Fit Fascinations & Current Style Obsessions

& Current Fit Fascinations

Style Obsessions

by Janani Varadarajan

As leaves change color and the weather turns cooler, knitted sweaters, trench coats, and wool pants become commonplace on campus. The Bulletin decided to interview four Barnard students about their favorite pieces of clothing at the moment and the stories behind them. Jill Pasewark, BC ’22, talked about a pair of vintage wool pants she considers a favorite staple for fall. These high-waisted, wide-legged pants feature a navy and maroon houndstooth pattern and cider-colored tones. She recalls buying the pants at Miss Ruth’s Time Bomb, a vintage store she frequents in her hometown of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and loving them immediately. She would initially feel self-conscious about wearing them to high school; classmates at school once thought she had dressed up in a historical outfit to get extra credit in her AP U.S. History class, she joked. These woolly pants are warm, they swish gracefully as she walks, and they are a comforting classic for the fall. Jill likes to style the pants with chunky loafers or sneakers for a more everyday look and also likes to pair it with a cream cardigan or a navy turtleneck to bring out its colors. Mia Eng-Kohn, BC ’23, said her favorite piece of clothing is a pair of flowing, colorful pants. She came across them at a vintage clothing stand near campus. She remembers the day, it was after she had committed to Barnard and was with her mother, a Barnard alumna. The pants are a thin, cotton material in a patchwork-like design. They feature Asian-inspired motifs that recall elements of Mia’s culture, as her mother’s family is from China. She felt apprehensive about wearing them in high school because of their distinctive look, so by wearing them now, Mia embodies a greater sense of confidence, and it certainly does not hurt that she regularly receives compliments every time she wears them. Mia styles the pants with a crop top, layered necklaces, and platform sneakers in the summer. In the fall, she likes to wear them with a sweater and chunky black boots. Mallory Evans, BC ’22, spoke about a corset she got from Illisa’s Vintage Lingerie. She was able to chat at length with the owner Illisa, who is a renowned seller of vintage lingerie and has dressed actors in major Broadway productions. Her store contains racks of lingerie from years past, with some as old as a hundred years, and Mallory enjoyed hearing about Illisa’s captivating stories and her love for clothes. “I personally love lingerie, I think it is such a special and intimate type of clothing [that get’s] misinterpreted as meant for men...I am against that, I think it is to celebrate yourself and your body,” Mallory said. The corset is now being revived among younger generations, perhaps because it is a way to reclaim lingerie as freeing rather than limiting. Mallory styles the corset casually with high-waisted jeans and sneakers and for a more feminine, formal look, wears it over a dress or with a skirt. Maya Handa, BC ’24, talked about a burgundy leather jacket that she thrifted from Buffalo Exchange. She did not thrift before coming to Barnard where she learned about the problems with fast fashion and thrifting as a more sustainable solution. The jacket is memorable because it was the first piece she thrifted and the first clothing item she wore to meet people on campus. The jacket is unique; it is cropped and funky, and through wearing it, she felt she could express herself in the best way to new people. “I always associate what I wear with events,” Maya said and the jacket marked her transition from home to college. She wears the jacket often, with a turtleneck or a dress, and it adds a subtle pop of color to any outfit in a way that a black leather jacket cannot. The students’ reflections not only offer insightful fashion tips, they also reveal that our clothes can unlock vivid memories from the past. As you pick your outfit tomorrow, pay extra attention to your choices; they might give you more control over how you are perceived and allow you to transcend your limits.