Scot Style

I’ll admit it: I procrastinate by looking at style blogs. While my Twitter feed is littered with posts from the NY Times, the United Nations, and Haaretz, I tend to go to sites such as The Sartorialist when I really need a little break. As an enthusiastic traveler and photographer, I love seeing how people around the world are expressing themselves through dress.

I use style blogs to check out what’s going on at home in New York, how people are adorning themselves in Buenos Aires (where I’ll soon be studying abroad)— I even looked up blogs for Bogotá before I went to visit some family this summer! Yet even though I love following these sites, I’ve never thought of making one of my own. So when the time came to put together my own blogpost, my choice of topic was clear. 

Earlier this school year, I overheard a fellow Mac student observe, “Eighties sweaters, clothes from Goodwill, girls with shaved heads— that’s what’s in style here!” I thought this was a pretty succinct, slightly reductive but nonetheless hilarious description of student style. While some college campuses are populated by students wearing the identical uniform of sweatpants, parkas, and Ugg boots, Macalester students tend to class it up a bit.

Of course, everyone has their sweatpants days, especially during midterms. But when we aren’t all covered in fleece-lined jersey, Macalester kids do sometimes get a rep for being swaddled in flannel and skinny jeans—but that’s not exactly descriptive either. Mac kids definitely prioritize creativity over labels and variety over uniformity. My classmates come from many states and countries, and these influences are definitely expressed through the diversity of student style. Students are often wearing creative ensembles in a variety of looks—flowing skirts in springtime, layered socks in winter, structured jackets, hair of every color, and yes, ’80s sweaters from Goodwill. Student’s wear T-shirts for their sports teams or political party, pants in a variety of patterns, and boots of every color and height imaginable.

Given our weather extremes, Macalester students are also adept at dressing through a variety of weather circumstances. As soon as the temperatures go above 60 and the sun is shining, you can see people in colorful dresses, shorts, and tank tops all over campus. When the ground is covered in snow, we all become layering experts.

But pictures say it better. Here are some photos of friends and classmates (mostly female - I guess I should add a disclaimer that this is a skewed sample!) I took over a couple weeks this fall, highlighting just a few of the artful outfits you’ll see walking around the Macalester campus.