We live in Florida, so obviously it’s hot. Some of us are prepared for any situation in the scorching and ever-changing weather, but some of us aren’t.
What I mean by this is, some of us dress for class and some of us look like we’re prepared to hit the beach or ready for a night out.
Quite a few of the outfits we see around campus might be attractive for those situations, but class is not the ideal place for booty shorts or bathing suits. It’s your right to wear anything you’d like, but it’s also distracting to everyone around you. Not that I’m looking, but I can tell the guy next to you is.
Dressing for class is different than “dressing up” for the Grove. When you walk into class, you also don’t want to look like you just rolled out of bed or just left the gym.
Nowadays, there’s a fine line between casual and dolled-up, and we try to strike it right every day. This can be hard for a lot of people, including myself. I find that I often get stuck in a fashion rut. My typical uniform tends to be black or grey jeans, a black or grey tee and an olive green utilitarian jacket that I’ve been wearing since my freshman year of high school. Everyone has their own “uniform,” and if yours is a bit more revealing, that’s entirely your choice–but you might get some unwanted attention from the more vocal men on campus.
In an article by business insider, Darlene Price, president of Well Said Inc. states “let’s be clear: In the big picture of ultimate reality, what you wear neither defines who you are as a person nor determines your value as a human being, however, in the temporal realm of mere mortals, fair or not, people judge us by the way we look and that includes the way we dress.” While this may be true, you should never dress how others tell or expect you to.
This is college, so you can wear whatever you want whenever you want to, whether that may be a bathing suit while baking brownies or a cocktail dress while cramming in Club Richter. However, we all want to represent ourselves in the best light, so wear what you’re most comfortable in. If you’re most comfortable in bathing suits and booty shorts, more power to you, but remember that while you might be able to get away with it in class, your future boss might have something else to say.
All of our professors worked hard to be where they are today. They went to school for years on end to teach, and it isn’t respectful to walk into class looking like you just took a walk of shamelessness. Be proud of who you are, take fashion risks, but also consider your audience.
Lastly, I would like to get one thing straight: bathing suits are not okay to wear to class. I know we live in Miami and the pool is a great afternoon break, but laundry day is the only valid excuse for donning a bathing suit outside the UC pool. A white t-shirt with a wet bathing suit has never been a good look. Am I completely innocent? No. But I’ve also grown and learned from my experiences. We should all at least try cover up before going to class with our 70-something year old professor.
Let’s try save the spandex and bikinis for South Beach.