‘College style’ might seem like an oxymoron. Go to any campus and watch the students walk to class. T-shirts and jeans are the order of the day. Some of them show up in their pajamas. Your average college student takes their wardrobe as casually as they take their studies seriously.
To which we say: why be average? College is your first taste of adulthood, the time to discover the man you want to be. It’s also perhaps the first time you have the opportunity to make clothing purchases without your parents looking over your shoulder, so rather than lapse into lounge pants and sweatshirts, dress to the nines. If it increases the workload on laundry day, so be it- it’s high time you learned to wash your own clothes, anyway.
The classic college dress code comes from the Ivy League universities, what we might today call ‘preppy’- but it was Ivy League before it was prep. If you’re operating on a limited budget, focus on a few essential elements and combine them. You need a pair of gray flannel pants to ground nearly everything else you wear. You need a navy blazer, then another sportcoat, preferably tweed. For colder climates you’ll want at least three sweaters in wool, and at least one should be a bright color that will make you stand out in a crowd. A few Oxford cloth button-downs can be dressed up or down, even worn with a tie if the need emerges. Speaking of ties, if your college has a crest, get a tie with that on it. The original point of the necktie was to declare allegiance to a club or fraternal order; why stray from that?
For the summer, instead of a t-shirt, spring for a polo shirt, which you can wear under a blazer or on its own. A pair of khaki pants are your casual style skeleton key. Finally, spend some decent money on one good pair of shoes, preferably brown, preferably lace-ups. They’ll last you from Welcome Week to graduation and carry you with aplomb.
If this seems like a short list, it is. These are the essentials if you want to strut around like the big man on campus. From here, shop carefully, and buy what you feel speaks to you. As you advance in your studies, you’ll discover more about yourself, and this will shift your personal style. You want to dress like you- not like someone else.
