Most Fashionable Colleges

As the old adage suggests, ‘we are what we wear,’ except in college. While students enjoy the freedom of walking into an 8 a.m. class in pajamas and a hooded sweatshirt, we’ve found 10 schools where such an act is scrutinized.

1 - Parsons the New School for Design
Marc Jacobs.  Anna Sui.  Proenza Schouler. These individuals, among the many who attended Parsons, are household names for fashion amateurs and gurus alike. The school fosters extreme creativity and puts the forward in fashion-forward, focusing less on marketability and more on the art of fashion; the side that not everybody might understand. This year, Parsons alumni swept the Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards (think the Oscars of fashion!) — and in the fashion world, you don’t get more prestigious than that.
 
2 – NYU
Located in trendy Greenwich Village (in even trendier Manhattan), it’s no surprise that NYU’s students showcase the best in style. In 2003, Women’s Wear Dailyranked the university as the most fashionable school in the U.S., and in 2011, The Huffington Post said the same. And with its students winning prestigious fashion scholarships from the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund, the best-dressed title is well deserved.

3 - Rhode Island School of Design
It’s not easy making it into the lineup at New York Fashion Week, but the students at RISD have such an eye for style that their pieces have been featured on the fashion week runways, made possible through a collaboration with Ellemagazine, Kate Spade and Maybelline. The school is home to a slew of creative minds, ranging from art students to film students and architecture and fashion junkies — and if they weren’t cutting edge, would the top dogs in the industry find them a highly-coveted spot at New York Fashion Week?
 
4 - Howard University
Approximately two-thirds of the student body at Howard is female, which means that competition is fierce, not just in relationships, but for fashion as well. The school has a highly regarded fashion merchandising program, which academically, is up-to-par with the industry. Academics aside, personal style is also at a high: both Women’s Wear Dailyand The Huffington Post have said that Howard is one of the nation’s best-dressed schools.

5 – Princeton
Students at Princeton are the epitome of classic Ivy League style. These East Coast fashionistas put on well-attended and high-profit fashion shows for charity. Well-dressed for a good cause? We’ll take it. The students’ refined style hasn’t gone unnoticed--last year, GQ did a feature on street style at Princeton, which almost makes us wonder if a penchant for style is a requirement for admission.
 
6 - Fashion Institute of Technology
Graduates of FIT have gone on to take over every aspect of the fashion industry from commercial fashion (Chloe Dao of Project Runway) to high fashion (Carolina Herrera, Nanette Lepore, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein) and from models (Naomi Sims) to editors (Joe Zee of Elle and Nina Garcia of Marie Claire). Though FIT offers majors not necessarily related to fashion, the application is fashion-based — so it’s guaranteed that its students are completely chic.

7 - University of Chicago
The University of Chicago may be where fun goes to die, but at least its students are making excellent use of those long hours in the library. The school’s fashion magazine, Moda Chicago, has an active presence online and in print, and with a large number of sponsors including Dior, Rent the Runway, lululemon athletica, Toms, Saks Fifth Avenue, Club Monaco and more, maybe it’s about time to reassess the university’s bookworm reputation.
 
8 - Florida State University
Apparel and Textiles are among the most popular majors at FSU, and it’s evident why — ranked the third most fashionable by The Huffington Post, students at this university have spread their style far beyond campus boundaries. FSU Fashion Girl is a blog started by one student, whose posts were so popular she counts Kim Kardashian’s company ShoeDazzle.com among her many sponsors. Another student owns La Petite Fashionista,  a blog that garners views from all over the world.

9 - UC Berkeley
The Bay Area has its own unique style and Berkeley students live up to the region’s reputation. In 2005, a group of students started a branch of Fashion and Student Trends (FAST), a California-wide student organization and has been going strong since. While the school does not offer a fashion major, on-campus shows are popular and feature student work on a regular basis.
 
10 - SUNY Purchase
With the most popular major at Purchase being Visual and Performing Arts, you know the students at this New York school are creative thinkers, and since we are what we wear, that artistic talent is reflected in the way they dress. Women’s Wear Daily ranked Purchase College among the top ten most fashionable universities, and for good reason, as students are more prone to making their own outfits than wearing something dictated by the most popular trends.