Column: Another North Face, really?

After spending the summer in Chicago interning for Veronica Sheaffer, a wedding dress designer, it appears that I have taken people who appreciate fashion and creativity for granted.
 
At Sheaffer’s, fashion is used as a means of self-expression. Back on campus, fashion is used for group identity.
 
If one wanted to disguise him or herself as an IU student, he or she could either wear head-to-toe Vineyard Vines or an ensemble that resembles what Panic! At the Disco wore to last year’s Teen Choice Awards.

Style is hard to see in Bloomington, and fashionable items are even harder to find.

College Mall has limited mainstream options and includes a Macy’s that caters to the career woman who still wears sweater sets and comfort heels.
 
The vintage scene, complete with those ill-fitting floral ensembles, fake glasses and Peter Pan boots, is just so expired. Those who want to create an image outside of the norm must dig deep within themselves and the 7000 pages of online shopping to achieve their desired look.

Also, temperature is no longer an excuse for dressing poorly. Summer weather often reaches temperatures that make one’s own skin feel as if it’s made of wool, so experimenting with new ideas is often out of the question. However, now that it’s breezy in Bloomington, I have seen far too many vanilla outfits this year that look like the cover of a fifth-grade health book. It is time for that to end.

Fashion is created and inspired by culture. If someone wanted to achieve a new look, he or she should take Avicii’s latest album off repeat and mix in songs with lyrics.

Just because you like something doesn’t mean you have to use it all day, every day.
 
That’s why you can’t eat ice cream for every meal. You’ll gain the freshman 15 and develop a chronic brain freeze at once.

This is a call to action, Hoosiers. There is no time like the present to make yourself into that style icon you know you are, deep down under all that Patagonia fleece.