As the beginning of the semester commences, I look to Allegheny students to address the fashion on campus. Navigating the fluctuating weather in northwestern Pennsylvania can be difficult, so I want to see how you, the Allegheny students, share your style in what you wear. I am gauging the newest trends on campus and showcasing some outfits of fellow students to spark ideas. With the changing weather and the vast amount of diversity in styles on campus, there is so much to discuss.
I sat in and around the Henderson Campus Center lobby working idly while I people-watched during the first week of class. As people cycled through, I noticed something that was quite a popular accessory. I even snapped some pictures of people wearing the item. I hadn’t realized how much of a fad it was, and I soon noticed a particular thing missing from most of all the different outfits. These things sparked the idea for this week’s first issue — something soft and easy to unravel into the beginning of a new semester.
Scarves! Allegheny’s first week of classes was full of the soft accessory. There were brown, red, black, blue and pink scarves being worn all week. I asked peers if they had noticed the influx of the accessory being worn.
“Definitely,” Christopher Verardi, ’26, said. “This morning it was 15 degrees.”
With the weather here at Allegheny changing so frequently, it’s important to dress accordingly. One day it will be 40 or 50 degrees, and the next day it will be 15 degrees and snowing.
This section of the paper will discuss fashion, sure. But I am aware that fashion doesn’t seem to be a significant topic. It’s not something you think about every day, especially in the large scope of everything.
Fashion molds the identities on this campus, tells a story, enhances self-expression, helps build social connections and helps share creativity and ideas. This section is a weekly check-in with all of Allegheny’s very own supermodels and designers (which is everyone on this campus).
While people-watching in the campus center lobby and asking Allegheny students, “Why wear a scarf?” there was a common theme.
“It’s freezing, ” Lucy Palmer, ’27, said.
“It’s cold outside,” Mary Karstens, ’27, also said. “And I don’t have a hood on my jacket, so I want to keep my neck a little bit warmer.”
These statements were all good responses to my question. Missing a hood and not wanting your neck to be cold are perfect reasons to wear a scarf. Your neck is responsible for a great amount of your body’s heat exchange. This means a cold neck could mean a significantly colder body. But although this was the answer to my inquiry, I still had a question in my mind, an observation about the use of scarves: There were not a lot of gloves being worn by students.
This surprised me a lot. Personally, when I think of scarves and gloves, I have a specific visual. I think of them worn together. If your neck is cold, your hands must also be cold, right? Well, my opinion wasn’t completely debunked. Allegheny peers had their own opinions that made total sense as well. Karstens, one of the non-glove wearers, said she wants “to be a little cooler and not wear my gloves.” In her opinion, if her hands get cold, that’s a lot better than her neck, which causes her to feel cold.
I even heard that “gloves are a little bit stupid,” when asking Verardi about peers not wearing gloves with their scarves.
“I keep my hands in my pocket,” said Verardi, which is another great point. Why wear gloves if you don’t need to use your hands? They can go into your pockets. Additionally, Palmer stated that she feels gloves stop you from addressing your phone when needed. This leads her to be less likely to wear her gloves between classes and more.
Finally, I have come to the conclusion that I need to be more open to accessorizing in different ways. Whether it is for accessibility reasons or for a simple fashion statement. My visual opinion has changed due to my peers’ fashion choices and opinions on the topic. I wonder if your opinion has changed or stayed the same. I mean, did you even have an opinion? Furthermore, I look forward to continuing to hear from you all and learning fashion tips and fads that are popular on campus. Not only that, but I can’t wait to do my best to showcase the style on this beautiful campus.
