What I find to be most inspiring about fashion (and the aspect I look for when I dub a fellow student a Fashionista/isto) is when they refuse to wear the latest trends verbatim and create a style that is effortlessly unique.
Individual style isn’t something Whittier College is generally noted for. I like to blame it on the fact that we are nestled in a suburb between Los Angeles and Orange County, where most tend to find their fashion inspiration from reality stars and the latest gossip glossy.
For a school fairly close to Hollywood, it makes sense most students deem starlets the most fashionable people on the planet. But, I’m excited to share a new way of dressing that has been appearing on my campus.
Whittier College is a private liberal arts school with an intriguing history that dates all the way back to 1887. At one point it was most notable as the alma mater of the late President Richard Nixon, but these days Whittier College is beginning to be recognized as a jewel.
It is prized for it’s alternative way of learning: Individualized attention is paramount. That’s possible partly because of our small student body (1,500 students to be exact), but mostly due to the values Whittier prides itself on. Students have the opportunity to create a personalized major that encourages them to embrace their individuality, giving us the courage, belief, and confidence to excel. With a school that wants its students “to question the world around them and figure out their place in it’ I’m not surprised to see those ideals starting to appear in the style of the student body.
As I’ve said, Whittier hasn’t been known for being very fashion forward, which I’ve been proving inaccurate as Whittier College’s Style Guru for CollegeFashionista. Lately, however, Whittier students are surprising me with their taste — very informed by what has been appearing on the pages of Vogue and Bazaar. That is, dressing for yourself and wearing what suits you.
There is an unexplained satisfaction I get when I see students developing a style or wearing what reflects their own spirit and brings out their inner resonance. It’s satisfying to see students wearing what personifies them, unknowingly becoming trendsetters. This Fashionista perfectly exemplifies that new trend.
Her outfit is effortless, classic, and chic, because of the timeless pieces she chose: Collard shirt, pencil cut denim, club-master sunnies, and ballerina flats. But her look is individualized and unique, because of how she styles those pieces and pairs them with such an adorably cropped hairstyle. This Fashionista walked with an admirable confidence that was proof that fellow students are fashioning themselves in a way that highlights their inner resonance.
Many have believed Whittier College to lack fashion sense, but it may actually be that the school has been trendy and fashionable all along. It was students that might have been too worried about wearing what everyone else was rather than finding a style that represents their individualized self.
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