What is an appropriate wardrobe for college?

Student Lounge College Life
1

I am planning to go to college upstate in New York, but I don’t know if I’ve planned an appropriate amount of stuff.
(This does not include underwear, socks, shoes, or jackets/coats. I’m pretty confident in how much I should bring there.)

What I have planned so far:
-4 long sleeve shirts
-7 t-shirts and short sleeve shirts
-2 light sweaters
-2 thick sweaters
-1 white button down shirt
-2 special event dresses (one long sleeve, one short sleeve)
-2 summer dresses
-2 pairs of dress pants
-6 pairs of jeans
-1 pair of yoga pants
-2 sports bras
-1 pair of workout shorts

2

You may want to take into consideration how the weather may change as the semester goes on. I take more shorts and T-shirts, with a few pairs of jeans as backup, when my school (in PA) starts in late August, and swap those out for more long jeans and sweaters after Thanksgiving break or so.

3

I think you might have to wait and see -but that all sounds reasonable. You may not need the dress pants or the special occasion dresses - unless you will be in a sorority ? or some kind of organization? or dating someone that is. I think much of this depends on what you wind up doing. If you go out a lot or go to religious services etc…

One of my Ds- barely got dressed. Seriously looked like she rolled out of bed and went to class. She could have gotten by with shorts/ jeans/ t-shirts and one dressy outfit.

You may need more workout stuff if you workout regularly.

Do you have some winter gear? Rain Gear? long underwear?

4

Maybe a couple of warm sweatshirts? Pajamas/lounge pants/sweats?

I agree with Bodangles about the shorts. Maybe google the climate in the area of your college and see what the average high temps are in August and September.

5

@bodangles point about switching out at Thanksgiving is worthwhile. After Thanksgiving you will want waterproof boots and a coat that covers your backside (yeah, my collegekid rolled her eyes at that also- but admitted later that it did make a difference, esp in the coldest months (Jan/Feb).

fwiw, 6 pairs of jeans seems like a lot, unless you are very fastidious (as in, wear them almost every day & wash them pretty much every time you wear them…)

6

Only 2 sports bras seems a little low to me. However, if that’s worked for you in the past, then go for it! I’d bring a few more pairs of casual clothes for lounging in the apartment. For example, it might be wise to bring 7 nice short sleeved shirts that you’d happily wear to class and club functions, and then 3 casual t-shirts for studying, napping, doing chores, exercise, etc. This certainly depends on your personal sense of style, though.

7

Questions to ask yourself when trying to determine what you need:

How often are you willing to do laundry?

How much of each do you expect to use between times you do laundry?

Obviously, consider seasonal weather changes, as noted above.

8

It isn’t going to be very warm up North, and although I live far south of the college I don’t need shorts, so I just didn’t think I needed to pack any.

9

As for the exercise gear, I don’t workout so I wouldn’t know how much to bring. I figured it would be useful to combat the freshman 15.
(I imagine only working out once or twice a week, and since I plant to do laundry weekly I thought it would be enough. Feel free to correct me as you see fit.)

10

It does depend on whether or not you can swap things out as seasons change. My daughter cannot so she has more than you have listed. She is not a big shorts wearer either, but has a few pair if it does get blistering hot at the beginning of the year. Shorts don’t take up a lot of room. She does have a plastic tote that she swaps warm and cold weather clothing out of. (She goes to school in MA, by the way).

11

You might check the school events calendar. My DS’s school in freezing NYS has a career fair twice a year and all students are encouraged to attend. Business attire with proper shoes is required for admission. (Freshman attend to practice and to seek internships.)

You will receive t-shirts from clubs and activities and can expect to buy school hoodies and sweats.

12

Are you coming from a similar climate? Our daughter is from CA, and went to College in Boston. The choices for cold weather gear in CA are abysmal. She elected to bring her favorite CA clothing in August. Once she arrived and had been there a few weeks, I FaceTimed her from her closet and flipped through her clothes as she said yes and no. I shipped a box of clothes to her because now she knew what else she wanted. When we got to Boston in October for parent’s weekend, we took her shopping and bought her warm jackets, scarves, and boots. She packed most of summer clothes under the bed.

13

Depending on how often you work out or just chilling, I would suggest bringing an extra pair of yoga pants. Switch out your clothes in between breaks depending on the weather.

14

I don’t think you’ll need the two summer dresses at all, so long as the short sleeved is fairly casual and I’d suggest only 3-4 pairs of jeans. Do you only wear your jeans once between washings? I know my kids and myself wear them twice generally so that’s 8 days. I’d sub the second pair of dress pants with another pair of yoga or loungers. Much of this depends on your laundry schedule which is again (generally) once weekly.