by Val Amiel Vestil
“What do I wear today” can be any Sillimanian’s dilemma before going to school. We subconsciously ask ourselves this question because we want to pose an image of a well-dressed college student in front of our peers, teachers, school administrators, and of course, those who
“inspire” us to go to Religion class. Unless your closet is a never ending spiral of Forever 21’s, Folded and Hung’s, Penshoppe’s, Artwork’s, and ukay-ukay’s, you will most definitely need some tips to make it through the school year with just a definite set of clothes while still maintaining the façade that was mentioned earlier. Here’s a few cheats to make it out of the school year alive: MIX AND MATCH. Let’s say you have outfit Set A, Set B, and Set C to for the next two weeks. You can go ahead and pair Shirt A with Pants B and Shoes C. You can also play with Shirt B, Shorts C, and Shoes A. It looks complex, but it’s really simple. Just go ahead and mix it up! No one will notice you wore Shirt A last week because you paired it up with a whole new look. The point of Mix-and match is to never wear the same set, from head to toe, twice.
GET ORGS HIRTS. This is where your membership in organizations will do you good. If it seems that you have exhausted the skill of mixing and matching, grab your regional org’s shirt and pair it with some pants or a skirt or anything under the sun! Plus, you can wear it over and over again simply because it’s an org shirt – no rules broken.
POP SOME TAGS. If you only have a limited set of clothes and a limited budget to get new ones, thrift shops (or the localized term ukay-ukay; also coined as UK) are your best friend. The price of one shirt in a branded clothing store in Lee Plaza is worth 3 equally branded shirts in UK. And I give emphasis to “equally branded” because what you get in UK are the well-kept Abercrombie & Fitch tops. You just have to know how to dig deep.
WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR? Arbor clothes from them. ‘Nuff said. FOLLOW THE TTH PRINCIPLE. Never heard of it? Good, because this was never meant to be put into writing. The TTH-Principle is actually an unspoken law among fellow fashionistas (and fashionistos). It simply goes: Kung unsa imong nasuot sa TTH, ayaw na i-suot sa TTH usob, sa WF nalang. Now you know the deepest secrets of the everyday Sillimanian. *wink-wink*
NEVER WEAR SOMETHING FLASHY TWICE. And to add to that, never waste money on flashy clothes unless it’s for a debut or a themed party. The first time you wear your leopardprinted leotards, people will stare at you and compliment you. But when they notice you wear the same loud leotards again, it’s game over. Point is, when you wear something that turns heads, never wear it again.
DOUBLE-CHECK. Check out your wardrobe again. You might miss out a few nice garbs that you haven’t worn before that have made it back to the fashion charts. Somewhere in there, a forgotten plaid, long-sleeved polo is screaming, “Please, wear me.” TELL YOUR MOM. If all else fails confess to your mom that you have nothing to wear anymore. And this works 91.99% of the time. It wouldn’t hurt to inform the woman who raised you that you’re out of stuff. Chances are, she’ll even bring you to Robinson’s and let you choose at least a new shirt or two new shorts or even new shoes! However, you have to take note that it’s all about perfect timing. (You don’t ask your mom for something new when the electricity bill just arrived. )
PEOPLE DON’T CARE. And in the irony of it all, at the end of the day, is that people won’t really care. You always have to remember that you’re in Silliman University, and here, no one really cares what you wear. Ever since its inception in 1901, it has always been about wearing what you feel comfortable in and loving the way you look. Sure, people will notice you’ve worn that shirt thrice in one week, but it will be the least of their problems to even give a hoot.
