Binghamton Fashion: Ditching the Sweats

Fact: Binghamton is no Manhattan. 

Although both cities are located in the same state, a mere two and a half hours to be precise, they are culturally and socially worlds apart. Manhattan is the fashion capital of the country. Binghamton is quite obviously not. Walking down practically any street in Manhattan, I cannot help but be inspired by sartorial looks that surround me. Maxi skirts, blazers, Jeffrey Campbell shoes, hats, lipstick. You name it and someone in NYC is wearing it. But more than just being inspired by fashionistas that strut the streets as if it were their own person runway, I, too, feel comfortable expressing myself more freely with my fashion choices. I’ll wear fedoras to go shopping or red lipstick to lunch, or I may even dare to wear a skirt (something I barely see on university grounds).

I’m inspired by people’s fashion sense around me (yes, that includes men’s fashion too) and I’m encouraged to at least attempt to don the newest street style trend. Here in Binghamton I feel restricted. Most people I see walking to class sport Binghamton sweatshirts and sweat pants, or leggings UGGs and a zip up. It’s time to move on from those looks and it’s just not really the inspiration I was looking for. 

The way I dress in NYC is definitely a played down version when I get to school. Probably because I fear I’ll be judged by my peers if I dabble in sartorial looks. As a result, I feel less inclined to play around in my closet. I know a true fashionista shouldn’t care what others think, but I already get judgmental eyes when I wear my Top Shop blazer or black tights with vintage Levi shorts. University, a liberal institution, is supposed to be embracing creativity, individualism, and the right to express oneself freely but ironically, I disappointedly just feel like part of the masses. 

Kaitlin Lynch a senior at Binghamton University has similar concerns, “I feel as if I would be out of character for the environment that’s surrounding me. I have all these cute boots and I want to wear them but when I do I feel as if everyone’s looking at me like I’m trying to dress better than everyone else.” She continues by saying, “no one takes risks, everybody dresses the same it’s like going to a Bearcats basketball game, the crowd looks monotonous.”

BU Pipe Dream contributing writer, Gabby Tilevitz wrote an article an entire year ago, October 13, 2010, about feeling “fashionably repressed.” And I can genuinely coincide with her sentiment. Not only is our student body fashionably repressed, but since this time last year, there has been little improvement in donning more fashionable outfits. 

There was an article last week in the New York Times Thursday Style Section entitled “The Campus as Runway.”  Although the article mentions Ivy League rich girls and their ability to wear top end designers like Marc Jacobs and Chloé the article also gives credit to the fashionably students of SUNY Purchase, a school that costs a fraction of these Ivy Leagues colleges like Princeton and Columbia. 

Being fashionable does not have to be associated with wealth and in fact, it shouldn’t be. Some of the most stylist people are inspired by thrift and vintage clothing and stop around in high fashion stores like H&M, Zara, Forever 21, ASOS, and my favorite, Top Shop. These stores have made it possible to be fashionable on any budget. 

Although we are not studying in a cosmopolitan city, we can still dress with a cause whether it’s to impress yourself, impress your friends, or to impress a boy. But lets try to leave the sweats behind and find some inspiration from one another. 

*Photos courtesy of lookbook.nu