As college students, there are a million things clogging up students’ brains at once. From studying for exams, writing essays, roommate drama, and just trying to take care of your basic needs, sometimes personal style can take a back seat. Some days it may be easier to wake up bleary-eyed and not-so-bushy-tailed and throw on the first pair of sweats in a growing pile of laundry. This doesn’t mean that college students don’t have a Pinterest board of their dream closet, which may not be achievable on a tight budget. 

For senior communications studies major JJ Van Wie, they appreciate a grungy, alternative look and get a lot of inspiration from social media. 

“You know the TikTok boys that are like, alternative? That’s what I want to look like…Chains and baggy t-shirts,” Van Wie said. 

Ava Santiago, a freshman political science major, prefers lighter colors, flowy silhouettes, and a thrift store find.  

“I had a really big phase at the start of high school where I refused to buy any new clothes…now I get most of my stuff from a thrift store. Sometimes I’ll go and find these smaller companies and spend, like, $200 on a dress, but I know it’s well made and I know where it’s coming from,” said Santiago. 

For Gen Z, people born between 1997 to 2012, thrifting has become not only a hobby but a primary way to purchase clothing. Research done by Capital One Shopping shows that 83% of Gen Z consumers buy from thrift stores or are interested in buying second-hand. 

“I feel like that [thrifting] is a trend right now, but I feel like it’s a good one…it’s cheaper and better for the environment,” said Van Wie. 

For every college-aged student who buys secondhand, there are just as many if not more that contribute to fast fashion. According to emarketer.com, 44% of Gen Z consumers shop from Shein, a popular Chinese e-retailer, at least once a month. Shein produces cheap, trendy clothes on a daily basis at very low prices. 

“I feel like the promotion of fast fashion and Shein culture is kind of terrible because it’s just promoting bad quality clothing that’s not built to last, so then people will also run through trends faster because their clothes last as long as the trend does…There are so many trends, but at the end of the day, there’s still a common theme,” said Megan Abano, a freshman biomedical engineering major. 

Amaya Dickens, a senior psychology major and former president of Beauty in Distress (BID), started to get into fashion her freshman year at Rowan after being forced to wear a uniform at her alma mater, Camden County Technical School. 

“Personal style for me is my full confidence. It’s my feelings, it’s my mood…I am introverted, and I definitely show my full character and my full personality through my clothes…I do love trends, but I don’t want to dress like everybody else,” said Dickens. 

Her personal style icon is Teyana Taylor, a singer-songwriter and actress who has taught Dickens about the fluidity of fashion and breaking barriers between men’s and women’s clothing. Her favorite thing about student fashion at Rowan is seeing people confident in what they are wearing. 

“You don’t have to look like a walking Pinterest board, but when some people put in the effort and you can see the confidence in them, I absolutely love that. Then you have people who just wear pajamas, and that’s their own personal thing,” said Dickens. 

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