Fashion has always been a way of expressing your personality or opinions, and I wholeheartedly believe that the freedom to wear what you want is one of our greatest rights.

But while we live in a country where our fashion choices are abundant, you should still pick clothing that represents you in the best possible light. As superficial as it sounds, what you choose to wear says a lot about you.

Music festival season is upon us, and with it comes festival style. Ankle boots, cutoffs and breezy dresses will fill the crowds at Coachella, Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo. For some, it seems that these festivals have become less about the music and more about making a fashion statement.

But there’s a thin line between a stylish look and an over-the-top costume.

People take these opportunities to dress like they can’t in “real life.” For example, if they want to dress like Lady Gaga for a day, it’s not out of the norm in these situations.

It’s the same with sporting events. Walking down Marshall Street on Saturday, the sea of orange was filled with distinctive displays of school spirit. Syracuse T-shirts were cut to more flattering silhouettes, temporary tattoos of Otto were spotted on fans’ cheeks and girls used hair chalk for color highlights.

The issue of inappropriate costumes is especially relevant on college campuses. Fraternities and sororities have theme parties that are mostly offensive. Golf bros and tennis hoes? Who thought that was a good idea?

Syracuse unfortunately doesn’t have a music festival, but we do have the celebration known as MayFest and Block Party. With this year’s performer, Ke$ha, girls are bound to dress as crazy as possible. Ke$ha is known for her over-the-top looks including feathers, studs, leather, fringe and glitter. While it’s fun to go out and dress crazy with your friends, you don’t want to cringe when you look at the photos in 10 years.

Thanks to social media, every outfit you wear is memorialized on the Internet for everyone to see. Are you prepared to have your parents or your boss see you wearing that extremely low-cut dress out to the bar?

I sometimes wish Syracuse was a bit more like New York City. In NYC, people dress their best at all occasions. The capital of fashion and street style means you have to dress your best. But in Syracuse, it’s sweats, over-the-top ensembles or completely unoriginal outfit choices. I see girls walking down the street wearing the exact same coat, boots and bags, and wonder where their sense of self went.

It may provide a sense of comfort to wear the same thing as everyone else, but where’s the fun in that? Having your own sense of style says a lot about you as a person, and knowing what is appropriate to wear for certain situations will improve others’ perception of you.

While they say to not judge a book by its cover, the first thing people notice about you before you even say a word is your appearance. Instinctually, we judge people by their looks. It’s unfortunate, but true.

Don’t just follow the trends — set your own. Not every trend is going to look good on everyone anyway.

Allison Mariotti is a senior magazine journalism major. She has too many shoes to count, but could always use another pair. Her fashion column appears every Monday in Pulp. She can be reached at admariot@syr.edu.

Published on April 8, 2013 at 1:13 am