Style Without a Sweat
The Third Installment of Fashion Advice Column for Busy College Students
By GRACE TWOREK
Can fashion trends really be cool and comfortable?
What I learned the fastest at Harvard wasn’t what I was reading in my Spanish textbook or taking away from my Math p-set, but rather how the students at Harvard really approach style. Not only do they have style, but they are consistently popping out for class day after day… even if that means wearing four-inch booties through a snow-covered Harvard Yard.
Ivy League style is more than just polo shirts and preppy sweaters, and I picked up on this pretty quickly. The world of fashion is constantly changing so pinpointing specific pieces from your closet and implementing them into your “class” wardrobe can be a challenge. This leads me into a trend that will make you feel like Hailey Baldwin as you walk into Emerson for that dreaded Econ class.
Who would have thought dressing up sweatpants could not only be a thing – but actually a stylish thing?
That’s right, the trend of dressing up sweatpants and comfy clothes has been a total hit this fashion season. Now that we know that our mom might actually not scold us for wearing sweats out of the comfort of our own home, we must understand how to really pull this look off.
Start with the perfect pair of baggy, but not too baggy sweatpants… a pair that screams “I didn’t sleep in these, but I could if I wanted to”. Now the fun part comes in… How exactly do we dress them up? For me, the easiest way to do this is by pairing them with my favorite healed bootie or a pair of my coolest sneakers. Keep it crisp and simple- a pair of fresh Nike Air Forces or a sleek pair of neutral tone booties if you want to make the look more sleek.
The top is where you can get creative. Since the bottom half of the look is more on the looser side, the top half can be something more fitted- like a simple tank top, bodysuit, or cropped sweatshirt. This look is all about effortlessness styled in a way that looks put together with a sense of ease and simplicity.
Yeah, you might be wearing sweatpants, but you also might look like you walked right off the Yeezy runway and right into class if done right. Sweatpants are often tied to the idea of someone not having their shit together and sometimes at Harvard this can be a hard truth for some to accept.
My advice- put those sweats on, style them with ease, grab your coffee, head to class and for once during your time at Harvard accept the fact that maybe you don’t have your shit together… but at least you’re rocking it with style.
Grace Tworek ‘21 (gtworek@college.harvard.edu) loves giving fashion advice.