Fashion Culture
Have you ever noticed that people could wear the exact same outfit in different cities and get a completely different reaction? This is because fashion is a form of self-expression, and where we live definitely impacts our fashion choices. The fashion culture of college towns, compared with the individuality of New York City Street style, is a good example of this.
The Fashion Culture of College Towns
In most SEC college towns I have visited, there is a noticeable fashion culture. You have from game day attire to night out outfits, to outfits for classes and running errands with friends. There are a lot of similarities in the way people dress. And obviously, there are many trends, outfit combinations, and unspoken rules of what to wear for certain places and occasions, but that is part of the fun of college fashion. But this makes me wonder how much of our fashion choices are our own personal style and how much is influenced by the environment we are actually in. I feel as if college towns can create a fashion bubble. Most times, the same styles, trends, and even outfits are worn by everyone in the town. For example, in SEC college towns, there is an entire culture of game-day fashion. It becomes so easy to fall into the habit of dressing like everyone else without even realizing it. Because of the fashion culture in SEC college towns, it can be easy to find inspiration in the people around you, but it can also be easy to get caught up in the fashion culture of the town and end up dressing like everyone else.
The Individuality of New York City Street Style
New York City street style, on the other hand, is different from that of college towns. There is no certain one way to dress in the city. On any given street in New York, you can find people wearing unusual outfits, dressed in vintage coats, wearing outfits in colors that you would never expect to go together, or wearing outfits that you never would have thought of. There are people on the streets of New York who do not care what anyone else thinks about what they are wearing, and that is what makes it so cool. I find New York street style to be so interesting because people in the city tend to dress for themselves, not for the latest designer pieces or trends. Most people in New York are individuals who dress in a way that is true to themselves, and that's what makes it so cool. It's refreshing to be somewhere where something unexpected is not considered weird, but rather just another part of the outfit.
How Our Environment Shapes Our Wardrobe
It is also very interesting to realize how our environment can affect our fashion choices, whether we realize it or not. We are usually inspired by what we see people around us wearing and tend to lean towards what is popular in our surroundings. We start to develop a sense of what is "normal" in our environment, and it is not until we leave our surroundings that we realize how much they have influenced our wardrobe. Traveling can definitely open our eyes to different styles of fashion that we would not normally see. Even seeing how someone else wears a certain piece can make us rethink how we wear it. It can inspire us to try new silhouettes, mix and match things that we would not normally put together, and even wear things that we have been saving for a special occasion.
Finding Your Own Personal Style
I do not believe there is a better fashion culture. There is so much energy in Auburn for game days, which makes it so much fun. However, I do like the idea of not being grouped into a certain fashion culture because of where you live. My point with this post is that personal style is personal. Trends come and go, and every city has its own fashion identity, but some of the best outfits are those where you don't think about whether they fit in with the rest of the crowd. This can mean wearing your favorite pair of shoes, mixing vintage pieces with new ones, or finally putting together that outfit that you've been nervous to try out. Of course, where we live is going to greatly influence how we dress, but that doesn't mean that our location has to dictate our wardrobe. Stepping outside of our normal surroundings can inspire so much more for our personal style and help us realize that we don't have to dress like everyone else to look like we belong.
