Say 'no' to copying, don't dress like your friends

Gabrijel Gelic is a sophomore majoring in finance.

The other day I was reading through a couple of AP world news stories and I happened to stumble across a fashion article which boasted about the individuality and the freshness of the Spring/Summer 2009 London Fashion Week collections. You might wonder why I chose to mention the London fashion week at this particular point in time, but I feel that IU fashion is in desperate need of originality. It’s important to spend a little time talking about how crucial it is for each of us to have an individual fashion style.

Let’s take me, for example – I am an avid follower of fashion, but that doesn’t mean I just copy the looks I see on the runways. That’s simply not the point. You want to take what you see on those runways and add your own touch to it. That might be simply adding your favorite scarf or belt – anything that is your “trademark.” What works for me is just taking each look and adding a little “Gabrijel” to it. To me, that means wearing shoes that define me, wearing a fit that screams me and, of course, sporting one of my favorite bags. Yes, men, bags are huge, and I don’t see them going away any time soon. So, all of you boys better start carrying one.

No matter what, I always stay true to my style, which, I admit, changes from week to week and sometimes from day to day. But I’m always myself when it comes to style, and anyone who knows me can tell you that. I bring this issue up now because I see so many girls on campus dressing the same way every single day. I sometimes wonder if there was a fashion explosion somewhere on campus and the girls I see are the result of that disaster.

Day in and day out, I see those black leggings, the hobo bag, bird-nest hair and that god-awful white T-shirt. If you think that’s an original style, then your issues probably go beyond this article. Today is the day you say “no” to wearing what all of your friends wear and stop copying exactly what you see on the runways. It is never too late to have an original style – plus, don’t you want to be that girl everyone admires for fashion originality?

Recently, I came across a fabulous line of sunglasses from Pan-Teaz.com. They come in about a dozen styles with a little “Pan-Teaz” logo inscribed on each of them. Just imagine all the fun jokes you can have with these. You can call up your friends and say, “Gosh, I think I left my Pan-Teaz at your place.” I just love them, and it’s a very original concept. The Pan-Teaz girls will be visiting IU from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. They will have a booth set up on 10th Street and Fee Lane – make sure to check them out.

And no, you don’t have to break the bank to be original. I’m not above H&M or other similar stores, and you shouldn’t be either. It’s all about cheap and chic. I’ll talk about that another time, but, for now, it is absolutely acceptable to mix high-end pieces and low-end pieces. I mean, if Isaac Mizrahi did it in his fashion shows, then you shouldn’t have a problem doing it. So, let’s get out there and show the world IU has originality when it comes to fashion.