Sandwiched between the center of an inescapable industry that
tells us that image is everything, and an academic universe that
prefers having original thoughts to dressing to impress, it should
come as no surprise that UCLA students are a little lost in the
wilderness when it comes to fashion.
Each day these two rival ideologies meet for a showdown of epic
proportions right here in Westwood. In a world where tweed jackets
with patched elbows meet Marc Jacobs, the result seems to be that
rather than picking one side or another, UCLA students are throwing
up their hands and choosing to wear the most innocuous and
comfortable items of clothing they can find.
“We’re kind of in a bubble,” said Catherine
Royalty, a library and information science graduate student.
“You can pick out the arty kids and the theater students, but
otherwise, it’s just a fashion wasteland.”
If it is a wasteland, it’s probably not a lonely one.
Certainly UCLA cannot be the only college campus in the country
where T-shirts, jeans and flip-flops are the unofficial uniform of
the student body. And no doubt other institutes of higher learning
located in California suffer from the same fashion doldrums
associated with a climate that allows people to wear pretty much
the same thing year round. Of course students on the East coast
look more put together than their ultra-casual counterparts in the
West ““ they get all those great scarves and mittens with
which to accessorize.
But one hugely popular garment does seem to make UCLA stand out
from other schools: the tried-and-true, gold-and-blue UCLA
sweatshirt.
Easily spotted in every corner of campus where students
congregate, the UCLA sweatshirt has over the years, become
something of a mandatory staple in any Bruin’s wardrobe.
“I got (my UCLA sweatshirt) because all my friends were
getting theirs,” explained Armando Contreras, a second-year
undeclared student, as he sat eating his lunch on a break from his
job at Jimmy’s ““ and of course, wearing his UCLA
sweatshirt.
“It’s almost like if you don’t have one,
there’s something wrong with you,” Contreras said.
Although sources at both USC and Stanford report that students
on those campuses do don clothing emblazoned with their school
logos to a certain degree, there can be no doubt that UCLA students
seem uniquely willing to risk appearing a tad gauche by proudly
displaying their college choice at the very location they least
need to do so.
The virtual sea of school-spirited attire present on UCLA
grounds could be explained as evidence of an overwhelming amount
of, well, school spirit, but fourth-year psychology student Adva
Levi thinks it may have more to do with a desire not to stand out
too much.
“Especially during finals week, everyone else looks like
shit anyway,” Levi said. “You just want to blend in.
And you want to wear comfortable clothes because you’re so
busy studying.”
Levi, a customer service supervisor in the apparel department of
the UCLA Store, has noticed that the classic navy and gray
silk-screened UCLA sweatshirts are the most popular with
undergraduate students, probably because they cost a little less
than the embroidered versions. And despite having spent the last
two years selling Bearwear to parents, tourists and students alike,
Levi hasn’t avoided joining the rest of flock.
“I wear my UCLA sweatshirt all the time,” she said.
“I bought it at orientation, and I’ve worn it ever
since.”