By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
September 24, 2000
Each generation of college students has its own variation on back-to-school necessities.
“I remember when I was a freshman (in 1979) at the University of Michigan, I brought clothes and a blue Smith Corona electric typewriter to school with me,” says Mary Schwartz, 38. “I would write out all my term papers by longhand and then type it out. It took so long, and if I wanted to switch paragraphs around, I had to retype it. At one point I just hired a professional typist to type up a paper for me because I made too many mistakes.”
This year’s freshmen don’t realize that cutting and pasting once referred to actual cutting and pasting. They are a generation that never has had a use for correction tape, much less a record player.
Instead, try a computer–preferably a lightweight laptop–a microwave, a portable CD player and possibly even a cell phone to keep in touch with home.
Some students also will keep track of their assignments (and parties) in their tiny Palm Pilots. Like many of her classmates, Danielle Lemon entered her freshman year at the University of Illinois at Chicago with some familiar comforts from home.
“I brought my CD player, TV, VCR and pager with me,” says Lemon, 17. “I also got a new computer for school ’cause I needed a better one.”
What? No voice mail?
“We get that provided through school,” she says. “It makes it a lot easier to stay in touch with people.”
And like these “necessities,” students also are streamlining their wardrobes with clothes designed for comfort. While jeans, T-shirts and sneakers never will be obliterated from any 18-year-old’s ensemble, the fabrics and styles are more funky than when previous generations rolled out of bed to rush to 8:30 physics classes.
“It’s not in fashion for college students to wear holey jeans or sneakers anymore,” says Meg Rottman of Style PR, a fashion marketing agency. “Even at the university level, kids are looking to wear something a little more upscale.
“One thing I’m seeing on a lot of college kids is pants with some lycra in them. This gives them a neater look in general than previous generations of kids who roamed around in baggy sweat pants. Lycra in denim makes the pants easier to wear since they’re less restrictive. And that’s important for kids who are wearing jeans from morning to night and sometimes even to bed.”
Lemon concurs. Comfort is a priority to students, though she’d rather not relinquish style. “One of the really great things about college is that I get to wear whatever I want,” she says. “I can wear capri pants, which I couldn’t (at my Catholic high school). And on campus, there’s just so much diversity in how people dress. There’s no one rule that you have to stick with, although all the girls are into big shoes.”
Like the kind made by Mephisto. This generation’s answer to Doc Martens, the handmade creations are deliriously comfortable as well as funky. The brand’s styles range from rugged workboots to slides to the open-toed nubuck clogs that are currently in vogue. “A good shoe can cost a lot of money, but it’s really important that everyone–especially students who run around all day–has a good pair,” says Rottman. “If you get one or two pairs of really well-made shoes, they can take you from day to night without having to stop to change.”
Some things never change.
Just as college campuses across the country retain their factions of preppies, jocks, punks and stoners, each generation of incoming freshmen carts its tried and true favorites back to school decade after decade.
Check any freshman’s wardrobe and you’ll find a variation on the classic jeans-and-T-shirt look. There’ll also be a pair of sneakers, at least one ratty backpack and a slew of sweat shirts.
And either rolled up in their closets or hung on their walls, the art decor of choice for dorm rooms is the poster.
Also in tow are mini fridges, (though today’s models hopefully have “freezer” sections that actually freeze the mini ice cubes). TV sets also are a mainstay, though some of today’s students bring sets with built-in VCRs so they won’t have to miss their favorite soaps while they’re in Humanities 101.
And something else that’s been around for the past two decades is MTV. It’s just that these days, the cable music station doesn’t play nearly as many videos as it did back in the day.
