Honest Advice for College Students

It’s starting. Moving trucks are prowling Boston’s city streets, stores on college campuses are plying our newest residents with giveaways, and liquor stores are stocking up on High Life and Smirnoff. We here at Boston Daily want to keep the peace, and have offered the newbies valuable advice on how to blend in. Today, we help college students on what not to wear. Stop taping yourself singing “Baby Got Back” at Wal-Mart, kids and pay attention–Harvard doesn’t offer a class in sartorial choices.

Part IV: What To (or Not To) Wear

Boston is coming up in the fashion world. Barneys came to Copley Place, the Natick Collection recently opened and has Massachusetts’ first Nordstrom, among other retail delights. For those on a budget, there are plenty of options for you as well. But tread cautiously, because we’ve noticed some disturbing choices among Boston’s young intellectuals.

For example:

Ladies! Leggings are not pants: The jury is still out on whether leggings are a fashion abomination or a fun trend. We say they’re hideous, but most of you don’t remember the fashion errors made in the ’80s since you were zygotes. We’ve seen young women wearing normal-length shirts with sheer leggings, and the results are not attractive. If you want to wear pants, wear pants.

Conversely, dress-like shirts should not be worn bare-legged: Seems like we’re contradicting ourselves here, doesn’t it? We tell you not to wear leggings, then tell you to put them on. But the racks are stocked with items that aren’t definitively shirts or dresses, and we’ve seen women wearing these butt-brushing styles without leggings. One stiff breeze and you’ll have a Britney Spears-like flashing incident, and nobody wants that.

Put your collars down: You look like an idiot. Seriously. Knock it off. Especially egregious are the two-shirt popped collars. Stop it.

Hats on straight, gentlemen: This is not 1990 and you are not Turtle, therefore, we wear our baseball caps like kids sit in elementary school–facing forward.

Graphic t-shirts should be handled with the utmost caution: We love a smart t-shirt as much as the next person. However, there are some that paint you four shades of stupid. Such as this one (unless worn ironically by a skinny geek or a woman). Don’t even think about this one. If you don’t want your Mom to see you in it, don’t wear it.

One trend at a time: This is what bothers us most about college kids– they layer on trends like sorority girls layer on foundation. You don’t need to pair leggings with Uggs and seventeen belts. Pick a trend, and rock it.

There are better bookstores than Barnes and Noble: Bostonians love to read, and we have plenty of independent bookstores that we love (and you should too). Brookline Booksmith, Trident Booksellers, Brattle Book Shop, and many others are great alternatives to the mega-bookstores.

There are places other than Newbury Street to shop: Yes, it’s fun to people-watch on Boston’s greatest outdoor shopping mall, but it’s not the only place to go. Harvard Square is fast losing it’s small-store feel, but is still worth a look. Charles Street is far more quaint (and more difficult to navigate) than Newbury. Despite the closing of the original Filene’s Basement, Downtown Crossing is still home to shoe mecca DSW and bargain stores Marshalls and TJ Maxx. Venture away from campus and visit a new neighborhood.

Did we miss anything? Let the young’uns know in the comments.