A Close-up Look at Scripps Style

Consider these two scenarios: A girl dresses up as a Scripps students for Halloween. The main component of her costume is a dress. In another scenario, a student is working in the computer lab at Pomona. She asks a boy for help with the computers, and he says "You go to Scripps, don't you?" But before she can be offended, he adds, "I can tell, because you're dressed so much nicer than the other girls." It's wrong to stereotype, and impossible to make generalizations about the way Scripps students, or any group of people for that matter, dress. However, there's something about us that sets us apart.

When asked to describe how she feels Scripps students dress, Kim Anderson ('12) replied, "Scripps girls dress sensibly and modestly. They're not out to attract sexual attention."

Stephanie Lester ('12) added, "Girls dress to be appreciated by each other, not for other guys or guys at the other schools, because they definitely don't really notice what we wear." Scripps, as a women's college, seems to draw in a certain kind of woman: ambitious, goal-oriented, driven and very aware. Lester mentioned that she "does not dress any differently at Scripps than she did at home," evidence that it's not Scripps that makes the girl; it's the girl that makes Scripps.

Many students at Scripps are very conscious about what they put on their bodies and the kinds of messages that their clothes project. Kate Pluth ('12) agrees, saying, "If dressing is a way to express ourselves to the world, then doesn't something like choosing Scripps as a college also project something about oneself as well?"

The sunny, warm, Southern California weather, as well as the quaint, Mediterranean style architecture that surrounds Scripps women could also make a difference. Emily O'Brien ('12) mentioned that she felt "the beautiful atmosphere at Scripps definitely influences what we think about when we get dressed in the morning.

Alice Opalka ('12) certainly agreed with O'Brien that the atmosphere at Scripps influences her dressing sense, though she extended that to the inspiration that her fellow peers and classmates provide: "Seeing all of the other Scripps girls dressing so uniquely and fashionably makes me feel like really expressing myself and showing off my own personal style here, more than I did in high school." Opalka emphasized how Scripps inspired her to express her own personal style more, as opposed to following trends.

Perhaps, then, it's Scripps as a school that empowers us as women to be ourselves and embrace our diversity and individuality. Scripps encourages us to be multifaceted (the Core curriculum is not interdisciplinary for nothing): to be calculus stars, raise money for HIV/ AIDS victims and have gorgeous hair and confidence in our step. Scripps puts no limits on what a woman should or can be: we can all be beautiful, graceful and stylish and be extremely respected, ambitious and smart. And if what we wear is indicative of anything, then Scripps women certainly are all of these things.

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