Marlene had left her version of assigned reading on my nightstand with a note, Just something to brush up on before The Cape… Thought you could use a little anthropological background! There, underneath the cream-colored laid notecard were three slim volumes: The Official Preppy Handbook, Grey Gardens, and Sailing for Dummies. I was in for a wild ride. As a true blooded New Englander and self-proclaimed keeper of the preppy flame, Marlene was determined to give me—her landlocked, mountain-loving westerner of a roommate—a proper prepster education, Cape Cod sailing trip and all.
Three weeks later, after finals had ended and the campus had emptied, we loaded ourselves into her Beamer and drove the three hours to Provincetown, at the very tip of Cape Cod. I had picked through her literature with a fine-toothed comb, educating myself on the finer points of WASPy life—how to choose an appealing and dignified but useless major, the importance of LL Bean, popped collars, Edith Wharton and champagne at breakfast—as well as in increasingly complicated knots and sailing terminology. I still felt hopeless. My new objective was simply not to drown.
As we arrived at the beach house, Marlene's mother greeted us warmly, telling us to hurry inside and change--they were already anxious to get an evening jaunt in on the boat, just in time for sunset. I turned to un-wedge my suitcase from the back seat of the car when she stopped me. "The boys will take care of that for you. Go inside and change." I began to protest, explaining that all my clothes were in that case. "I left a little early birthday gift for you on your bed…I know you and Marly share clothes all the time so I guessed on the size, but I think it will fit." She gave me a mischievous wink and smile, and shooed me into the house. There on the bed, all laid out in resplendent preppy glory was a white seersucker dress—flouncy and sturdy all at once, with a collar already starched stiff—and a little strand of pearls. Welcome Aboard! read the note laid atop them.
I slipped on the dress and pearls, and joined Marlene and her family at the dock. We boarded the sailboat and soon were gliding out into the Atlantic. The salty breeze pushed against the sails and swept me into a sensation of weightless freedom, of free speed and pure, unadulterated joy. I steadied myself on the rail as I made my way to the bow, then bracing myself I extended my arms and leaned into the wind. Throwing my head back, I began to laugh I was so overcome with this sense of joy and freedom. From his perch behind the sails, Marlene's father began to laugh, too, "You'd think she'd never seen the ocean before!" Not like this, I thought, never like this before…
It is this sense of carefree freedom—and that great seersucker dress—that inspired the Set Sail line. Designed for the joyful, endless days of summer, they are built of lightweight fabrics in bright cheerful colors that are perfect for a sunny brunch, a day at the beach, or a night dancing under the stars. Slip one on and see if you don't feel just a bit more free.
