Clothes may not define you as a person, but they do a lot of talking, so this fall, leave the UGG boots at home.
The concept of “basic” in style refers to clothing that serves as building blocks to the image you want to portray. Basic clothing is meant to serve as the canvas for implementing your personal style. The term has changed to include popular brands that are staples in almost everyone’s closet. The problem with wearing only basics or brands driven by logos is those clothes don’t say anything flattering about you. They either say nothing at all or serve as self-advertisement for a company. Nobody wants to be a blank slate or a walking ad, especially not art students who pride themselves on their creativity.
That does not mean you have to purge your closet of everything that could be considered “basic.” Start building with what you have and determine if your clothes are saying the right things about you. Just like Richard Eberhart said: “Style is the perfection of a point of view.”
We have all probably experienced the pressure to conform to a certain look whether in high school or to the media’s definition of “good” style. In an attempt to satisfy this outer pressure to conform, we silenced our inner voice that desires to be expressed externally.
We shouldn’t have to do that now. Regardless of the cliché, now is truly the time to explore and experiment with self-representation, especially in a space that prides itself on innovation and creativity. So try it. Venture out of your safe zone and play with color, silhouettes and textures. Cut your hair a different way, dye it or shave it all off.
Whatever you do, make your style speak about you.
