Art College Fashion Report: Week Two

The Good

On Thursday I saw a woman with beautifully voluminous light brown hair, bright pink lipstick and clearly-artificial but still sweet pink blusher wearing a simple cream coat over a hot pink dress. She looked so chic, it was perfect. I only got to see her for a second because I was walking down some steps and she was walking up them, but she left a definite impression. She looked classy but still fun - her outfit was simple but her obvious love of hot pink made it special. Her make-up, although bright and obvious, was neatly done and she looked really polished, like a film star or one of the Desperate Housewives.

On Friday (today) I saw the most beautiful coat ever. It was black with black embroidery all over it in a slightly darker shade so it showed up in good light, and was quite fitted, with a sort of skirt effect caused by pleats starting at the waist but fanning out to be flat. It was worn by a woman whose outfit was otherwise quite simple - black trousers, a white shirt, black and white shoes - which I think was the way to make the most of it. It was so stunning I walked behind the wearer down the stairs, through the foyer and dived in front of her for the turnstiles, so that I could sneakily turn around and see what she was wearing with it from the front.

The Indie Army I described last week has shrunk rapidly. It is still fairly prolific, but as I was sitting in the cafe to have a cup of tea and in the canteen to eat my lunch, I noticed that their numbers have definitely dropped. I wonder if some people were just dressing that way as a safe option for starting university, but perhaps I just didn't notice it as much this week because I spent most of my time with third year students.

Dark red nail varnish seems to be immensely popular, I keep seeing women around university wearing it. I think I will go along with this trend, I'm entering a red-lipstick and flicky eyeliner obsession and I think it would fit into it perfectly.

The Bad

White - like they have been painted in white wall paint - cowboy boots. They are gross and I've seen at least two pairs this week! I've never really appreciated the...uh...charms, shall we say? of cowboy boots. I think the black ones can look alright, with a non-cowboy related outfit, and my housemate has a pair of hideous brown ones (it's okay, they were a gift, she believes in the hideousness too, anyone with eyes should) that she has worn under jeans to hide the cowboy-boot-parts and make them look just like pointy shoes or boots. But why would anybody go into a shop and buy anything as trashy as white cowbody boots to wear in a non-ironic/costume-based manner? All the pairs I've seen this week have been worn as if they are quite normal and aesthetically pleasing items of footwear! With Indie Army or otherwise "normal" outfits! Am I missing something here?

The Oh-My-Gawth

Elegantly dressed, vaguely gothy girl in one of my seminar groups. I kept checking out her outfit all hour. She was wearing a black dress, below thigh-length, with a simple black cardigan, white patterned tights, and black Doc. Martens. I loved how the white patterned tights gave the whole combination an ethereal touch. I thought it was a perfect outfit for wandering around town, lazing in the park, darting into shops. She looked comfortable and uncluttered and it was an inspiration. Often I feel quite like bogged down in all the stuff I'm wearing and carrying.

My outfit at the time was: purple shoes, black tights, black floofy skirt (black cotton with a layer of netting underneath), pink t-shirtesque top, black vest on top of that, purple hoodie, black cardigan on top and chunky scarf. My coat was in the cloakroom, and I did take off the top two layers and the scarf when I sat down in the room. I had so many layers because it was freezing when I set off for my 10am lecture. It warmed up later on and I didn't have a chance to go back to the cloakroom again. Yet, I don't think my layers were planned very well - they didn't mix evenly.

I was also carrying two bags, one an overstuffed thin cotton bag. She had one and carried some papers. I felt so messy by comparison, especially as my water bottle kept falling out of the bag and I kept dropping pens and papers off the slopy little fold-down tables on the chair. I blame exhaustion - I was really unprepared for having to get up before seven for lectures this week!

Have you got any burgeoning trends in your campus or workplace? Are you interested in what your colleagues are wearing, or couldn't you care less?