Before looking at the brand of a cute bag or dress, start by questioning the story behind that piece and what you find interesting about it — fashion can be more accessible, inclusive and fun than what you already think it is. 

As much as fashion freaks have this deep admiration for fashion: the runways, the backstage, the creative processes of great designers, the conversations around their craft, the stories, the passion, the color, the glamour, the celebration of women and feminine beauty; the same freaks also love its rawness, its mundane simplicity, the social questions it raises, the history it holds, the creative energy it sparks, the struggles, the weirdness, the hard work, the flaws and the many challenges we still need to solve as a society.

But before you start reading this article; nobody should tell you what to wear this fall. Why would anyone want to copy what the masses are wearing for a couple of weeks? Where’s individuality in that? 

It seems students at the University of Miami feel pressure to dress a certain way to fit what the university seems to expect. There’s a real stereotype that embodies specific brands, designer bags and braggy accessories chosen by a kind of unspoken majority vote, until it starts to feel like the campus norm and everyone ends up wearing the same things. 

We covered this in a Distraction piece on campus fashion, listing what students are wearing nowadays around the school. It is not breaking news that the most popular brands among UM students are the most expensive ones as well. Most people do not care about fashion; and that is totally acceptable, everyone have different interest and clothes cannot always be present, not even as a second thought. The problem comes when students claim to be invested in it or start judging others without looking inwards in the first place. 

However, many students cannot afford the same expensive look. For the 88% of UM students who received some form of scholarship last year, those stereotypes around wealth and clothing can be extremely exclusionary.

What you wear should be a reflection of your own culture: your roots, the media you consume, the things you do, the people you look up to. That’s what actually builds personal style: something specific and unpredictable.

So here I am, writing about this fall season’s trends, but proposing a different mindset around the clothes we wear as students at UM.

Fashion Trends, But Make It Personal

The fashion industry is the framework that holds the ever-changing pop culture together. Fashion weeks, led by the houses with the most influence, set conversations in motion that eventually trickle down through other ready-to-wear collections to end up in our closets.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to know what’s most talked about. It’s worth paying attention to what our generation gravitates toward, which voices and people are steering the masses, what gets questioned vs. what gets accepted. Fashion, after all, is a reflection of our world, made by the people and interpreted by the most influential creative directors and artists of the moment or from the past.

The industry exists to be read, to be traced back to its why, because trends are really just patterns. You interpret what people are wearing, and then you keep whatever actually resonates with your life and your way of seeing the world. 

And then, it is up to you to challenge it

At the end of the day, caring about the monetary value of an object will never be enough. If you are just wearing something for the sake of showing up the price of the tag — it shows. Instead, the story behind a piece will always be worth more: where the inspiration came from, how cheap you found a high-quality secondhand, which family member it came from, the local artist you bought it from, how old it is and what it’s lived through with you.

Fashion isn’t meant to be followed and consumed unconsciously, like a scroll through social media. Clothing exists to be picked up, mixed, contradicted, lived in and then worn in your own way.

Fall Trends

These are some of the trends coming out of the fall/winter runway shows from top houses such as Chanel, Gucci, Marni, Dior, and Mugler,  in Paris and Milan earlier this year — for those of you looking to the masters for inspiration:

Texture: velvet, suede, studs, beads, lace, feathers. Anything that screams grunge, old and fun. Art Deco-inspired satin tassels and fringes.

Palette: teal, olive green, saturated blues, hot pink and red, big on purple tones–with burgundy/plum as the “new black.”

Silhouettes: 2000s gym look, deep scoop necks, long duster cardigans, dropped waists, balloon trousers, high-waisted straight jeans, flowy and romantic dresses over jeans.

Outerwear: army jackets, colorful 90s pants, funnel necks, ponchos and loafers.

Accessories: oversized belt buckles, bandanas, chunky hair clips, mix of gold and silver, fun scarves around the neck and hair, handmade maximalist jewelry and any type of animal prints: leopard, zebra, horse hair, deer, python, croc. 

Making a comeback: it is all about denim buttoned shirts and midi skirts, funky shoes, thrifted satin fabrics with a 1920s look, flannel long skirts and anything with a plaid pattern.

Being literate in these trends can be a big help. Trends offer a new lens when looking at what already exists in your closet. Inspired by the purple I keep seeing on the runways and in productions, I can finally reach for that cardigan I never used to wear, except now I see potential in it, even when it has no branding; I learn the perspective of the experts, and then I have new ideas on how to include new looks into my week.

There’s also something to be said for shared wardrobes  — wearing what already circulated in another country for another decade and giving it new life in your own daily life. 

Consuming fashion intentionally like this connects you to your heritage and brings you closer to a creative community without buying anything new or even saying a single word. Meanwhile, collect personal references: people you already know, from history or someone you admire who has nothing to do with fashion. 

Get inspired and play with clothes. 

Should we follow fall trends? Maybe, or maybe what we should really wear is our own personal culture, the one rooted in familiarity, references and contradictions. It’s about reading what’s already circulating, then creating something new.

words&photo_valentina mena

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