Column: A dime a dozen

There is an epidemic of students on campus who seek validation from the inflated price tags at Urban Outfitters.

They buy and take pride in super hip T-shirts with 15 of their best friends.

Unfortunately, this virus has negative effects on the outside world.

It makes people think they need to waste mass amounts of money to compete with the rest of the herd. I’m happy to tell you this isn’t the case.

Last month, I attended Fashion’s Night Out in Chicago with my best friend.

We were applauded for our looks. Fashion magazine editors, store owners and passersby praised us. We even appeared on multiple fashion blogs the next morning.

My style secret? I had spent next to nothing to prepare my look for the evening. 

Approximately two hours before the event, we went into a thrift store on a whim. I walked out with a $3 white nightgown that I decided to wear as a dress.

I also donned a tikka, an Indian wedding headpiece, that another friend had brought back from her travels to India.

Yet all night I was surrounded by people dressed in money, and no one questioned my presence. Maybe people think looking pleasant has to do with how much money is invested in their wardrobe.

So often people wear cheaply made items from expensive brands simply because of the label.

That’s not stylish. That’s falling victim to effective branding methods.

You can be “in fashion” and still be blissfully bland. It takes style to set you apart.

Style isn’t about having money. It’s about understanding how different pieces relate to one another and creating a look that exudes what you want.

Even if you decide you’re not going to try, that’s still sending out a message about yourself.

I will never understand intelligent people who aren’t well-dressed.

Saying you don’t care what people think of you is not validation to wear your Senior Class of ’09 sweatshirt all week. When you get dressed in the morning, it’s about becoming the person you want to be.

Consider Miss Piggy. Some people see her as the well-dressed, witty Muppet. Others think she’s just your average pig. But that doesn’t stop her from wearing evening gowns, and it shouldn’t stop you, either.

I could not tell you who designed the dress I wore. All I knew was that it promoted the look I wanted to achieve. It was something different and did not look mass-produced.

You have to remember that in the end, clothes are still just clothes. They are meant to capture the essence of you in a snapshot.

Make sure the picture is worth remembering.

— mwalschl@indiana.edu