<p>It’s a private school. Most of the kids come from the Chicago area.</p>
<p>^^ I would have to agree. Even at my public high school, maybe 2 or 3 of my friends wore “boat shoes.”</p>
<p>cbug: Honestly, let your son dress the way he naturally likes to. There’s no such thing as “trends” on a huge campus with people of different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.</p>
<p>Ideally, he should wear what he wants–not what the current “trend” is or what xXhottie684Xx says is cool. </p>
<p>In any event, if you’re in search of a “trend,” then a clothing store catalogue, male fashion magazine, or browsing lookbook.nu should suffice.</p>
<p>I’d hardly say public vs. private will give you complete insight.</p>
<p>As I mentioned earlier in this thread, almost no one dresses up at my school (b-school excluded), and my school is a top private university.</p>
<p>Oh- and Chicago is actually where we draw a sizable chunk of our students from.</p>
<p>You’re most likely only going to see “preppy” dressing in either the deep south (ie Tulane) or the Northeast.</p>
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<p>This is what I don’t understand. To take an extreme, just because I “want” to wear a shirt proclaiming the merits of Satanism does not mean that it is appropriate or advisable to do so.</p>
<p>To take a more mundane example, most offices don’t particularly appreciate dreadlocks, beanies, torn jeans, Converse, and so forth.</p>
<p>Clearly, you’re over-thinking and taking that statement far too literally (as I’ve noticed you tend to do. A lot.)</p>
<p>And once again, I lack the patience to break it down for you. If you can’t figure it out “wear what you want”–which you’ve taken out of context–on your own, then I can’t help you. </p>
<p>The topic was regards to following trends because it’s what’s in. Not running around in a neon bra because you feel like it.</p>
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<p>You are a company’s legal agent when you work. The way you look is the way the company looks. In many cases, your liability is their liability.</p>
<p>When you go to a college class, you represent only yourself; you don’t even legally represent the college you’re attending. (If prospective students are visiting they might judge the college partly based on your appearance, but this is their faulty logic not yours). Choosing to wear a satanic t-shirt at this time is perfectly appropriate if you want to be associated with satan.</p>
<p>This is common sense 101.</p>
<p>Justtotalk, the point is that there are social norms that extend beyond the individual. Although you represent yourself, you are part of a society that has certain standards, e.g. our laws. You can certainly wear a Satanic shirt to class, one would wonder why that is. I make judgments about people based on clothing precisely because they have control over what they wear, for the most part at least. </p>
<p>My larger point, which I should have made, would be that purchasing a wardrobe suitable for work/post-graduate life will obviously make the transition to such a life easier, and one has more time to determine what they like – would I rather have pinstripe suits or black suits? Do I like solid ties or more zany ties? etc.</p>
<p>@PL: I’m sorry if I read what you wrote. My bad.</p>
<p>Perhaps you should refrain fr om reading what I write until you work on your reading comprehension skills. </p>
<p>And I will refrain from what you write until I work on my level of patience for those lacking common sense. </p>
<p>Deal.
Until then.</p>
<p>Plattsburgh,</p>
<p>I’m just not understanding how you can make that claim. Here is the entire post:</p>
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<p>I come into these with no assumptions unless some have been established in previous posts.</p>
<p>You say, “wear whatever you want.” Why would I then infer something that is not exactly what you wrote? Your lack of precision is not my problem, given that there are people who believe “wear whatever you want.”</p>
<p>I hope this can end this digression.</p>
<p>I don’t care if you don’t get it. Not my problem if you’re straddling the slow boat. </p>
<p>And as I’ve already stated, I lack the patience to hold your hand and explain it in baby terms because you like to put two and two together to eighty-six. </p>
<p>I said don’t follow trends; wear what you want. You took that as going into the workplace with blue hair and a moomoo. </p>
<p>Figure it out in your freetime.</p>
<p>Plattsburgh, there’s no need. What you post is what you post.</p>
<p>It’s not that you lack the patience, it’s that you clearly lack the ability to write what you mean. It is fine if people infer whatever is going on in your mind by taking your post and literally contradicting it, but it is no one’s fault but yours if people read what you write literally and then arrive at something that you don’t intend.</p>
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<p>Because it is. That would be “wearing what you want.”</p>
<p>Again, write whatever you desire, and however you desire it to be. But I do not have the time to stop and consider what you may mean with each post when something definitive is right there in front of me. I am getting four. It is you who is expecting people to get 86 because of some hidden 82 stuck somewhere.</p>
<p>If you don’t have the time, the obvious solution is not to respond.</p>
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<p>Maybe college students should worry more about developing who they are, rather than who they look like. There will be plenty of time to work on that wardrobe and make yourself look like the next CEO. </p>
<p>Until then, it’s probably more important to have some brains and use them–so people will WANT you to be that CEO. Which is why I support students who wear what they want without worrying about whether this makes them look professional today.</p>
<p>It’s harder to change your brain than it is to change your wardrobe.</p>
<p>^ Dress for success, not a teenager.</p>
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<p>Or I can respond with the post as written as my basis. The obvious way to avoid people misinterpreting what you say is to write what you mean, not something else entirely. Especially given the possibility of, given infinite time, still not reaching your arbitrary conclusion.</p>
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<p>Yes, one of my assumptions (that I did not mention before) is that “who we are” as people is also entirely under our control, so the question becomes not “let the clothes reflect who I am inside” but “what clothes can I wear that will contribute to my image.” I assume that most people want careers, and should therefore dress as such.</p>
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<p>Yes, this would be the alternative viewpoint, thanks.</p>
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<p>Right, but having coherent and intelligent thoughts wouldn’t hurt your image, either. If people choose to develop themselves mentally before worrying about their outer appearance, then I respect this. </p>
<p>I’m not talking about wearing skinny jeans and a blue mohawk–or any other specific fashion statement.</p>
<p>I’m talking about people who don’t spend as much time thinking about fashion until they’ve developed themselves in others ways first. Worthwhile people respect productivity, conscientiousness, and intelligence more than they respect the matching belt and shoes. That’s my opinion anyways. Clearly, dressing well is a faster way to gain a good image.</p>
<p>for christs sake, what platts is saying isn’t brain surgery to grasp.
not following trends =/= dressing inappropriately.
obviously when someone “wears what they want” they should also use some common sense of whether it’s appropriate for a situation. that should have been understood without needing to be said…
this isn’t that difficult.</p>
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<p>Not really true in business world. There are a variety of professional appearances, but they’re all typical trends by now. </p>
<p>I’m saying that this is irrelevant to a college student. He/she shouldn’t have to follow professional trends and shouldn’t be judged for not following such trends. He/she should focus on other things that are harder to gain quickly.</p>
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<p>I think (!) what some people, including myself, are saying is that fashion shouldn’t really need to be thought about in the manner that you are saying. Buy a suit. Buy some nice shirts. Buy some ties. etc.</p>
<p>@WantsBrown: thanks for the input. I’ll file that away with PL’s.</p>