Is wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts appropriate and suitable on campus?

<p>My kids went to big state u’s where anything goes. Neither of mine were sweatpants fans but if they had wanted to wear them, no one would have cared. I think more of a “no no” is to wear high school “brands” in college…like Hollister,American Eagle,Abercrombie.</p>

<p>Sweatpants at my school were extremely popular for those early morning 8 am classes, as well as those snowy cold days in winter and around finals or midterms. Outside of that…it tended to be ‘norts’ (Nike shorts)/basketball shorts or some other form of pants.</p>

<p>Most of the guys in my classes wear jeans, but there’s a contingent with athletic shorts, sweats etc. Some wear dressier clothes if they have a job or internship on campus that requires business attire. And the ROTC types show up in fatigues. No one seems to care what anyone else is wearing (at least out loud).</p>

<p>My DS is at an all-male college and sweatpants seem to be the dressier option for an early morning class. I have seen slippers and pajama pants and few combed heads. Of course, on the weekend it is a see of khakis and polos as the girls filter on the campus.</p>

<p>This thread is hilarious. Personally, while going commando (thats the term, collegshopping) is not, IMO, as big a concern in sweats as it is in shorts (had a long conversation with an esteemed colleague at a conference once and fould it *very hard to keep my eyes on his face, if you know what I mean) , I think that the key issue is not waht they wear to class, but that the GO to class. That would be my priority.</p>

<p>LOL it is a hilarious thread. Anyway, I’ve noticed that the kids dress slightly different when they come home for Christmas and in the summer after freshman year than going in. My oldest who wore primarily dark colored t-shirts and shorts or jeans…added facial hair and a flannel or plaid shirt at Christmas and t-shirts that are white or gasp in colors. My second came home with an affinity for Carhartt jackets and red Ray Bans with his polo shirts. My third lives in crazy colored lacrosse athletic shorts and sweatpants and topsiders through all four seasons in high school…I’m hoping he comes home in the coming years without the sweatpants and athletic shorts. I’m sure that the guys go commando when they haven’t done laundry for 2 months, but I don’t want to know about that.</p>

<p>This is a funny thread. Last night at the dinner table coincidentally arose the topic of the UCBerkely nudist guy. His story was in the 80s I believe, b/c we talked about it originally when I was in college. Anyway, the awful scenario always came up: Who was the unknowing poor soul who sat in his seat during the lecture hour afterward? Eiewwww!</p>

<p>T26E4–As I was reading this thread, I was thinking about a conversation I had with a friend who went to Harvard, maybe 40 years ago about how they had to “dress” for the dining hall. I told him that at my campus in the late 60s, they were happy if we just wore clothes.</p>

<p>Some people have problems with restrictive clothing and are only comfortable in soft, loose things. My son would not have wanted to go to a college with a dress code.</p>

<p>While wearing sweats is fine, i am of the school that thinks students should have some basics in their wardrobes that can go from an interview, wedding, funeral and job interview.</p>

<p>A few basic pieces like black dockers, black shoes, a dress shirt, etc can go a long way. One never noes when something important is going to happen on short notice amd having appropriate clothes is important.</p>

<p>Depending on major, building a wardrobe is something every adult needs to do.</p>

<p>I’m not saying tons of shirts and ties and suits, but at least some apparel that works for different occcasions. Sweats to a job fair, while comfy, doesn’t make an impression.</p>

<p>I was surprised at how sloppy some of the tour guides on some campuses were. Old flip-flops, cut off jeans shorts, and a wrinkled T-shirt. I couldn’t help thinking, Jeez, this is your job and this is how you dress for it? I thought it showed poor judgment but must be standard attire for the campus.</p>

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<p>Depends on the campus culture. If it was a college like Oberlin in the '90s, the above wouldn’t apply to most students* unless they were Ohio locals or Conservatory students. </p>

<p>Most other students IME avoid wearing the above/having them on campus since the vast majority would interview in their hometown areas or large cities where they can pick up a suit from home beforehand and/or the store beforehand. It’s also more prudent for men as many of us are still growing in our undergrad years and many freshmen who brought suits ended up having to buy new ones because the old ones were too small. </p>

<p>That and the local campus culture was that unless you were a student at the con, wearing corporate wear…including dockers or dress shirts were considered quite declasse. That is…unless they are worn ironically to mock the “bourgeois capitalist establishment” and/or for cross dressing purposes for our annual “Drag Ball”. </p>

<p>However, for the latter…clothes are actually quite optional and many avail themselves of it. </p>

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<li>Most of us tend to come from major cities/suburbs located on the West Coast, NE, and Chicago back then. Moreover, the ones from the South had a tendency to migrate to the NE or West Coast during summers/after graduation…especially if their social/political views are much more liberal than those of their conservative hometowns/families.</li>
</ul>

<p>I think guys should go ahead and wear sweats if they want… but they should know that girls like a guy that looks slightly less sloppy, on the whole! </p>

<p>My D’s school is in southern California and those kids are dressed pretty nicely. The girls are pretty fashion-hip and the guys are in jeans and Ts at the least. This is one reason she likes the school-- as a fairly recently transplanted PacNWer, she hates the “Oregon-y” (her term) look. It all depends on the culture of the school and the region.</p>

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<p>The Southern California look is one that tends to be mocked heartily by the Oberlin undergrads of the mid-late '90s.* The look your describe among undergrads in Southern California would be considered a horrid nightmare and something to be heartedly mocked on Halloweek or during the annual Drag Ball. </p>

<p>On the other hand, if by Oregon-y…you mean anything goes and according to one Oberlin touring parent quoted by the Fiske’s guide “kids go out of their way to dress ugly here”, yes…that’d probably be their preferred look.</p>

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<li>We had many Californians…including Southern Californians from the LA area who reject that dressy culture.</li>
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<p>Cobrat, I can say when I toured Oberlin (2008), I saw nothing of the sort. I also am clearly not as observant as you nor do I care as much as you seem to about what everyone else thinks. Seemed to be a normal mix of clothes.</p>

<p>Mid-late 90s is a lifetime ago in college-kid years. They’re not what we might think as Southern California Tacky. They’re just in current styles. I doubt they’re really mockable.</p>

<p>"That and the local campus culture was that unless you were a student at the con, wearing corporate wear…including dockers or dress shirts were considered quite declasse. That is…unless they are worn ironically to mock the “bourgeois capitalist establishment” and/or for cross dressing purposes for our annual “Drag Ball”. "</p>

<p>Yes, we’ll, if Oberlin is anything like you depict, it’s clearly quite conformist --just conformist to a different set of norms, that’s all.</p>

<p>Personally, I have no real reason to believe students at Oberlin aren’t just as willing as students elsewhere to not really care about what others wear and to let others live their lives as they see fit. Most normal people only worry about the standards they set for themselves, and don’t scrutinize everyone else and make judgments as you seem to always describe.</p>

<p>Sweats on my campus mean either 1) this student is an athlete going to/from practice, or 2) this student has stayed up all night doing work on a deadline. Otherwise, the students wear jeans for the most part. Students of both sexes wear sweats a lot during finals, when they are too busy or stressed out to care about self-presentation. Someone who wears sweats all the time is probably not too concerned about looking appropriate anyway, so it’s sort of a moot point.</p>

<p>I still say a man at college needs to have at least a few pieces of clothing he can wear to life events. Sure most may interview at home, but gee, not all. And how hard is it to have a pair of dark slack, a button down shirt and a tie on hand? And one pair of non sneaker type shoes? </p>

<p>It’s called having a few classic adult pieces on hand. My daughters prof died, and they had a memorial. Showing up in sweats would have been tacky, lazy and immature.</p>

<p>If owning a pair of proper slacks is d</p>

<p>^^I’m sure most kids bring something appropriate in addition to their day to day wear. i know mine did and they have through the four years definitely had occasion to dress up and they know how to hit a dry cleaners and get the shirts, jackets, pants, etc. cleaned. But day to day going to and from normal classes…no so much.</p>

<p>I only went to one college. As a student with limit means back then, I didn’t get to travel to many other campuses, so I thought my college was the norm. </p>

<p>In the 80s at Colgate, we had semi-formal parties almost weekly, which meant boys in jackets and girls in skirts (and boots). Those semi-formal parties were invitations only, and the invitations were slipped under our doors the day before. We wore argyle sweaters and wale corduroy pants to classes. Guys wore button down shirts with sweaters or a jacket sometimes. I don’t think I ever remembered anyone wearing sweats.</p>

<p>30 years later, I thought it would be different on campus. Both of our girls tell me that they do get dressed going to classes and when they go out at night. They said their school is very big, so not everyone dress the same, but their friends tend to be conscious of how they look, boys and girls included.</p>