Among the assortment of fashion labels that society has been collectively gathering, “artsiness” (or, “being artsy”) captivated my attention at its initial entrance. Admittedly, I was slightly skeptical at first, assuming that the term “artsy” was just another poorly grammatically structured word tacked on to a pubescent trend of wearing distinguishing clothing (such as the term “hipster”). Nevertheless, as I proceeded to unearth more of this trend, I started wondering how this differed from solely being “artistic,” and to what extent being “artsy” had derived from plainly being artistic.

To further investigate my confusion, I interviewed two current Wellesley students–one generally perceived as “artistic”; the other, as “artsy.”

Jayne Yan: The ‘Artistic’ 

In order to begin with the roots, I first interviewed Jayne Yan, a sophomore intending to major in Studio Art. Raised in Marlton, New Jersey, Jayne was heavily immersed in the arts since she was young. To this day, she claims that art is where truly her “vision and purpose lies.” After plowing through the formalities–sexual orientation (female, straight), religious views (Christian), clothing budget (none)–I explored the particular style of her art. She explained that “[her] pieces are more comforting in the fact that [her] strokes are very soft, and like warm, and lots of like nice colors, and [her] concepts aren’t that dark.”

Jayne’s final drawing project of the academic year ’12 – ’13, portraying the Houghton Chapel in her varying states of vision (with/without glasses).

When asked how this interlinked with her choice of fashion, she described her fashion sense as “either basic [with color]…or lots of like, pretty floral things, or like, really random bold things, like statement necklaces,” which essentially characterizes her artwork as well: colorful, agreeable, and easy on the eyes. This was further accented as we sifted through her favorite articles of clothing for an ample portion of the interview. For instance, she grew particularly animated over a coral pink top that she had purchased from Loft, because it was “very happy, bright, and summery”–all traits readily seen in her artwork as well.

Some of Jayne’s more favored articles of clothing.

As we advanced along with each individual piece of clothing, I noticed that she repeatedly described her clothing as “comfortable” and emphasized the fact that she preferred to accentuate her bodily curves rather than wear revealing cuts. When inquired about the reasoning behind this, she recalled figure drawing classes that she had participated in before that had completely altered her perspective on the human body: “People enjoy drawing bodies that have big curves…more fun to draw…figure drawing really helped [her] see the body as a whole, rather than parts, and unconsciously, [accentuate her] body as a whole rather than parts.”

Jayne also mentioned that her clothing had to be reasonably comfortable–almost to the point of “slouchy”–in order to assist her flexibility and long hours at the studio, working on various assignments or projects. For her, it seemed that practicality played as large of a role as self-expression did when dressing down.

Emily Chun: The ‘Artsy’

After an insightful interview with Jayne, I met up with Emily Chun, a fellow first-year hoping to major in Art History. Almost perfectly aligned with Jayne’s profile, Emily also grew up in New Jersey; identifies herself as a straight female; holds onto her Christian roots; and doesn’t recognize a specific clothing budget. Although she admitted that people did perceive her as artsy–and pressed on to reluctantly admit that she understood why–she sincerely considered herself artistic, because she had practiced the fine arts in high school.

To her, the term ‘artsy’ encompassed “a wannabe artist…noncommittal, because it’s not really artistic, so it’s pseudo-artistic…not very internal, but you “look the part”. Needless to say, Emily was somewhat bothered by this label, especially because to her, it is “just a trend, like [being] “hipster”; it accrues a standing in society [and] ups your status in culture,” yet Emily conceived herself (and her fashion) as a tide against the sea of trends. The sole reason why her clothing followed certain trends was because her time and budget limits her from collecting the exceptionally “unique amount of clothing that defies the trend.” Despite all this, she acknowledged that the way she dresses is probably a large reason why people mark her as artsy.

Emily’s favored choices laid out on her bed.

Sorting through her clothing, I picked up on the fact that she purchased numerous pieces of her clothing from thrift shops or the occasional bazaar. According to her, it wasn’t just the inexpensive prices that encouraged her to shop in those places, but also the thrill of discovering anomalous clothing. As such, she preferred nuanced designs, overlooked colors, or unconventional prints.

One shirt that stood out from her compilation of favorite clothing was a colorful, acid wash shirt that had been purchased from the men’s section at Urban Outfitters. She explained that she usually never dresses in clothing that “pops,” yet she had taken a strong liking to this one, because it was “obnoxious and out of [her] character to wear.” She also confessed that she wears this particular color-splashed shirt as a “mini psychological experiment,” because it’s so “predictable [of] people to come up to her and say, “Whoa, you look so artsy…and [she] likes seeing people’s reactions [to it].”

For Emily, clothing is about experimenting and defining her individualistic style, yet it’s an unfortunate twist that by displaying this style, she’s placed in the commonly popular trend of being “artsy.”

Although they cannot represent the entire population, through interviewing both Jayne and Emily, I’ve come to understand that the terms “artistic” and “artsy” can be utilized interchangeably, and both contain an aspect of actual art about them. But, it seems that for the artistic ones, the art is embodied on their canvases, while for the artsy, the art is mainly exhibited on their bodies. That isn’t to say that one sits on a pedestal over the other, but judging by Jayne’s colorful yet “basic” fashion in comparison to Emily’s more distinguishing patterns and textures of clothing, it could roughly be concluded that artistic people create their own art and then either reflect or don’t reflect this in their fashion. Meanwhile, artsy people seek out art that is already created and then arrange it on themselves that accentuates the art, and essentially uses their bodies as the canvases.

If this is true, however, it beckons the question why being “artsy” possesses its own category– after all, isn’t all fashion a form of art?

When you first see them you do a double take, “Was that a girl or a boy?” (pic.1, 2)

Despite the many different fashions that are available, most people stay within one main category: Gender. No matter how wild of a style that skater girl has or how old fashioned a boy looks with a cape, you can at least still tell what gender they are. An and Tya dress in such a way that it is harder for those who don’t know the, to be able to tell what gender they are. While both identify as female, for Tya it’s a 60/40 split between female and male, they both dress specifically, to buck the convention of what a “Girl” is supposed to look like. An describes her style as “Snappy Casual” while Tya describes it as “Preppy meets Bro-y”. For both, this entails wearing nice button down shirts, ties or bowties and on special occasions, vests. (pic. 3, 4)

An wears jeans meant for women and occasionally buys dress shirts also meant for women. Tya on the other hand buys very few clothes meant for women because she feels that they just don’t fit well on her. Tya also hated how women’s sizes for pants changed depending on the store, while in men’s sizes she is always the same. (pic. 5)

Both spoke about hating how female dress shirts tend to go in at the waist and then flare out (done in order to accent the waist), hence their preference for men’s dress shirts. (pic. 6)

However, they are not always in suits and vests. Tya wears basketball shorts and cut off shirts when she goes to work out everyday. While she wears sports bras, everything else is bought in the men’s section. Though she did bring up the fact that she does not wear boxers, instead buying her underwear from Victoria’s Secret. For her, wearing boxers (a common act by women who choose to dress more masculine) is uncomfortable and unnecessary.

An also buys clothes in the men’s section, though she tends to have more clothes from the women’s section then Tya. An’s dressed down look mainly entails of yoga pants in part because her girlfriend likes how An looks in them. (pic. 7)

Changing their sense of style for their girlfriend was something both An and Tya admitted to doing. Both of them had had a girlfriend who preferred them to look more feminine, as Tya put it “She wanted to still feel like she had a girlfriend.” An had a girlfriend who wanted her to wear dresses, but in the end they broke up, and now, An has none of those dresses left. Both An and Tya frequently spoke of being able to “do their own thing” when it comes to clothing and personal presentation.

Yet this journey to forming their own sartorial style was not an easy one. Tya vividly remembers a day in boarding school when she and a friend both wore the same white v-cut tee shirt but Tya wore it with a black vest and her friend wore it with a scarf. Tya was told she was breaking dress code and had to change; her friend was deemed fine. While An did not have a completely similar experience, she did mention a time when she “toned down the gay,” because she was meeting her girlfriend’s mom and didn’t want to come on too strong. When asked what that meant, An replied, “it meant not wearing my bowties or vests, more just jeans and a tee.” (pic. 8)

While Tya did keep some of her clothes given to her by her mother, who hasn’t accepted yet her daughter’s different style, (tellingly this Bin of Clothes is under her bed) An did not bring anything she did not like with her. For both An and Tya, college seems to have allowed them to be completely themselves, in terms of fashion and identity. They both seemed very confident in their own skin, perhaps because their outside appearance finally matches they feel inside. Almost as well as their ties match their shirts.

Link to document with the pictures: https://docs.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/document/d/1J6R7abJJE7EoNC5OyzpY-N6fP7Y-584tOhqQr-aOUNI/edit

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.