Written by Tiffany Jones
Turn on the siren. Flash those blue and red lights. Pull that girl over — sheneeds a fashion citation.
Look at her, guilty as sin in her bedazzled skinny jeans and velour Juicy track hoodie. Wait, are those Uggs in the middle of spring? Take her away
Am I joking? I never joke about Juicy Couture.Trust.The fashion on this campus is in a sorry state. Harding University, welcome to your intervention.
1. What happens in the gym, stays in the gym. Really, if I see one more sweaty guy in a muscle tee, ripped to shreds, reaching over me in the salad bar, I’ll barf. Gym clothes serve a function in the gym. They are designed to move and sweat in. They aren’t flattering. Am I saying wear pearls and makeup to the gym? Absolutely not, but when you wear gym clothes as regular day clothes you do yourself and everyone else an injustice.
2. You are what you wear. Do you really want to be a ratty old T-shirt? Don’t try to fight me on this one. We are constantly told that it’s what is on the inside that counts. That is true, but when I see you coming at me for the first time, I don’t see your “insides,” I see what you put in front of me.We all have a story to tell. Let your clothes tell me more about you. Plus, when you trade the T-shirt for a more appropriate top you become someone else. It is impossible to hide that good- look glow.
3. Ignore the numbers; wear what fits. This is probably the hardest lesson to hear. The attachments we have to our clothing sizes are silly. Sometimes you have to go up a size in that brand of jeans. It’s OK. We all have to. Walking around in that super-tight top and those pants that give you an impressive muffin top just isn’t cute. Same goes for hiding your body away in loose clothing. You don’t look modest. You don’t look smaller. You look like a shapeless blob that is out of touch. Give your body a break and dress it in clothes that fit. Go number-blind for a while and figure out what works for you. It’s time to start”Thinking Christianly” about fashion.
4. It’s not about fashion. It’s about style. Why did I pull that girl over in the beginning of my article? She went to fashion jail because she lost the fight. The brands she was wearing took her over. She wasn’t wearing her clothes. Her clothes were wearing her.
I can be a slave to designerlabels. I may or may not have a Kate Spade purse that I have named and protect with my life. I sometimes follow Betsey Johnson down a dark path of tassels, gingham and graffiti. But I have to put my fashion demons behind me and wear what Tiffany looks good in. It is painful. Many a pencil skirt makes it in my basket only to get kicked out at the cashier because I know deep down in my soul that I have no business in a pencil skirt. And really, most people don’t.
So, what am I saying? Am I a fashion snob picking this campus apart faux pas by faux pas? No. I have been guilty of all of these rules. This hectic last semester of my college career, I’ve grown closer to my workout pants than I should admit. My Uggs sing spring siren songs in my ear. But when I find myself in those dark corners of sweatshirt-dom, I remember that good-look glow. We are what we wear.
As Tyra said, “Shine bright. Shine far. Don’t be shy. Be a star.”
TIFFANY P. JONES is the web editor for the Bison. She may be contacted attjones4@harding.edu
