As Weather Changes, Students Adapt Gear

With students lulled by temperate temperatures and sunny skies, Sunday’s blizzard brought a rude reminder of winter’s cold touch—and that ever-pressing question of what to wear.

Faced with slushy, icy terrain on the Monday morning commute, students broke out bulky jackets and the occasional pair of moon boots. Shorts and flip-flops, which have been spotted around campus throughout the mild winter months, were definitely out.

The cold snap brought confusion to some students’ outfits.

“Sunday, I saw people running around in shorts, jumping in the snow and not knowing what to do,” said Gabriel M. Scheinmann ’08.

The change in weather has forced many students to burrow into forgotten corners of their closets to revive that woefully neglected winter wardrobe.

“I finally had the opportunity to wear my winter boots,” Emily H. Ma ’08 said.

But despite the recent dip in degrees, this season’s campus outfits have reflected the eerily warm temperatures.

“This is the best winter we’ve ever had. I don’t have to wear tights,” said Lisa E.J. Gordon ’06, producer of the annual Eleganza fashion show.

“Last year with the huge snowstorms and cold winter, I didn’t really care what I looked like,” said Kristen D. O’Neill ’07, president of the Harvard Vestis Council, a fine arts and fashion club for undergraduates. “This weather is letting us wear what we want and look nice.”

This year, many girls have been steering away from excessively bulky items. Without the need for extra layers, students are leaving their long johns and down jackets behind, opting for a leaner, more compact look.

“There is more of a streamlined, tapered look,” O’Neill said. “I think it’s a more sophisticated and classic style.”

To capture this look, girls often tuck their pants into thin riding boots or rain boots and choose light jackets over thicker coats.

“The warm temperatures have allowed me to wear more jackets over thin shirts and I wear a lot of legging which I can just put into my boots easily,” said Megan C. Dempsey ’09, who took a year off to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

“I feel that since it’s already been a warm winter, people won’t be that affected by it and just hope that it gets warmer soon and spring will come,” Dempsey added.

While ladies have been enjoying the chance to expand their sartorial selection, some men have seen less of an impact on their style.

“I haven’t worn a hat all year,” Scheinmann said. “Guys’ fashion is more bland anyway.”

Most students have revelled in the unusual heat, but for some, the warm weather has been disconcerting.

“I’m from Boston so I’m used to it being cold from early December to early March. This winter has been quite strange,” Scheinmann said.

Unlike most, Scheinmann is welcoming the return of the low temperatures.

“It’s actually very nice to have it be cold, because you feel like the seasons are back,” Scheinmann said. “I missed winter. I love winter.”

—Staff writer Claire M. Guehenno can be reached at guehenno@fas.harvard.edu.