Now that summer, and warmth as we know it, has sprung a leak, more than cold weather is being reintroduced to Blacksburg. As swiftly as any sign or feeling of warmth leaves campus, the ugliest possible replacements for it begin to appear — Uggs and North Face jackets.
Do the people who wear them really think they are making a fashionable choice?
Wearing either — or God forbid both at the same time? It’s true, some people pair ugly with uglier. A black North Face jacket, jeans and Uggs: the disappointing uniform of Virginia Tech winters.
I should note that it’s most common with the women of campus; thankfully the men’s line of Uggs has not made it into the wardrobes of Tech’s male population.
It should not be so difficult to dress decently and originally in the winter, if not for the sake of your own dignity then at least for the sake of other people’s eyes. It’s the same as the white Oakley trend; you think it’s great, but really you just look unoriginal and trashy.
I hope this is an adequate expression of my contempt for those of you who wear North Face jackets and Uggs — I really cannot stand it. If you had any sense of style, you would not be wearing one or the other.
Ladies, have you looked at yourself wearing Uggs? Have you noticed they make your feet look huge? Have you thought about what that does? It makes you look out of proportion, and nothing is more unattractive than being out of proportion. Your legs look either way too big or way too small (no one has legs that look good in Uggs), or it throws your appearance into a spiral of sad dismal disproportion.
I don’t even want to think about how awkward Uggs make you look from the waist up. It really is all in the details, and considering the fact you wear shoes every day (I hope), it’s an important detail.
North Face jackets are just too monotonous and drab; there are better options that actually make a statement. Black fleece says nothing, except maybe “I’m boring,” and it doesn’t so much say it as scream it. Fleece is a sad compromise when it comes to winter — you get nothing good from it.
What about wool? Where is all the wool? What happened to chunky sweaters and off-brand couture-inspired pieces that look one hundred times better than a North Face zip-up any day? If you wear North Face or Uggs, I’ve probably lost you by now — at least that’s the impression I get, given the looks of those who wear them.
There’s a plethora of sweaters, jackets and boots specifically geared toward not making you look like a styleless slob.
Especially when it comes to boots — Uggs make your feet look huge, a good pair of boots does not. I’m at a loss as to why this is even something that needs to be said, but Uggs are not flattering in any way. I understand they keep your feet warm, but at what cost? The moment I see someone wearing Uggs — the original boots or the newly adopted slipper style (seriously?) — I lose all respect for that person, whether I know them or not.
At that moment you become one of the least interesting people in the world to me, because of your obvious lack of originality in style and your disregard for anything aesthetically appealing. If you have no concern for your appearance — your first impression to anyone who sees you — then I can only assume you have no concern for anything.
If anything, the fall and winter should be the seasons where those of you who slum it, clothing wise, thrive. Bulky sweaters? Clothes that hide any sign of you having a figure? This is the time made for your fashion sense.
Wake up, throw on a wretched T-shirt and top it off with a semi-stylish sweater. Is that so hard?
You can’t just buy a nice pair of leather boots to replace those nasty Uggs? Is no sweater good enough to take the place of your lackluster North Face?
Don’t be afraid to spice up your wardrobe. Is there a campus dress code? Is the concept of unity so concrete on campus that it extends to your clothing? Sisterhood might be good for you, but individuality is nice as well.
I’d rather blend in while dressing well than stand out for dressing badly.
A version of this article appeared in the Oct 20 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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How shallow can you be? You "lose all respect" when you meet someone wearing uggs? Seriously? They are warm and although they are pretty ugly I wear them because they keep me much warmer than the leather boots I own as well. Please find something less frivolous to write about next time.
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Pretty sure the reasons behind why most people buy Uggs and North Face jackets are the very definition of shallow.
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or possibly a very practical decision? Blacksburg is cold in the winter. Do I think I look stylish in my North Face and Uggs? Absolutely not. But am I warm? Of course. So while all you trend setters are looking original and stylish but freezing, I'll be happy and warm
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....really? Why do you care so much about what other people wear? I get the idea of originality and uggs/north face jackets are everywhere but so what? Of all the things to worry about, one shouldn't have to worry when making a choice of what to wear each day about what other people will think. Especially guys. For me, as long as it keeps me warm and does it's job i'm wearing it. As for other people, unless they are walking around half naked in winter, or have some outrageous/rare clothes.... I don't really notice.
Yay for you if you have your own particular style, that's great. But for some people like me, I grab any clean t-shirt I find in my room,any clean pair of pants, my sweatshirt, sneakers and i'm out the door. That simple. I have way to many other things on my mind to worry about clothes.
Maybe when I start making serious money I'll think about particular styles
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Did you seriously just write an entire article on how to dress? How useless do you feel knowing that the best thing you could come up with to talk about, in a newspaper of all places, is how to dress 'fashionably'? I can't believe we killed multiple trees to have this garbage in the newspaper.
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You are stupid. I agree with some of the statements, but to post this on the Collegiate Times? I am sorry you got turned down by a girl wearing a pair of Uggs and a Northface jacket, please vent somewhere else.
Stop being so "down". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_feather)
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Am I going to be the only sensible person here and agree with ABSOLUTELY everything this person written about? Mad props to you man, finally someone with character.
Btw, saying you don't care about what you wear because you are too busy, has got to be the dumbest and most hypocritical argument out there, you are either lazy or have no sense of fashion...just admit it!
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Ok GDI sorry my North Face is practical because it keeps me warmer than your knit sweater made from recycled soda bottles.
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Between this article and the Homecoming sobfest, I'm glad that I now know the term GDI, since it is getting passed around the comments section like a...well...lady of the non-GDI persuasion. Stay classy, all you future presidents and business leaders.
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To the "Anonymous" directly above me:
I love you and want to buy you dinner. Preach it.
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I love this comment.
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"If you wear North Face or Uggs, I’ve probably lost you by now — at least that’s the impression I get, given the looks of those who wear them."
Are you calling the people that wear Uggs and Northfaces dumb? Yes conformity to what is popular is an unfortunate phenomenon but attributing so much to what someone wears is equally dumb. A lot of people are probably just bitter because they can't afford Northfaces or Uggs.
How did the CT hire you or think your article was worth publishing beats me.
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Sign me up for the, "fire-him bandwagon"!
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I can't believe someone who is in the process of a receiving a college education just wrote that comment. Did you really just poke fun at people who are poor? People who can afford Uggs and Northfaces also have the money to make better decisions. Low breeding doesn't belong on a campus. Go home.
Also, it's an opinion piece. Get over it.
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I prefer to call girls who wear North Face jackets, uggs, and sweatpants/leggings, elephants :)
Kudos to you, Mr. Simons for writing this article. I think I'm going to cut it out and frame it. FINALLY someone had the guts to say that more than half of VT girls have no sense in fashion.
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Seriously? Uggs are necessary to keep you warm? This isn't the arctic circle. What about a pair of wool socks and regular boots? My problem with the North Face jacket thing is that it's all about the brand. There are many companies that make similar products in the same price range, so why is it that everyone goes with North Face? I think it has more to do with conformity than the quality of the product being better than everything else (it's not). That's annoying.
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"There are many companies that make similar products in the same price range, so why is it that everyone goes with North Face?"
Actually, my Quest fleece I got back in 2006 is warmer than any North Face fleece. And it was only like $60. Not the $100+ that North Face asks for.
And guy who wears tennis shoes in the winter and doesn't freeze because he's not a sissy, reporting in!
Awesome article, by the way.
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wow!! i just read ur article because i have a tone project for english hoping i could find the tone amused in ur article; but while reading i got pulled in by what u were saying.
and i was really offended, if you lose respect for people who wear uggs why dont you go up to them and tell them instead of hiding behind your computer and blogging about it??!
also i love my uggs, they are soft and warm and even if they make my feet look big I DONT CARE i like the way i look so i dont care what you have to say.
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There's no way the author could have been more in-the-face to girls than by writing for the college newspaper. It allowed him to, in one or two minutes of reading, tell every single girl on campus that they don't know squat about fashion or, at the very least, originality.
And Uggs are stupid solely because of how expensive they are when there are so many other boots that look the same and do the same thing. I think the giant feet thing is cute, but it doesn't warrant spending $150 on a pair of boots when you can get Bear Paws or something else for $50.
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FYI your google ad sense is taking the tags "Ugg" and "North Face" from the article and leading people to sites where they can buy them.
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