated with the origins of prep and American style, a conversation with Lisa Birnbach is always going to be something I find compelling. Like a lot of people who are intrigued by prep, I view it as an interested outsider who wants to understand how it became what it is today. Lisa helped to define the preppy lifestyle and also played a big part into pushing it into the mainstream culture with The Official Preppy Handbook. Preppy style really took hold after The Official Preppy Handbook was released. It’s interesting to think about prep in those early days, where it went and where it’s at today. Especially considering what has happened at J.Crew, Brooks Brothers and other big American brands recently.

In our chat Lisa talks about the origin story of the book, her interactions with the prep devotees and how Hamburg is the preppiest city in Europe. Hope you like it.

The ACL Podcast is more of an add-on to the newsletter than a full fledged podcast. You can listen in Spotify or on Apple Podcasts directly if you prefer that to Substack. If you enjoy this edition, please consider subscribing and sending to a friend who you think would like this. I appreciate your support.

Thanks to Al James for lending me his music: Hard Working Dogs by Dolorean.