Let's suppose an outside observer were to take a glance at Duke or any other U.S. campus for that matter and look at its student body as a whole. If what they saw was the two Duke students featured in this month's issue of DMAG (go towards the end of the post for more about this exciting publication) things could not be better. However his or her first impression of the college sense of style cannot be best described by a bell-curve distribution that ranges from the pathological slob to the campus fashionista as expected but is sadly rather more skewed towards the former category.
What I personally think is that the average Dukies alongside most other college students are quite lazy when it comes down to dressing up (pun intended) and going to class. I can vouch that my friends are probably already tired of me kindly reprimanding them for wearing sweats to class or flip-flops in sub-32 December weather although I hope that they do not take it amiss (It's all from the heart guys!).
I'm sure all of you Dukies reading this, have either heard, thought of or used one of the worn-out excuses of how strapped for time you are in the morning, how nobody cares about what they wear anyway or how seeing others slacking in terms of appearance justifies your doing the same.
Fashion should definitely not be a chore and nobody has ever said that you should leave your dorm room in the morning as if you were going to prom. All we're saying is that you should spend a bare minimum of 5 minutes every night or if otherwise occupied, in the morning, thinking about what you would like to wear. When I find myself strapped for time I utilize my daily shower time to try to think of something nice to wear. Now isn't that multitasking at its premium and is it too much to ask? I'm not going to go into much detail about what I approve of per se, because I and many others believe fashion is a choice of personal style, much like one's taste in music, food, etc but I will say that if you do tend to abuse that favourite Blue Hoodie, that matching pair of sweat pants or worse the matching Crocs, you are on your way to become a victim of your own doing. College is our last "playground" before actually stepping into the real world and if we don't all participate in this exciting game pr better yet this preamble of pretend, chances are the real world will not be too kind with you when your times come to really give those sweats away ( Just think how you would cope now without having ever played pretend shopping as a child. Would you be as able to shop for your daily items?).
Now if you really can't quit wearing your Snuggie, Crocs or Sweats entirely, you can have at least a couple of days every week where you try putting on a nice pair of jeans or a clean ironed shirt, don a tie if you're a guy (or not if you are comfortable with it) even if you're not going to a semi-formal. and wear any pair of shoes other than your running sneakers, which if you were wondering are not actually meant for day-to-day use.
But enough annoying banter and more of what I am really excited to present to you. I have recently been introduced to a new publication, dubbed DMAG, created and published entirely by Duke students. DMag deals with fashion from a student's perspective and is more importantly written for students. This makes it more than perfect for a campus-wide distribution, maybe along with the Chronicle as a monthly supplement?! The writing style is very accessible for all student readers all the while keeping away from being over-pompous. The magazine features many interesting articles that deal with campus style, local fashion outlets, world fashion news and not only! I have especially enjoyed the pictorials featured in the magazine and I say this not only because I know quite a few of the people featured in them or that the setting is one of the locations that is most dear to me, but because they are well thought and quite aesthetically pleasing(the "Campus Sartorialist" on page 51 was definitely a kicker!).
You can find the online version of DMAG for free here and access the DMAG blog, which I predict will soon take off quite nicely, here.
I am definitely looking forward from seeing your next issue DMAG!
