I’m into fashion. I enjoy style. And I believe that everyone is entitled to wear what makes them feel comfortable and what brings them joy! That being said, I feel that as a whole, Brown University students dress up way too much. It’s exhausting to have to put on a full outfit (with jeans!) and makeup every morning. If the college of reality matched the college I had expected based on movies and stories from other people’s lives, a giant t-shirt with baggy sweats would be the school uniform.
When I was in high school, I had the cute-to-ugly outfit ratio down to a science. About three days a week I would wear a butt-ugly t-shirt (my favorite is one I found at a thrift store that says “I’m a corn products quality action leader!”) that clashed super hard with my multi-colored Nike running shorts. See above photo for an actual outfit that I once wore to school. This was the IDEAL way to dress for comfort, and when I decided to wear something cute, I looked twice as good in comparison!
I believe my style thrived in high school, and boy was I in for a major shock when I arrived at college. I noticed my roommate putting on jeans, knee-high heeled boots, complex sweaters, and the like almost every day. This was not the easygoing style that I had come to know and love! And it’s not that I don’t condone those stylish looks–my roommate looked HOT! But how could I go out in my sweatpants when she and every other freshman I was trying to impress looked that good? I loved the comforts of my ugly outfits, but I didn’t want to end up as a social pariah, and thus, I set my alarm a little earlier so I could take a shower every morning and throw on a calculated outfit. I was forced to minimize sweatpant-wearing hours to weekdays after 10 pm, where only my roommate would see who I truly was, a #sweatpantsqueen. Brown’s culture of oppressively attractive outfits simply doesn’t make space for my ~uniquely~ unattractive looks.
That’s why I’m calling on Brown students, right now, to dress up less. Changing Brown culture won’t be easy, and it’s not something that just one person can achieve. With sweatpants solidarity, however, I know that this is possible. When you’re hungover after a night at The Whiskey Republic and on your way to your 9AM Principles of Economics class, indulge yourself a little and go in your pajamas. The next time that you realize you have no clean jeans left and you can either do your laundry or do your homework, wear your sweats and do your homework.
We all know that jeans suck and sweatpants rock, and a society that embraces that would be incredible. Imagine how much more sleep you could get if you always went to class in your pajamas. Sure, that may be just 10 minutes every day, but that shit adds up! Weirdly enough, also, wearing sweatpants more will actually make you look better. When people get used to seeing you at your worst, dressing your best will be shockingly cute. Finally, an embrace of sweatpants culture will just lower the level of people around you–so you don’t have to compare yourself to anyone! Think about how great this would be–instead of feeling self-conscious as a girl in high heels stalks by you, you can look around and think wow, everyone looks so ugly right now. And that is what’s really beautiful.
Image via Mira Ortegon.