New York and fashion move collectively like peanut butter and jelly, Batman and Robin, or Butler Library and soul-crushing silence. Over the years, the town’s deep-rooted creative range has created an “anything goes” ecosystem, wherein fashionable individuals, which include designers, bloggers, and socialites, appear to thrive. As a end result, a number of records’s most legendary fashion moments have came about proper here in Manhattan, like Holly Golightly’s little black dress from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Carrie Bradshaw’s ballerina skirts from Sex and the City, and regardless of the heck people have been carrying at Studio fifty four within the ’70s.
Since Columbia is (figuratively) located smack-dab within the middle of this glorious style whirlwind, it’s no marvel that this diverse sentiment has determined its way into the wardrobes of Columbia students. For example, in case you take a 2d to look up out of your sushi and bubble tea in Café East, I guarantee that you’ll be capable of figure as a minimum 4 or 5 numerous styles ranging from “I just stepped off of the runway” to “I simply rolled off the bed.” And each is held to the identical trendy.
As an avid follower and an enthusiastic player (or pressure, depending in your flavor) of the fashion global, I become past excited to be going to school in one of the global’s styles capitals. For years I had been poring over the pages of Vogue, looking films approximately numerous designers, and Instagram-stalking bloggers like Danielle Bernstein and Alyssa Coscarelli, all of them at the same time as cultivating my very own personal style to accurately represent my identity.
I determined infinite amounts of pleasure in gambling with new shades, seems, and silhouettes. The act of channeling my personal individual into this type of blatant, concrete medium gave me a lift of self-belief at a time in my life whilst lack of confidence and uncertainty reigned preferred. My pleasure became dramatically improved by my eight-12 months-lengthy tenure at a faculty with the stuffiest get dressed code you’ve ever seen. I’m talkin’ khakis, polos, skorts, Oxford button-downs, and closed-toed, closed-lower back shoes (except for footwear) for six hours an afternoon, 5 days per week, for EIGHT YEARS? To have NYC as the new putting for all of my style/self-exploration adventures was like Augustus Gloop getting to frolic through Willy Wonka’s sweet lawn (minus the component in which he gets sucked up into a tube from the Chocolate River).
When talking with the two human beings I knew who attended Columbia, rather than first asking about dining or housing like a logical high school senior, I channeled my internal Elle Woods and inquired, “So what do human beings put on to elegance?” Both responded with “something is going.” After standing there in shock for a few seconds, I ran off to light my dozens of pairs of khakis on the fireplace, and find the most important suitcase in my residence.
Upon arriving on campus, my excitement hit height tiers. For weeks, I had imagined myself wearing some excellent outfit, strutting down Broadway with RuPaul’s “Cover Girl” gambling within the historical past and my hair being lightly blown returned via an invisible Beyonce fan.
However, as I looked around at anyone else’s clothing and styles, I began to sense extremely insufficient. Everyone dressed a lot cooler than me. They all have Air Force 1s and can pull off chokers manner better than I will ever be able to. And in which the heck did they all get velvet scrunchies? I essentially became that female in Mean Girls saying, “I saw Cady Heron carrying army pants and turn-flops, so I bought navy pants and flip-flops.” However, instead of having an obsessive admiration for simply one man or woman, I felt this way about anybody who regarded mildly fashionable. The self-belief I had in my own experience of fashion and identity took a nosedive, and the pleasure I as soon as had certainly disappeared in a rely of days on.
It wasn’t till a couple of weeks into the faculty 12 months that I had a “Eureka!” second. I become taking walks up Low Steps on my manner to writing once I quite nearly stopped useless in my tracks. Passing me on their manner down the steps changed into someone in a head-to-toe Gucci outfit. It changed to 8:30 within the morning. Ninety percent of the people around had been in their pajamas or something close to it, however, this person virtually didn’t seem to care. After seeing this mystery passerby, I slowly started out embracing the “anything is going” mentality of the New York fashion scene which has sincerely located its manner to Columbia’s campus.
In a technology whilst anyone is encouraged to express who they’re, this pupil body is actively taking part through sporting what quality represents who they may be and what they intend to do, no matter rules or norms.