Through the surges of trendy young adults, stylish clothes of decades past return with a vengeance. The ’90s are back, with trendy mom jeans and baggy bomber jackets.
These clothes were once widely scorned, but it’s clear in this flashback moment, ‘mom jeans’ and dusty Nike sneakers are a symbol of style. Students wearing them are marked as both fashion-forward and thrift savvy.
The oft-mocked fanny pack has also made a comeback, and many St. Thomas University residence advisors can be seen sporting the literally hip alternative to purses. Inside them they keep supplies for students in need, ranging from condoms to granola bars.
Sarah Kohut, a Harrington Hall RA, thought the anti-purse fad was a bit ridiculous at first.
“I’m not going to lie, when I first saw people wearing fanny packs, I thought they were cool for festival attire, but then when people wore them outside of festivals I found it looked kind of silly,” she said.
She stops to laugh, pointing to the fanny pack in the corner of the room.
“Until I bought one. Then I was like, ‘Wow! these are super handy!’ so now I’m on board. Fanny packs any time of day, whenever.”
Another popular trend for today’s youth is to thrift, searching local goodwill stores, Salvation Armys, or even Value Villages to grab the trendiest clothes on a budget.
First-year student Rachel Smith loves thrifting and can be found wearing vintage attire head-to-toe.
“The shoes were more pricey, around $30, the pants were probably like $5. The jacket was free, because it was actually a gift from my friend who thrifted it too,” said Smith.
Smith likes the prices of thrift clothes because it allows her to experiment with different styles without wasting money.
“[The jacket] was from our local thrift shop in Maine, and the jeans were from Goodwill. I think it’s so cool that if you were scared about wearing a piece of risky clothing, a style that was like, not as safe, that you can try that through thrifting without spending a lot of money.”
Stylish fashion tends to be expensive, but the thrifty chic movement offers today’s styles at a lower price. However, Smith cautions others against going too crazy with thrift shopping.
“Money’s still money,” she said. “You can’t just buy whatever you want, but you can still try pieces you usually wouldn’t.”
