At my school (I go to school in RI, with a lot of kids from Boston, NYC, and Cali), people can get pretty dressy (like my sisters and myself), and there are a lot of eccentric dressers (who are dressing like that primarily to be seen). Of course, my school was ravaged in the pages of Vanity Fair for the "stylishness" and wealth of its student body, so maybe my perspective is warped.
Kate Spade is very popular. I'm the only person who wears Ann Taylor (it's a lot more popular in the South, and we have an outlet not too far away--so I can get amazing winter and fall clothes for 8-15 dollars an article!). I was into A&F in HS, but not so much anymore (I'm less outdoorsy and label-conscious than I was back then, and I have less disposable income
). A lot of people do Prada here, Herve bags are really popular as bookbags (not many people do the backpack thing), a lot of people wear the Tiffany heart bracelets and kidney bean necklaces, Tag watches, and a lot of GAP, BeBe, and BCBG.
I'm not bitter about people "using Daddy's credit card" or any of the sentiments being expressed here. My HS was much more status-conscious than my university, so it's not about "spoiled sorority girls".