Who needs "cool" clothes???

The countdown for the fall semester has begun and it seems like you can't go online or watch TV without getting some kind of ad that tells you you need to buy these "back to school essentials": be it dorm necessities, supplies, computers and your college "style" must haves.

Let me just point out that you don't need to splurge on an entire "college appropriate" wardrobe to bring to your first semester. Yes, you should put at least a little effort to dress when you get ready for lecture (just because you can go to class in your pajamas with a box of cereal, doesn't mean you should). Technically, there's no rules to how you should dress when you go to college, but....





For all of our incoming freshmen, the freedom to wear whatever you want to class is probably on your top ten reasons why you're excited to start classes in the fall after (some of you) being confined to a strict dress code throughout your mandatory public school education.

What I don't want you to worry about, is how "mature" or "cool" you look for your first week of class. It happens to the best of us: we want to dress to the nines to impress our classmates and show off our sense of style. However, once assignments start piling up, papers are due, exams are approaching, we all become less worried about our clothes.

The progression of not caring about your clothes anymore

While you should begin to think about what it is you need to be more business appropriate in the future (I mean, that's why we're all here, to excel in the real world in the future and we all know you can't wear jeans and a t-shirt to that), you shouldn't stress over trying to be one of the "College Students Who Seriously Excel In Street Style".

Don't stress over how trendy you look. You're (more than likely) going to start off your freshman year in lecture halls full of people that aren't going to notice if you planned what you're going to wear your first day for the last two weeks.

Yes, I know you want to show off your high heels, trust me, I know the feel, but you're going to walk all around campus. Don't wear your new, freshly starched button-down the first day when you're going to walk outside from one end of campus to another (it's Texas; you should know by now it's super hot in August).

It's college, you're there to learn, not to walk the runway. If you want to dress up, go ahead (there's no rules)! Just remember most of your classmates aren't worried about how everyone else is dressed. Most of the time, you're just thinking about what you're going to have for lunch.

The best part about college is there's no cliques or gossip. If you want to wear your pj's (as long at you wear a top and bottoms) to class, you can and nobody can stop you. Don't be fooled by the constant ads and magazine articles that pressure make you believe everyone dresses like a high end store ad. Just remember to bring a light jacket: you can walk outside in 90 degree weather and have a class below 70.