Fashion

Charlie Dawson helps you get dressed in the morning

A new trend in 60 seconds

PREPPY

Ryanair joins the Ivy League with cool college threads this August, all the rage among 20-somethings from London to LA. Think TV shows like Gossip Girl or its lesser relation, l 90210, and prepare to revive your pastel palette with a tip of your flat cap to labels like Ralph Lauren and Lacoste.

There are two colours you’ll need to have in your wardrobe – salmon pink and Kelly green, as those professional bods in fashion call it (see bikini stripes below). Boys, channel the vibe of a New England yacht club with nautical references: stripy tees, anchor motifs and coloured denim (pale English rose complexions should stick to cool pastel colours in blue, green or purple that will have a love-in with your skin tone). Girls, go to the top of the class with polo-shirt dresses, pleated skirts, ballet flats and pastel capri pants.

However, don’t forget that a Harvard girl would never go into town without accessorising. So, perhaps try a scarf tied around the strap of your tote bag, hair bows and bubblegum lip-gloss. Ditto minimum make-up, minimal hair styling and maximum attitude (due to your intellectual superiority).

With school out and preppy in, sex up the look with super-short shorts, polo-shirt dresses unbuttoned to your cleavage, and knee-high socks. Aubin & Wills also do a hot line in jock underwear for girls with branded waistbands and ribbed cotton gussets that will drive the boys wild. Whatever you wear, make sure you go for natural fabrics in classic cuts.

If you want to stand out from the rest of the set then act like Head Girl with an oversized white sun hat, as seen at the Lacoste spring/ summer 2010 show – or grab yourself a prim Zara cardi and style it out with floral-patterned Ray-Bans from Topshop.

Sorority poster girls include Jennifer Aniston, Chloë Sevigny, Sienna Miller (pictured), Alexa Chung and Rachel from Glee. No, you don’t have a degree, but you aced the University of Life.