The fashion in South Carolina has come as a bit of a shock to
my high-street filled suitcase and I keep on getting the dress code wrong time
and time again. Although I’m no Carrie Bradshaw or Vogue journalist, like most
other girls on this planet, I like to shop, a lot! I’m the kind of girl who
will always be complaining about having a wardrobe full of clothes but nothing
to wear! Though I don’t tend to count shopping as cardio I think I’m already
starting to get Topshop withdrawal symptoms, and my nearest one is over a ten
hour drive away in New York. Help me!
I’m no fashionista but I know my basics when it comes to
clothes and accessories; avoid double denim, orange is a hideous colour (and
also the colour of our rival University – Clemson!), navy blue and black is
never a good idea and whoever
said that money can't buy happiness doesn't know where to go shopping….
So here is my guide to the top ten fashion crimes that guys
and girls commit every day on the USC campus:
1) ‘Norts’ – Also known as loose fitting nike
shorts. Apparently you aren’t a true Carolina girl if you don’t own a pair. Available
in every luminous colour you can dream of these would be fab for the gym or
working out but no, deceptively, these are the most stylish item in a girls' wardrobe
and everyone lives in them.
2) The baggy t-shirt look – To go alongside with
the ‘norts’ oversized t-shirts are left, right and centre. Forget a fitted
shirt or anything that actually makes you look like you have a waist. In the South
when girls do casual they mean dress for class as if you’re having a hung-over
day lazing on the sofa.
3) Jack Rodgers – Two words immediately come to
mind when I think of these sandals: hideous and expensive. These uncomfortable
looking sandals cost $110 and are the must have item of every Sorority girls ‘closet’.
If they were a little prettier maybe I could understand, but spending that much
money on a pair of flip flops when everyone else already owns a pair just cries boring to
me!
4) Cowboy boots – I’m not going to lie, I do love a
good pair of cowboy boots, but there is a time and a place. Dressing up like a
cowgirl? Perfect! Pretending you’re in Footloose? Great! Wearing them to class
with denim shorts that seem to be missing half the material? Trashy! Come on
girls, if they’re not for a fancy dress event, I don’t think they’re very
acceptable.
5) Flat caps and visors – When I was younger my
parents went to all sorts of trouble to make me wear a sun hat in the hot
summer months, but here it’s like a second skin. Flat cap central! Both boys
and girls wear them (even in class may I add!) and apparently it’s ‘cool’.
6) ‘Fratire’ – By this term I mean what the Fraternity
boys wear. You can tell them apart just from looking at them. Boat shoes, Polo
Ralph Lauren shirts, khaki ‘pants’ accessorised with a pair of Ray Bans or
Oakleys. Easy to spot? I think so!
7) Chubbies shorts– This is the ultimate Fraternity
clothing brand. Described on the website as ‘Comfortable, flexible, aerodynamic
and most of all utterly Radical, Chubbies are everything a short should be and
more’. Apparently your thighs will thank you?
8) Sunglasses Neck Strap – The only time I have
ever seen anyone wear a sunglasses neck strap at home has been my Dad when he’s
out sailing. So first of all, if my Dad uses them, they’re probably not the
most fashionable thing to be seen wearing, and secondly, he uses them for sport
so his sunglasses don’t fall off into the water, not just for everyday use! I
just don’t get it! The boys here all have them, but why? In case a huge gust of
wind comes along and blows them off your face? We humans do have noses you know….
9) Backpacks – I used a rucksack throughout Secondary
school but since turning 16 the only time I’ve found a use for one has been for
my Swim Kit. Walking between classes I seem to be floating amongst hundreds of
backpacks, and there I am with my DKNY handbag looking a little out of place.
At school having a rucksack was something you could be picked on for, but the
tables are turned here, rucksacks are in and handbags out.
10) Cocks merchandise – If you haven’t gathered by
now, the USC mascot is a Cockerel, fittingly named ‘Cocky’ and our athletics
teams are called the ‘Gamecocks’. This invites everyone to splash out on
tshirts with the word ‘COCKS’ in large bold letters to show how proud they are
to be a Gamecock. I still can’t help but slightly cringe every time I see
someone repping one of these, it may be the standard thing to do here but I definitely
could not get away with wearing anything like that at home.
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