In every Facebook picture I am in, I feel as if I am wearing something different. I have to laugh at this because really, I could never fit so many different outfits in the small wardrobe Quinnipiac University provides for me. In reality, I didn’t pay for the low-cut black tank top or the pointy suede boots in those pictures – my roommates did.
It’s so easy to get bored with your clothes these days, that it’s only natural to want to scope through the closets of someone who has a style just a little bit different from yours. I am completely open to this idea simply because it allows more creative leeway when you’re getting dressed.
For instance, last Saturday night I threw on a pair of skinny jeans, a black tank top, and a grey vest. If you’re wondering why I would wear such a drab outfit on a weekend, I don’t blame you. The outfit was about as dull as the loafers my teachers would wear in elementary school. But now I have come to the conclusion that there is a very special reason as to why we are given roommates in college. The reliable friend who sleeps across the bedroom simply took one of her black belts and buckled it snugly around my waist. Voila! The vest had an accessory that made its grey tones more attractive and a fit just a little more complementary to my shape.
I did receive a number of compliments that night. Although I did have to tell all revelers that the idea wasn’t mine, I used the trend my roommate helped me to discover again-I wore a caramel colored belt around a knee-length plaid dress the next night. The trends you learn from your friends, or the belts you borrow from them, will stick with you during the real fashion emergencies.
Sure, I am not one to usually be confused during a fashion crisis, but when such rarity occurs you need backup. Next door, my suitemate practically runs a department store from her cubicle of a bedroom. A shoe rack covers her closet. Plastic drawers under her bed store shirts and tops. Jeans, sweaters, dresses, blouses, silver jewels, and belts overflow from her shelves. Her clothing accommodations make me feel as if I have struck gold-particularly with the red crocheted tube top I wore a few days ago.
Sharing clothes with my roommates has expanded my taste in clothing. As I peruse my J. Crew-obsessed roommate’s cardigans or my retro-inspired suitemate’s espadrille wedges, I come across the pieces I would never think to purchase on my own. Being able to just throw on one of their accruements on any given day makes it all the easier to find exactly what I want to buy in the future.
I have even begun to think that sharing clothes with a roommate can save any college student money. Why should any of us have to buy the same V-neck T-shirts or an all too similar little black dress? If the shoe fits, I say wear it–even if it’s not your own. That’s a few $20 bills you’ll be able to put away for the weekend. It takes the pressure of having to find an outfit that wasn’t recycled off of your shoulders. After all, it would be a fashion crime to show up in two different Facebook albums wearing the same attire.
No matter how much knowledge you have on fashion or how creative you can get with a denim skirt, you’re not expected to be the all-knowing fashion expert of the college community. It helps to observe what those around you are wearing once in a while, so you get ideas and inspirations. If you’re like me, you’ll notice how many times your friends and roommates have worn their new blouse so you know when it’s appropriate to ask to borrow it for an outing to Toad’s Place. Or, you’ll ask where they’ve gotten certain pieces from so you can check out the store for your own purchases.
All in all, sharing clothes with your friends or roommates is beneficial to everyone. You get to wear an exciting new top that you didn’t pay for and your friends get the satisfaction of supplying the most wanted tops to those in need. All your friends on Facebook will be able to see how stylish you are in those tagged photos of you in the clothes you hunted for in someone else’s drawers. Hopefully, they just won’t ask where you got the outfit from.
