New England Fits, Private College Edition

If you’ve ever walked a college campus before you know that there are a lot of different characters you can encounter during your time there.

College campuses are the mother land where people come to ‘find themselves” and that means trying on new personas and seeing what you like and what you don’t like.

Experimenting in college isn’t just for your field of study, dating, and hair color, it's also for your wardrobe.

As a college senior at Sacred Heart University, I have tried on many different hats throughout my four years including weightlifter, activist, bestfriend, ex-friend, fashionista and scholar.

But one thing remained the same every year, my love for fashion, and the ability to spot these typical collegiate outfits, like a professor saying they know what off-white is internally thinking it's a paint color.

Here are seven different styles you will always be able to spot on the Sacred Heart Campus.

The Freshman

The image of a newly 18 year old running to 63’s before they close wearing crocs, a matching tie dye sweat set, and a mask below their nose will forever be burned into my memory. Another classic Freshman outfit is work out clothes as pajamas, along with a pair of custom hand painted air force ones. They will always be holding an iced coffee from Outtakes, and a bag from the SHU bookstore containing textbooks and the latest SHU sweatshirt.

The Commuter

They are always available to get lunch with you after class, but always need you to pay for them because they only have the commuter meal plan. They start their day at 6AM driving to campus and don’t get home until 10PM so wearing something comfy yet professional is a must. Honestly these people are more prepared for life after college than anyone I know. The commuter will always wear some type of jeans or leggings paired with a sweater or long sleeve t-shirt and a denim or corduroy jacket. Their outfits are casual and cute, but still comfortable enough to spend all day in.

The Frat Boy

The Frat boy will always be wearing his favorite vineyard vines quarter zip paired with khaki shorts or pants from Brooks Brothers. And a light blue or bright red baseball cap, with his everyday sperrys. You can expect the same outfit from this person every single day, in a world where everything is changing at least this is a constant in our lives.

The D1 athlete

The D1 athlete will always be wearing their SHU athletics gear, whether this be sweatshirts, t-shirts, sweatpants, or basketball shorts. They will also always wear their adidas slides, even when it's 15 degrees outside. And lets not forget about the Gatorade squirt water bottle, that they carry on hand at all times. Sometimes they’ll spice up their look with a red SHU beanie or an apple watch on their wrist. And to tie the whole outfit together they’ll wear a gator mask, which we all know does virtually nothing to protect you from covid.

The Sustainable Girl

The sustainable girl can be spotted in jeans from Everlane, a thrifted button up top, a polyester sweatshirt made from recycled bottles, and birkenstocks. The only jewelry she wears is handmade polymer clay earrings from a small business on Etsy. She always has her hydroflast with her, and carries a reusable wooden cutlery set in her Fjallraven Kanken backpack. She obviously wears the cutest reusable masks that her grandmother taught her how to sew via facetime in quarantine.

The Nursing Major

The Nursing major wears their bright red scrubs every day even when they are not in clinicals, just to “get used to wearing them”. They can be spotted wearing nike or adidas sneakers, an apple watch, and a boho bandeau. They never leave the house without their textbooks, snacks for the library, and study materials.

The Fashionista

The Fashionista is always wearing something trendy like a puffed sleeved sweater, or leather pants. They don’t care if they are meeting you for lunch at Linda’s they will always dress to impress. They probably have an internship at a fashion house and commute into NYC three days a week. They will not be caught dead in a matching sweat suit and they wear jeans indoors on the weekends. They always bring their vintage Louis Vuitton purse to class and make sure to wear their Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses inside.

If you read this article and thought I don’t dress like any of these people then you probably either live in basics from target, or you have amazing style that I would love to see more of on campus.