- Growing up in the South, I never had a winter wardrobe and never developed a style.
- As a freshman at Yale, I had to find my winter style on campus.
I heard the stories and saw the forecasts, but nothing really prepared me for my first winter at Yale. Coming from North Carolina, I had seen snow growing up occasionally. I knew what windchill could do, but my naïveté made me think I could survive the beginning of my first fall semester in New Haven armed with just my t-shirts, sweaters, a tiny scarf, and a single brown overcoat.
I was comically wrong. Only around a month or so in, I had to ask my parents to ship me the layers and coats I was adamant I wouldn't need until December. The blazing heat of the first few weeks had simmered away, and it was time to confront my lifelong inability to dress nicely.
It was time to finally find my style at college.
I have always struggled with fashion
Finding clothes that fit me has always been a challenge. I've had a tiny torso but skinny arms and legs since I was a little kid, so it's made shopping feel more like scavenging for the rare piece of clothing that would neither leave my forearms uncovered nor drape over me like a curtain.
I also never had been able to develop a fashion sense. Despite my mother and sisters' pleading, I never got invested in finding cool or good-looking clothes; I'd wear whatever. By the time I moved into my dorm, I didn't have an aesthetic, just a lot of neutral-tone crewnecks and pants.
Because of the weather and the fact that I was finally on the precipice of adulthood, I decided I had to solidify how I wanted to dress.
My fellow Yale students became my inspiration
When you think of Yale and fashion, the prep and Ivy League styles come to mind. Some call it the academic aesthetic: casual button-down, cable knit sweaters, and heavy fabrics — all tied together with either an air of sophistication or a superiority complex, depending on your perspective.
While historically, this style may have dominated the streets of New Haven, these days, I noticed there's more diversity. There is no singular "Yale" look anymore. While academic outfits are still common, puffer jackets and Patagonia are just as typical in winter.
In fact, some of the most fashionable people on campus aren't dressing like 80s professors but are putting together modern and impressive outfits with the occasional touch of Yale's bulldog blue. I've seen folks associated with FLY — Fashion Lifestyle at Yale, a new student-led fashion collective — create looks that belong on a runway day after day. On Instagram, the account "nicelydressedatyaleuniversity" shows off many of the great outfits people put together around campus.
Still, a more traditional academia aesthetic is present on campus. For some, especially legacy students, this may be a style they are more familiar with. For others, it may be the style they associate with the institution or just find fashionable. While Yale has more than its fair share of fashion mavericks, the Ivy League style is still around.
I started to make changes to my wardrobe
So, I had options when I arrived in New Haven and had to figure out how I wanted to dress in the winter. I wasn't surrounded by a sea of tweed sport coats, but I realized I could still lean toward that style and not feel out of place. Before coming to Yale, I couldn't justify owning a bunch of cable-knit sweaters and covert coats in mild southern winters. Now, I had an excuse.
Over the first few months in New Haven, I slowly started to add pieces to my wardrobe that fit the vibe of the clothes I already had, the general "academic" aesthetic I was going for, and things I would be happy to wear. At first, this meant some heavier crewnecks, but eventually, I got more overcoats, hats, and a solid scarf rotation.
Now, I'm happy with what I have in my closet. I still have some expansions in mind: nicer trousers, for one.
I've settled into a look I like. On that rare day when all the clothes I like are clean, I'll throw on my cream-colored Yale "Y" sweater over a white collared shirt, a tie, some basic brown pants, and a matching overcoat to walk out of Vanderbilt Hall, ready to face the day.