Like any self-proclaimed lover of fashion and hoarder of clothing, I admittedly have stuffed more clothing into my dorm room than probably necessary. That Red Sox shirt from 2013? I wore it when the team won the World Series in both 2013 and 2018 so now it is considered a “lucky shirt.” Those two-toned straight-leg jeans from 2019? I wore them on my 16th birthday when I passed my permit test. It would be insane of me to get rid of them even if they no longer fit well. The gray Forever 21 sweater from 2017? I bought it the first time my parents let my friends and I shop alone on Black Friday. Of course, it must take up precious space in my closet. Needless to say, I regularly associate events that feel important with the clothing I wore at the time. If there is any potential sentimental value that can be assigned to a garment, I will be doing so. But what will happen to this clothing when I inevitably no longer have the closet space for it but refuse to let it go? It will rot in my attic. Here are some tops that will be joining the “Rebecca will keep this in her attic for decades” club and the events from my first year that gave them this highly coveted membership.
1. Art Institute of Chicago Shirt
I agonized over what I would wear on move-in day. What would be comfortable? What would make me look cool? What would make me seem likable to my roommate? What would show the least amount of sweat? Even though I had mentally inventoried all of my clothing as I packed it into neon blue plastic bags in preparation for the big move, nothing seemed quite right. Ultimately, I decided on wearing a T-shirt I had gotten from the Art Institute of Chicago when I visited with my family over the summer. It is a brown shirt with Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks on the front. Underneath the image, it simply says “Art Institute of Chicago” in yellow font. I figured it would be a good conversation starter. As a studio art major, discussing art is generally a safe conversation that I enjoy having with people. Additionally, Denison pulls a good amount of people from the Chicago area so I figured at least one person that I ran into during the day would be familiar with the museum. Ultimately, no one asked about my shirt or probably even remembers it because the pressing issue of the day was not what I was wearing, but the fact that everyone was moving into a dorm for the first time. Since the amount of time I spent thinking about this shirt was absolutely ridiculous, it deserves its status as something that will eventually be rotting in my attic.
2. Olive Green Puff Sleeve Shirt
Similarly to move-in day, I also agonized over what I would wear on my first day of class. Can you sense a pattern? For the first day, I settled on an olive green puff sleeve shirt with a deep v-neck and four buttons that connect under the bust line and then extends down from my ribcage to right above the waist. The fabric itself has a slight sheen that exposes a floral pattern when light hits it. I thought the muted deep green complemented the summer tan I had developed after many beach days on the Cape. Admittedly, I was probably exposing a little more midriff than I should have been, but with my favorite pair of medium-wash high-rise jeans, I was ready for my first college classes. I think my first day of kindergarten outfit is floating around somewhere in my attic at home. It feels like a full circle moment to allow that outfit and this shirt to eventually rot together in my future attic. I think they will be good friends.
3. Black Tank Top
Moral of the story: Never be the naive group of first-years who trust Yik Yak. Denison has a tradition of people going out on Wednesdays, especially early in the semester when students are eager to get back into the swing of things on campus. With this in mind, on the first Wednesday of the semester we were frequently checking the Yik Yak thread for even the slightest murmurs that something may be happening. At this point, “we” was me, my roommate, two girls I had met over the weekend who live down the hall, a few people from orientation, and some people who heard a group hanging out in a room and decided to knock on the door. We were certainly an eclectic group at the time, but some of them are now my closest friends here. After much anticipation, the Yik Yak finally appeared, “beta is throwing”. And what do you do when you are a first-year who feels the pressure to meet new people and a random person on the internet tells you that a party is being thrown? You get ready. So I threw on a black top with spaghetti straps and a rounded v-neck with a little bow in the middle of the neckline. The top then extends down to my hips with a triangle-shaped opening in the front that goes from the bottom of the bust to the hem. I paired this with a pair of black cutoff shorts and a pair of dirty white high-top Converse. After everyone rushed to get ready, we trekked down from Crawford to Beta only to find that it was silent, not a thing was happening. We were the first-years who had been pranked by someone on Yik Yak. In hindsight, this situation was ridiculous. None of us had any reason to go out on a Wednesday, we had to look at a map to figure out where Beta was, I hardly knew the people I was with, and we all thought some senior was going to jump out of the bushes and spray us with silly-string yelling “you’ve been pranked!” Since all of this happened as I was wearing this shirt, it has fully earned its spot in my attic to rot in.
4. Long-Sleeve Black Twisted Bodice Shirt
I am convinced that this shirt attracts the weirdest energy. I have worn it three times this year and each time something absolutely bizarre happens. To preface this, I am generally a pretty mellow person. Even on the weekends, I will have fun with my friends, but I am not the person who is having a screaming match with someone in the middle of the street or clumsily attempting to climb one of the trees on North Loop. I stick with my friends and mind my own business. However, there is something in the fibers of this top that is guaranteed to give me an interesting night. I played over an hour-long game of foosball with a random guy at the Bandersnatch in this top. I had a conversation with a guy from my religion class as he was vomiting in the common room sink in this top. I rode my Ripstick around East Quad at one in the morning in this top. This top has its own orbit and people doing weird things as well as ideas for odd activities will reliably be pulled into it. The top will not be retired to the attic until after college since I look forward to breaking it out after any particularly dull week I may have. After that, it will be kept in my attic only to be brought out to recall everything that has already happened and the peculiar events that will continue to happen over the next three years.
5. Tarot Card Halter Top
This is my favorite top that I have made. The fabric is from a Halloween collection at Joann’s that features cool-colored pastels and jewel tones to depict a collage of different types of tarot cards. Also, the fabric has a gorgeous shine to it. I love incorporating a little bit of a witchy element into my outfits, and this top does that well. Whenever I wear it, I get compliments which is always an absolute ego boost. Other people who have made their clothing can probably relate, but whenever I wear something I have made and someone compliments it, I have a fun time being able to say, “thanks I made it.” Like I said earlier, total ego boost. To be honest, everything I have made will likely end up rotting in my attic sometime in the future.
6. St. George, London T-Shirt
I was worried about living with someone else before coming to college. I was even told by some people in my life that I do not possess a lot of the traits that make someone a “good roommate”. To quote my best friend from home, “I would probably kill you if we lived in a dorm room together.” I am messy, stay up pretty late, like to sleep in late, talk and even scream in my sleep occasionally, and like to sleep on the floor some nights. The list could go on. However, I did the whole finding a roommate on Instagram thing and it worked out better than I ever could have imagined. I grew up as the oldest sister with one younger brother. Probably like other people in a similar sibling situation, I spent many years wishing for a sister. My roommate and I got extremely close fairly quickly and that, combined with living together in a 12 by 12 shoebox, makes her the closest thing I may ever have to a sister. So, as part of our sisterly habits, we often borrow each other’s clothing. This T-shirt is cream with an image of a dark brown British dragon on the front and the words “St. George” above the animal and then “London” below. For context, neither of us have ever been to this place. The dragon just looks cool and the shirt has the perfect relaxed, yet still fashionable, fit. We do not keep track of which articles of clothing we share the most, but if I had to guess, this shirt would be high up there. This shirt will always remind me of freshman year when I gained one of my best friends. Because of this, it will rot in my attic forever. Or maybe, depending on which one of us wears it last, it may rot in her attic.