Interviewee 1’s brand new pair of Doc Marten shoes. “I love them; they’re out of this world.”

I identify with punk, but actually, no. Not really at all. I come from an area of California, where I’m more punk than chola, more normal than punk, more weird than normal and more ghetto than the average Wellesley student. In a few words, I feel like I don’t fully fit in anywhere, at least like everyone else looks to be fitting in. But, after spending a few months here at Wellesley, I have a greater understanding my personal style and realize, if you had to label me, I dress pretty “street”. In other words, I dress like I belong in a city.
But how does one really define big city style? Well, generally, I’d say it’s a little bit of everything, usually not all in the same outfit (but it happens). Staple items include, Doc Martens, Vans, shorts, crop tops, sun dresses, army jackets, and a curveball accessory. Though it’s a little hard to fully describe, you know it when you see it.

I interviewed two young female students at Wellesley College, both from California, one from the San Francisco Bay area, the other from Temecula, about their style, getting dressed and what it meant to them. To be frank, I chose them as subjects because I really like how they dress. I look at them and see little parts of myself, or really my style, that make the ever present prim and proper East Coast look of the average Wellesley student feel a little less overwhelming to my West Coast soul.
The first person I interviewed, coming from the San Francisco Bay area, an area she deems more weird than LA, and especially Boston, her clothes and sense of fashionable self-expression mean everything to her. Her influences come from both sampling fashion trends and other styles that she likes, all while maintaining her own personal comfort in what she chooses to wear no matter how shocking it may seem to others.

One of Interviewee 2’s favorite items.

The second person I interviewed, who also wishes to remain anonymous, is from a smaller suburban area, and admits that she did not start dressing “alternatively” until she came to Wellesley. She says she now wears heavy jackets and Doc Marten boots not only because they are warmer than her typical sundresses and sandals, but because they are an important part of building a deeper political image on campus. After experiencing multiple incidents of racial tension on campus, she wants to look aggressive; she does not want to be bothered and she does not want to look weak.
After extensive and at times very personal interviews with these women I learned that like myself, dressing is both a complicated and very personal thing, making me feel a million times better about myself.
But overall, urban wear, like many other styles and choices of dress, borders on that fine line between self-expression and conformity. I dress how I dress because it allows me to show others that I am different from them, that I am an individual, but it has also become a way for others who feel the same to point me out from the rest and vice versa. Consequently, our intent to dress as unique individuals has gradually become a marketable and easily accessible style. However, what was very evident in my interviews, is that “city style” holds a different meaning in a rural and more preppy area such as Wellesley. Dressing a little weird or even more aggressively is generally more accepted in bigger cities or, even on the West Coast in general, but here, city style holds a deeper sense of self-expressive statement, simply because it’s just not the style. Urban wear can border on conformity in the city but means self-expression and rebellion at Wellesley.
And I suppose that’s the most important understanding of getting dressed: self-expression and conformity are relative. Our clothes are more important than we think. They are how we choose to represent ourselves to the rest of the world. We change what we wear and how we wear it depending on who we’re with, where we are, what we’re doing or even how we feel. The statements we express through our clothing depend greatly on context, I suppose, like any other statement.