Trendy and Transient

By Guest Blogger Dorothy Munholland

College students spend a lot of time in transition. Between various moves from apartment to apartment or from school to my hometown during the summer, not to mention going abroad, I’ll have averaged 1.75 moves a year during my 4-year college career. This has made accumulating and storing anything other than wardrobe essentials fairly impossible. I love everything Jeffery Campbell, but it just doesn’t make sense to take up my already limited space with a massive pair of shoes I will never be wearing to class. I’m also not sure how my dad would feel about helping me lift boxes filled with wooden platforms every 9 months.

What I’ve had to do over the past several years is learn which articles of clothing are the most practical to have on hand all year round. Everything else? It stays with my parents. For these and other reasons, like the fact that some of us live on grilled cheese sandwiches and can’t afford to be constantly updating clothes, college students tend to have a lot of really versatile, trend-proof, affordable, and comfortable pieces (side note—if you enjoy the occasional grilled cheese and are looking to spice things up you will love the blog Grilled Cheese Social).

Of course, this isn’t to say that college students don’t wear trendy, unique, and all-together wacky clothing—step onto the UW-Madison campus and you’ll find it’s actually quite the opposite. What I mean is that student closets are based on staple pieces that can be built upon to create different looks. A simple (and space saving) brightly colored scarf can take a basic neutral outfit and make it eye-catching. Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s is our timeless reminder that the simple LBD can never be beat.

As I wrap up my undergraduate experience and face that daunting question “where should I live next year?” (actually, the real question is “what am I going to do next year?!”) I’ve often found myself wondering when I’ll ever stop moving around enough to unite my “hometown” clothing with my “moving” clothing. I’ve come to the realization that maybe it’s time to do the ultimate spring clean and take a serious look at my closet. If I haven’t worn it in the last 4 years there is a good change I won’t be wearing it in the next 4 years—so why not clear out the space and maybe make a buck doing it? Stores like Rethreads (a Glossing Over It favorite) will pay cash or give store credit for current and vintage clothing.

Every year around move-in or move-out time my mom likes to remind me that “less is more” and, while I disagree with her when it comes to helpings of ice cream, I think I can concede to her on this one. Over the next several weeks I will be scouring the streets and classrooms alike to bring to you some of the fashion-forward ways in which college students are using their versatile wardrobes. If you would like to see something specific, like a trend or accessory, please feel free to email me at contact@glossingoverit.com and I will be sure to keep an eye out.