Campus Runway, Knight Style: Part 1

I’ve always cared about fashion and clothes. What some find to be wildly superficial and generally unimportant, I find fascinating and complex. There is a such a vast and intricate depth to the concept of fashion, which exists on so many levels in life: It depends on your age, your economic status, your job, it marks soldiers on the battlefield, it could tell you where someone is from, and so many other things. It exists in a space that overlaps art and life, being influenced and influencing things constantly to reform and reinvent itself depending on who it comes into contact with or where it is. Why do you dress the way you do? Why do you like Champion hoodies and not Nike hoodies? Dashiki and not a tee? Pink hair versus your natural color? There are lots of different competing influences over people’s fashion day to day.

Arcadia is a microcosm of fashion, just like any university campus. I’ve wanted for quite some time to go out and document the various styles that people present, so when one of my closest friends and fellow Because Arcadia blogger, Isabela Secanechia, mentioned she was interested in doing a piece on campus fashion, I knew it was the right time. The weather this past Thursday colluded with us, beaming down 70-something degrees. People were out in their best early Spring outfits and ready to stunt. Armed with my phone and three questions–What are you wearing? What is the inspiration for your fashion? What does fashion mean to you?–I went in search of Arcadia’s fashionable types.

I’m wearing suede brogues, denim trousers, a sock… a dark blue suit jacket with a French-cuffed, bright blue shirt, and a yellow and gold silk nishijin-ori tie. I also have a Harold Pinchbeck watch and my ring,which my brother gave me. On the ring is the owl of wisdom, the ancient Greek symbol for Athena, and on the inside is Athena herself.

What’s the inspiration for your look and personal style?

I wouldn’t say there is any specific inspiration. I kind of dislike the idea of having a model to fashion yourself after. I find that leads to obsessive behavior. I really think that people should decide for themselves what they like and wear that. I wear this because I like wearing this. Some people find suits to be quite restricting and binding, and some find them to be quite comfortable and liberating. I would say, in general, what I wear is stereotypically British. I grew up in the countryside in England. There’s lots of tweed, lots of jumpers–simple, but nice-looking.

What does fashion mean to you?

I’ve always thought of those awful fashion shows in New York and London. I find them fascinating, but you would never wear any of those things. The people look like Greek gods, wearing cheesecakes on their heads. As for day-to-day fashion: I don’t obsess over what I wear, that’s what I think people should keep in mind. Some people spend hours deciding what to wear in the morning. I don’t. One cannot define fashion because, by nature, it is not definable. Everyone likes to wear clothes differently. That said, I think there are people who wear clothes badly and wear clothes well, but it’s really up to the person themselves and you can’t force change upon others.

I’m wearing a secondhand Zara shirt that I got from a thrift store in New York. My jeans are Lucky Brand, I think. I have on Steve Madden chunky boots and a Primark half-moon choker. The ring on my right hand, middle finger is a ring I got from a thrift shop that I work at back home. The ring I have on my right pointer finger is a ring I got when I went to New Mexico on a Zuni reservation; it’s dark Mother of Pearl, and it’s one of the famous jewelry the Zuni have. The two rings I have on my left pointer finger are two my mom gave me from a thrift shop that she thought I’d like because they’re cool and Native-inspired–they have really vibrant colors. And the one I have on my left middle finger is one I got from a thrift shop in Glenside–support local business!

What’s the inspiration for your look and personal style?

I kind of like looking at what is on the runway and taking certain things and then incorporating them in with things that I like. I keep telling myself I’m not hip with the kids so I feel like I’m a bit behind on some things, but yeah, right now I like the shirt with the choker look.

What does fashion mean to you?

Fashion for me is a self-esteem boost. It helps with my own anxiety. As someone who puts a lot of effort into fashion, I try to make sure I look nice every day. It may sound weird, but I’m someone who believes that whatever you’re wearing when you die, that’s what you’re stuck with! So I get anxious and fidgety if I don’t look nice. If I can make myself presentable on the outside, I have what I need for first impressions.

CA: Most of it is thrifted. My jacket, skirt, and top are thrifted, [my shoes] I got on Depop; they were $50 from $100.

JF: Most of it is sale. Yeah, every single thing. The shoes, the skirt, the sweater. [The top] is Christine’s, because you gotta love someone enough to share their clothes.

What’s the inspiration for your look and personal style?

CA: I try to dress according to the weather. And if I find an article of clothing that I really like and haven’t worn for a while, I try to wear it.

JF: For me, it’s kind of like… the outfit battles the struggle. I dress to reflect the wealth of history that’s behind me and what’s behind me, pushing me up. Because I don’t have that many reasons to get up, but I do. And the weather, of course.

What does fashion mean to you?

CA: It’s a way to express myself because I don’t like to talk a lot so, if I dress the part, I don’t need to say anything really. That’s it.

JF: Reflections of the duality that we all tend to suffer. No, but seriously, the duality of living. Because, and I don’t mean to speak for Christine but, for both of us, we live in spaces that were not made for us, so we reflect what our experience is every day.

Uh… just clothes.

What’s the inspiration for your look and personal style?

TL: Well, this look, you should ask my friends because they styled me.

Friends: I brought this piece because I know Tyree’s personal style. He’s into sort of granddaddy looks. Maybe not granddaddy, but dad looks.

TL: [More like] 70s and 90s style, pretty much.

What does fashion mean to you?

TL & Friends: It’s a way to express yourself, it’s how you feel about yourself. Your personality, your character. It’s just life, you know.