I know I did this column last year, but I just wanted to reintroduce myself for the start of this new, weird, bummer of a school year.
This is Campus Couture, your one-stop shop (no pun intended) for college fashion news, advice and opinions. Last year, I wrote articles on topics spanning from simple lookbooks to the idea of what I like to call “neo-thrifting” to being environmentally conscious when shopping (if you have the resources to do so).
To clear things up, I’d like to believe this isn’t your average blogger space “Twelve designer brands you can only buy from,” “I tried this $400 Gucci purse so you don’t have to”-type column (If I ever stray that way, please feel free to reprimand me in the comments). To me, fashion is not just going “with the trends” or following what a Kardashian sister says in InStyle magazine.
To me, fashion is taking those styles and mashing them together with whatever you like, making every outfit your own to make a statement, almost like a puzzle. Fashion is not obtaining the gaze of each passerby on the street, but being empowered by deflecting them and by going against the flow of the stream. Think Junie B. Jones when she dresses up for school.
“Fashion is not obtaining the gaze of each passerby on the street, but being empowered by deflecting them and by going against the flow of the stream.”
After the announcement of classes going virtual this fall, my heart sort of dropped. For me, I know walking to class was an almost religious and therapeutic way to show off my creations of the day. However, with online classes, that takes it out of the picture. You could dress up for a Zoom meeting, but it just doesn’t have the same effect.
Whether you comprehend this as a pat on the back for myself, I know I have readers. Surprisingly, this summer, my boyfriend’s father came across a UConn student who recognized me in a conversation with him as “the girl with the fashion column” (and I will find out who you are!).
The bottom line is, at UConn, we have a community of students who enjoy fashion just as much as I do and I am determined to deliver great content this semester. Whether it’s satirical pieces like “What to do when you have a wardrobe malfunction during your Zoom class” or some socially distanced lookbook shoots on campus, I hope you enjoy what I end up bringing to the table.