Fashion at BYU

It's the start of another school year. As many of my friends know, I tend to rant about fashion I see at school. BYU tends to get more rants from me than other places because of the honor code. I have pretty strong feelings about the honor code. I've heard a lot of complaints about it. I have one response to these people. If you don't like the honor code, go to another school. The honor code is part of BYU and you signed it to come here. Part of the honor code includes groom and dress.

Now that I've said that, I have a list of top ten good things I've seen in the last 3 weeks! I also have a list of 10 bad things I've seen.

The good:
10. Classic maternity shirts. BYU is also fairly unique in the amount of pregnant women there are on campus. I've always thought it was a silly idea to buy trendy maternity shirts. If you do that, you'll have to buy new shirts every time you get pregnant. If there is ever a time to buy classic clothing, it's when you're pregnant.
9. Shrugs and blazers over sleeveless shirts. There are a lot of really cute sleeveless shirts out there. I won't argue this. I think the best way to wear these shirts modestly is with a blazer. Occasionally, a cardigan or shrug is the best way to go. Generally, blazers look sharper. I love seeing the women on campus make their outfits modest this way.
8. Women in button up blouses. I've always loved this look. It's classic and it generally looks good. A classic button up blouse is a staple of every woman's wardrobe. These shirts are so great because they look good with jeans, slacks, or skirts. I think one of the most flattering outfits is a button up blouse tucked into a high-waisted pencil skirt.
7. "Nerdy" tees. I love superhero-themed t-shirts. I also love t-shirts with things from Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Star Wars, Star Trek, Pokemon, and Questionable Content. There's an unusually large amount of these types of t-shirts on campus. I don't know if the people wearing them just thought it was funny/cute/awesome or if they actually know what they're wearing, but I think it's awesome how many of these I see.
6. Beater-style tank tops under lace backs. I think shirts with a triangle cut out in the back covered in lace are really cute. I don't think it's OK to wear these types of shirts with a camisole. The back is too low. A lot of girls on campus wear these shirts with beaters. I think this is great! The back is high enough and you still get the look of see-through lace without being immodest.
5. Layered bobs. I love short hair. There are a lot of girls that look the same on campus. The average BYU girl's hair is long, to about the middle of her back, with "beachy waves." I don't like this style. The "waves" look like really bad hat hair. I love seeing girls around campus with short hair. There is a girl in one of my classes that has the cutest layered bob. I love seeing what she does with it every Monday and Wednesday.
4. Men wearing their pants high enough. I've always hated slouchy pants. While there are still guys that wear slouchy pants on campus, there are way more men that wear their pants at an appropriate level. It's wonderful!
3. Intricate braids. I've never been able to braid my own hair. I can barely braid other people's hair. Perhaps that's why I enjoy seeing women around campus with very intricate braids. I'm often impressed by others' hair skills.
2. Matching necklines to make things modest. I've always said, if you're going to layer shirts you have to match your necklines. Because of this, I've often told girls to avoid one shoulder shirts. This week, I saw a girl wearing a one shoulder shirt that actually looked good! She matched up the neckline so that the point of the v-neck t-shirt was at the exact spot the one-shouldered blouse crossed the neck line. It was really cute!
1. Men in shirts and ties. Perhaps it's because of the prestige of BYU's business school or maybe it's just a large amount of guys returning from missions that aren't used to normal clothes yet, but there is a very large amount of men wearing white shirts and ties on campus. It's amazing.

The Bad:
10. Wearing ear warmers as headbands. I am a huge fan of using clothes as they are intended. You don't wear pants as shirts or socks as gloves. Ear warmers were meant to keep your ears warm. Once you go inside, they should come off, just like the rest of your winter clothes. Also, it's not winter yet.
9. Over-sized glasses. Very few people can pull these off. My problem with these over-sized, black, thick-rimmed glasses is mostly with noses. If you have a very small bridge or a very small nose (think of Asian noses), these glasses make your face look flat. I actually think these glasses make people with small noses look like muppets. If you have a large nose, these glasses make your nose look HUGE! There is a very small number of people with the right sized and angled nose for these glasses to look good.
8. Knotting shirts in the front. Just tuck your shirt in! Good grief! Knots in the front of your shirt are NOT flattering AT ALL. Also, if it's a big one, which I see a lot, it kind of looks like a weirdly placed third boob.
7. See through shirts. Just because a shirt has sleeves doesn't mean it's modest, by honor code and LDS terms. If you want to wear a see through shirt, you have to wear a t-shirt under it.
6. Skirts that are blatantly too short. It's one thing to have a skirt that's too short when you're sitting but not when you're standing. If your skirt doesn't reach your knees when you're standing, get a new skirt. That is obviously not up to honor code standards.
5. Wearing out-of-season clothes. My favorite clothes are sweaters. I LOVE sweaters. That does not mean it's appropriate to wear sweaters in the summer. My sweaters aren't even appropriate for fall; they're much too thick. When you wear clothes out of season, you look like you live under a rock and have no idea what the weather is.
4. Wearing too many clothes. You look like you're suffocating. There was a girl in one of my classes this week that wore a lace, empire-waist vest and a scarf. The scarf was cute, the vest was cute, but they were not cute together. Sometimes, you just have to pick one or the other. It's the way of life. There are a lot of people I see that wear way too many clothes. I want to rip something off of them in a completely platonic way!
3. Men cuffing their pants. First off, if you're going to cuff your pants make sure they're the same height. Secondly, make sure your socks match. Black jeans with navy socks and blue shoes is the worst idea ever! Also, men don't have pretty ankles. Cuffing your pants either makes your bony, chicken leg ankles look skinnier or makes your ankles look like kankles.
2. Wearing sleeveless blouses over t-shirts. See number 9 of "The good." This looks tacky.
1. Buns on the top of heads. I'm sorry, but you look like a tee with a baseball ready to go on your head. If you wouldn't wear a pony tail there, don't wear a bun there. Especially a loose bun! What is the point? I thought loose buns were what you did when your hair got in the way. Let me tell you something, having a bun flopping around on the top of your head looks ridiculous and your hair is definitely not out of the way. Can you tell that this is my biggest fashion pet peeve? I'm aware that top-of-head buns are being used on the runways. Those buns are tight, stylized, and obviously meant to be there. When you just knot your hair on the top of your head in a couple second it looks like you weren't paying attention to your hair placement and missed.