How to Select Clothes for College

By eHow Fashion, Style & Personal Care Editor

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Where you go to school greatly influences what sort of clothes you'll take with you. If your school is in a different part of the state or country than your hometown, you could encounter a whole new climate. And depending on your school's spirit, certain colors may be taboo on big game days.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Step1

Get the scoop on your college town's year-round forecast. Learn about the annual snow fall, whether it rains a little or a lot, and the number of sunny days per year.

Step2

Pull what you can from your existing wardrobe, then fill in the gaps. Think heavy coats, all-weather shoes, thick socks and long underwear for the Northeast; rain slickers, sweaters and long pants for the Northwest, and shorts, skirts and tees for California, Arizona and Florida.

Step3

Think back to your campus visit, or flip through the college catalogue for candid shots of the student body. If it's important to you to fit in with the crowd, this will be the best gauge of campus style.

Step4

Inquire about the attire customary for rushing a fraternity or sorority. If you plan to rush, many chapters encourage a particular dress code for various days, and as a pledge, a dressy or formal attire may be required for a series of events.

Step5

Remember to pack some loungewear and relatively new underwear. You'll probably be bunking in tight quarters with relative strangers, so you'll be visible at every turn.

Step6

Save some of your clothing budget for your first few weeks on campus. College logo T-shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants are a favorite among most students and are the perfect thing to wear when rooting your team on to victory.

Tips & Warnings

Pack what you need for your first quarter or semester, then get additional items over the Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday.
Figure out the colors of your college's arch rival and weed them out of your wardrobe.
Darker colors hide the dirt better, and since washing machines may be in limited supply, these may see more wearings than whites and pastels.

Comments

lania19 said

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on 9/12/2007 In college, you'll be friends will people of all "appearances" that you'd never think you'd be friends with. Everyone's style is either very common/casual to very extreme, but that's rarely seen. So any apparel goes--"whatever floats your boat!" Some tend to dress a little more grown up in their 2nd/3rd year, b/c they're entering a professional world and want to play that part. But definitely get a lot of lounging pieces for studying, hanging out, early classes. Also, loungewear in the bookstore is WAY more expensive than at the mall, double priced most of the time.

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 -Make sure all your shoes are very comfortable, you will be walking a lot more than you ever did.
-Make sure you have good gear for all sorts of weather, since you will be outside more than you were in high school as well.
-If you happen to be a science major, feel free to bring along a couple of rattier shirts and pants, you will feel a lot more comfortable wearing those in chem lab than your brand-new, expensive sweater. That also goes for any other class in which you can expect to get dirty.
-Sweatshirts and sweaters are your friends, especially if the buildings for your classes differ drastically in temperature like mine do, it's useful to dress in layers.

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 For some reason, you need a hoodie in college. Whether to louge or what. Make it your own with your school's logo or favorite band logo... whatever.
What you wear can be a lot more lucritive and fun as well as varying in college. Those snide remarks in the restroom don't happen at most colleges. No one really cares what kind of jean you are wearing or how much you paid for them.
The thrift store can be your new best friend.

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 Be sure to bring your most comfortable shoes as you will most likely be doing a lot of walking/running or biking. High heels or high platforms are virtually impossible to wear on a daily basis around campus.