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Field Dispatch by Oct 18, 03:20PM in Shop

Brooks Brothers in La Jolla Fetes the Launch of True Prep

A klatsch among the argyle socks. Photo: The Feast

A klatsch among the argyle socks.

Photo: The Feast

Teen Vogue's Andrew Bevin was the night's guest DJ. Photo: The Feast
Lisa Birnbach signs copies of True Prep, her long awaited sequel to The Preppy Handbook. Birnbach's preppy icon? Jackie O. Photo: The Feast
Guests mingled to a playlist that included Vampire Weekend, the Bee Gees and the B-52s. Photo: The Feast
Cocktails included the gin-based Southside and the OJ/cran/vodka Madras. Photo: The Feast
Brooks Brothers' Ruben Aguirre Photo: The Feast
Brooks Brothers' Ben Hobbes with Alex Yáñez. While Hobbes amped up the prep-factor for the store's party, he is a fan of the repp tie. "They're classic, and work with pretty much everything, including patterned shirts," he says. Yáñez, meanwhile, is partial to Thom Browne and the designer's Black Fleece/Brooks Brothers collabo. Photo: The Feast
A klatsch among the argyle socks. Photo: The Feast

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La Jolla. Brooks Brothers. The eagerly awaited Preppy Handbook sequel. Call it the perfect preppy storm.

When Lisa Birnbach was in town to celebrate the launch of her new book, True Prep: It's a Whole New Old World, the repp tie mecca pulled out all the stops, from the queue of boat-shoed fans to the signature cocktails filled with (what else?!) gin. It certainly doesn't hurt that the 92037 zip code is among the preppiest in America.

The guest DJ was none other than Teen Vogue’s adorable Andrew Bevin — spinning the book’s “preppy playlist” that included Vampire Weekend and a lot of B-52s — but the star of the night was Birnbach, whose original send-up The Preppy Handbook entered the WASP canon in 1980.

When we asked Birnbach what part of the new book is making the most waves, she said, “People love the ‘Yes They Did’ section, about people who went to prep schools that you wouldn’t expect — everyone from communists to rascals to Lady Gaga.”