The university dress code: rags or riches?
When it comes to student style, anything can go. Rosie Kaloki looks at whether the way students dress is about wealth, individuality or simply the need to be cool.
“I want to live like common people, I want to do whatever common people do” sings Jarvis Cocker in the ‘90s Britpop hit Common People, but does this ring true for the ‘trustafarian’ youth of today?
Fitting in
London is a melting pot of cultures, colours, religions and backgrounds, where young people struggle to find their identity through their angst-ridden adolescent years and not all want to be different.
So it stands to reason that university is welcomed by most as a place to shed their old image, and become who they want to be regardless of background.
Therefore, whether you are from a wealthy, modest or working-class background, settling in with as little fuss as possible is a priority.
But for some students does this mean trying to disguise a wealthy background? Central Saint Martins graduate Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam, better known by her stage name, M.I.A, has become the poster girl for the ‘dressing down your riches’ generation.
Usually seen in a mix of vintage clothes and sportswear with leggings, M.I.A emphasises her subversive social position.
Although in reality M.I.A is well connected and at home with the rich and famous – she shared a house with Luella Bartley and her boyfriend is part of the Canadian Bronfman liquor dynasty – her ‘outsider’ status has definitely given her kudos on the music and fashion scene.
Unlike regular higher education institutions, attending an art school can make it even harder to distinguish who does or doesn’t have money.
However, this is not about the rich/poor divide, but about why it can be cool to dress down.
So why would someone with money want to dress or live as though they are down and out? We asked UAL students for their opinions.
Think style
“I’m not ashamed to admit I come from a privileged background” said 22-year-old Harriet Burton from Camberwell Art College.
“But real life is not like 90210 or The OC, having money does not make me automatically look like some sort of designer reject.
I have my own thoughts, personality and style and want to reflect that through my clothing.”
“It definitely isn’t cool to be poor. To actlike you are implies a temporary state of being, and poverty isn’t that temporary. For those who do, it looks like a guilt complex or a very in joke to me” commented London College of Communication mature student, Sandra Evans.
So is fitting in the name of the game regardless of your bank balance?
The rise of the mass media has had a huge impact on fashion in society and so, too, has the music scene, both influencing what is considered ‘cool’.
Perhaps, rather than dressing in a poor manner, is it more an issue of dressing to fit a trend or even trying to be ‘individual’?
Former LCC student Brad Ferguson sums this notion up perfectly: “The music press tends to pick up on a band’s upbringing depending on whether the artist is liked. It can really do a lot for someone’s reputation, often negatively, and that is why most ‘it’ girls/boys keep their bank balances a little more private.”
He went on to add: “Of course it depends on your perception of poverty. Most people who dress scruffily and ‘trendily’ wouldn’t necessarily say they’re going for the poverty look. I reckon it’s just coincidence that torn skinny jeans, half-cut hair and dirty check shirts happen to be the ‘in’ thing.”
In the same vein, if popular culture deems it acceptable to look a certain way, the masses follow.
Former journalism student, Yvonne Lamunu adds to this argument: “I think they call it ‘hobo chic’ down in Shoreditch. Everyone from art dealers, to Mick Jagger’s kids, look like their stylist is a homeless person. I think it’s a backlash against the Cheryl Cole lookalikes.”
Some students, however, feel unfairly judged: “I just want to be normal and fit in. I don’t want to be judged because of my parents’ money, it’s not mine. It’s not just the poorer sector of society who suffer aspects of discrimination,” said one anonymous student. But others view this interest of a more ‘downtrodden’ existence with little sympathy.
The messy trend
Jarvis Cocker summed it up perfectly in Common People.
It’s always been the same.
They can choose to live their life of dirge and dinginess, but at the end of the day one call to Daddy will always help them along.
An anonymous third-year LCC student added to this, saying: “People pretty much give someone a medal for dressing cheaply, going out on a small budget, or generally spending as little money as possible. At uni there is an anti-middle-class, anti-rich attitude. I think it stems mostly from the fact that when someone has something expensive or a lavish lifestyle the presumption is that they didn’t buy it or pay for it themselves, and is therefore something to be looked down upon.
“When was the last time you heard someone say, ‘Ugh look at her she clearly bought that top from Topshop’? It just doesn’t happen. However, if someone carries a designer bag to university people will wonder why as if it’s some sort of a crime. It’s class insecurities that bred this kind of contempt. When people aren’t happy in their own skin, they look to belittle others.”
So is there truth in the original statement?
Trend at the moment champions the underdog. Movies, music, and celebrities have all glorified the shabby chic/poor and all things associated with it, such as shoddy studio flats or 10 people squatting in an old warehouse.
So being green, reusing rubbish and buying from secondhand stores can be seen as just as cool as having the latest Apple gadget.
Comments:
Post a comment: