<p>He did not change his “style” for college. He has always had a variety of business clothing as well. </p>
<p>I think you should wear whatever you are comfortable in, as long as it is clean and presentable. There are times when you will be required to dress up.</p>
<p>My son found that he needed more business casual clothing, as he has several meetings to attend on a weekly basis. He rarely wears t-shirts, he said. His change in clothing makes one person happy, his kid brother, who inherits some nice looking items.</p>
<p>D doesn’t have a formal with her, although she did bring quite a few nice dresses that she could dress up or down with accessories. I don’t think she’s had call to wear anything beyond a sundress though.</p>
<p>Lots of us moms networked last year on finding clothes for our “big guys”. About July, I think, Penney’s started running a Free Shipping promotion on orders over 40 bucks. Got son tons of nice t-shirts, polos, through that. Hit WalMart for the skivvies, as described above, and socks. Recommend a good pair of tennis shoes, actually, a couple, as your child will be doing a lot of walking! While we started with Dr. Scholl’s, my son’s old favorite, we ended up with New Balance. Worth the money, but you can find them on sale at Penney’s! BTW, there is a Penney’s at the shopping center by campus. I’ve never been, but I see it when we go to campus. Also, a good, heavier windbreaker. It does get cold at Bama. You can find some good prices at LL Bean clearance around this time, as the weather is getting warmer. We had gotten an outrigger for our son to go to a midwestern school, but he uses it all the time at Bama! And definitely, a few umbrellas. It rains a lot in Tuscaloosa. As for the rainboots, I’ve seen the girls around our local New Orleans campuses wearing them, even on a sunny day. </p>
<p>As my husband said last year when we did our college visits, What’s with all the boots? I told him, I think it’s the new fashion, honey.</p>
<p>We sent WAY too many clothes with son last year, as we did not want him to have to worry about laundry too often, with his courseload. Seriously, we sent him with three weeks worth, warm and cold clothes. He had plenty of room in his closet at Riverside West. At spring break, I took back most of his winter stuff, ie, long sleeve shirts and the heavier jacket. It looked bare! But less to bring home in May. While many put the winter stuff in storage, we plan to do some mountain traveling this summer, so we’ll need the Bama cold weather stuff. We don’t keep a lot of cold weather clothes in our closets here in the Deep South!</p>
<p>^ we did the same - sent a lot of clothes as we didn’t know when he’d ever be home. Kept a few things here for work but not much. Now the trick will be to have him either get rid of the worn ones (Tshirts etc.) or bring them home for work, as we are storing things over the summer there and I’m sure will be buying some new things. Clearing out his worn stuff used to be my job - guess it’s time to mention that to him or the dorm could end up like an episode of hoarders!</p>
<p>DS wears New Balance shoes, because he hikes a lot in our and neighbors’ woods. Are they considered “cool”? All his friends seem to wear Nikes. I don’t want to fall into the “chasing cool” trap, but OTOH I want him to fit in…</p>
<p>^OMG LadyDi - you need to settle down… you are cracking me up!!!
Nikes vs. New Balance?
you are going to look back on this next year at this time and laugh :)</p>
<p>For the record, New Balance shoes, especially the gray ones, are very popular. </p>
<p>LadyDi, you could always send your son to the Shirt Shop once he gets to Tuscaloosa and have him buy whatever they say is popular for guys. </p>
<p>I’ll be the first one to admit that I don’t like wearing some of the styles of clothing popular for guys at UA, especially the short shorts :D. If your son likes wearing a certain style of clothing, let him wear it.</p>
<p>We could care less about style. It’s what’s going to fit my big guy. He couldn’t wear Nikes if he wanted to. New Balance luckily had his size and is rugged enough to hold up so far. He also favors the Wal Mart brand tennis shoe, but they haven’t held up as well. The Dr. Scholl’s were the most comfortable, and what he used to get by with, but even those couldn’t take the long treks from class to dorm several times a day. He was willing to try New Balance as his suitemates suggested them as durable shoes. My son was a swimmer, so he didn’t wear tennis shoes that much. He didn’t wear jeans, either, but now wears them every day. He doesn’t care about labels, just whether they fit or are comfortable. He is a little more “fashion conscious” than he was before, but he’d been wearing a uniform for the previous 13 years, so anything else was a step up.</p>
<p>Break him in gently, LadyDi, and please, don’t break the bank. He’ll either get the Freshman 15 or the Negative Freshman 15, and you’ll regret spending a lot of money, especially on jeans and belts, when that waistline changes over the semester. Of course, the one thing I splurged on, he grew out of in less than a month. But hey, I’m not complaining. It was a happy change!</p>
<p>Both of my kids had worn school uniforms, so I was concerned about what the kids were wearing. I remember my first time on Bama’s campus, sitting in the Quad and taking “mental notes” of style, brand (if obvious), colors, etc. While I saw a good mix of styles, it was apparent that if my kids wore jeans or khaki shorts, some kind of polo or Bama spiritwear, and some kind of Sperry’s/Clarks/Rainbows they’d easily fit in. BTW…I bought my older son his Rainbows exactly 4 years ago…and he’s still wearing them. those things sure can last!</p>
<p>Montegut – thanks! My kids are totally oblivious to style. I know I’m being silly…I really don’t want to fall into the “gotta-be-cool” trap. But, by the same token, as a mom, I don’t want my kids to be mocked for dressing in an utterly outre’ way, or sumpin’. </p>
<p>Well, as an apparel-company employee, I have cheap, easy access to lots of clothes, including guy clothes…and I think our stuff is fairly fashionable (although not ultra-chic / pricey). So, I’ll load DS up with company-store tees, polos, and basketball shorts, and stop worrying!</p>
<p>I’m a planner, too, LadyDi, so I totally get you. I can drive my family nuts worrying about minutiae, but they are not complaining when all the details come together for them because of my planning!</p>
<p>And, if your son or daughter decides that he or she needs a particular clothing brand, you can this. Tell them that they need to make those purchases with their money.</p>
I can drive my family nuts worrying about minutiae, but they are not complaining when all the details come together for them because of my planning!</p>