To Fit In or Stand Out? : Honoring Your Inner Style Diva

When it comes to fashion, a walk through the Syracuse Quad on a fall day is likely to summon images of female students scurrying to class, donning their classic North Face, Uggs, and leggings (and their double shot Starbucks coffee if you want to throw that into the mix).  With every passing fashion “twin,” these women begin to look more and more identical, each of them seeming to lose their personal uniqueness behind these uniform clothing items.  And, I can’t help but wonder if these staple items are worn because each girl who wears them honestly adores them or if blending in is just simpler than standing out.  Personally, I believe it to be the latter, because as one who is guilty of the “I-look-like-every-other-Syracuse-girl’s-wardrobe-twin” charge, who doesn’t fear walking into a room and having a person (okay, most likely a fellow female) look at your ensemble and think, “Does she think that outfit is cute?” 
 
Wouldn’t it be freeing if you could wake up and dress without thought of what people would think of you: your only concern being representing yourself and your mood that day best?  Well, there are brave souls out there who do just this, and one of them is one of my dear friends and my personal style hero: Katie.  Katie’s wardrobe is arguably the most distinct and unique I have ever come across, and it complements her personality perfectly.  Katie describes her style as “girly mixed with punk,” and when we met for this interview, she was sporting a white, lace top paired with combat boots and tights: not a likely match, but totally funky and chic on Katie.
 
Katie’s style is so uniquely hers – with her unlikely combinations of styles, textures, and colors, and I was curious to know if Katie has always been a style-standout.  When questioning Katie’s fashion history, she shared that she too was once guilty of the ‘everyone looks like me’ phenomenon mentioned above, but this was only in her middle school days.  In those years, she could be found sporting the traditional, preppy “American Eagle” wardrobe in hopes of blending in with her teenybopper peers.  But as she matured and discovered a love for thrift stores and vintage items in her high school and college days, Katie’s clothing quickly became a hobby and art for her, eventually viewing her purchases as additions to her wardrobe “collection.”   
 
To create her unique outfits, Katie typically finds one piece that inspires her – anything from a great pair of heels to an antique necklace – and then forms her outfit by pairing complementary or funky opposites with that piece.  And, as a college student on a ramen noodle budget, she is thankful that the low prices found at local thrift stores enable her to purchase various items without breaking the bank.  Add to that the benefit of a vast array of styles and items found at these shops, and it’s not hard to see why stores like Salvation Army are Katie’s fashion Heaven. 
 
Katie’s love of thrift stores, along with her pairing of preppy with punk and hipster with ‘girly’ gives her quite the look: definitely not representative of the “North Face, Uggs, leggings” epidemic that has swept our campus Quad.  And, because most of you don’t have the benefit of knowing Katie, I think it’s important to add that Katie has a distinct comfort with self and a “this is who I am” presence that is immediately apparent when she walks into the room.  Because of this air, paired with her distinct style, of course, no one would ever question that Katie was trying to prove something or be someone she is not through her style choices.  And this, above all else, is what makes Katie my style icon: her clothing is an honest representation of her fun personality and varied style taste.
 
So to wrap up this style trajectory, I’d like to challenge readers (and writers – since I’d like to be included in this!) to dare to be unique on a college campus where it is so often easier to blend in with the crowd.  Greater than the “North Face, Uggs, leggings” dilemma is the decision to honor the unique sides of our personalities and personal tastes that may welcome negative judgment by our peers.  We are each distinct in our own quirky ways, and if we all had the fearlessness of style diva, Katie, us Syracuse females would probably find that it really is better to stand out than fit in… maybe even in a great sweater dress and leather jacket (rather than that damn North Face!)