Fashion in XMUM

By Wan Nur Husna, Yeoh Khai Yun

Goth, Vintage or Asian hype beast? These are the fashion that are making some teenagers in Xiamen University unleash their inner fashion spirit. Although we all live in a quite rural university area, some students still put effort in making themselves look presentable. Have you ever woke up wondering why is my closet so boring? How can students in my university dressing stylish? Don’t worry, buckle up fashion thirst, we’re going on a ride.

Students here honestly don’t dress that much, maybe because of how isolated our school are surrounding by plantation. So, it’s quite hard for us to capture some fashionista. But luckily, we saw this boy that dresses like a total vintage 90’s skater boy.

Dressing as vintage skater boy, Frederick

As he walked down the school’s cafeteria, we managed to stop him and asked for permission in order to have him in the article, he seemed humble and his red cheeks are visible when we asked questions regarding on his clothing. Matching an oversized stripes tee with a nude baggy pants, adding a hat with large letters written on it and lastly finishing it with a rare collection of Converse sneakers. A perfect description of how male skaters dressed themselves back in the 90’s. Does it match your aesthetics? No, don’t worry about the budget, it’s all thrifted. That is where you are able to get good stuff in really lows prices. When we asked where he usually thrift, Jalan Raja Boat in Kuala Lumpur is his main option. He describes his daily wear as “lazy and vintage” because of how simple it looks yet still manage to climb up to the high fashion sense.

90’s vintage skater boys. Source: Google.

A boy skating down the streets back in the 90’s. Source: Google

Why does he describe it as vintage? Baggy pants and oversized tee were very famous back in the days. Fashion are always evolving and recycling, maybe your parents used to be one of them, who knows? Fashion icon like Kanye West is the source of inspiration for Frederick’s daily wear. Search them up readers, don’t be sluggish! Nowadays, Instagram is the main provider of teenager’s fashion sense. Frederick doesn’t specifically provided us more information but he said that hashtags like #vintagefashion and #retro allow you to discover more about styling. To make this end, we also asked him to rate the fashion sense in XMUM but surprisingly he made it 7.5/10. “Come on, there’s more than just a t-shirt and jeans.” He outvoiced his opinion as he wishes that XMUM students shows more diversity and difference in terms of clothing, making this school more interesting and unique.

Moving on! Make sure to pay more attention on this one, here comes the second fashionista that successfully catch our attention. This girl with a red hair and dressed herself in a way of rock star style was walking down from the staircase with her friends. We get to take a picture of her style by asking her for permission. Luckily, she agreed to stop by and let us interview her although she was a little bit shy. Red blouse with black leather jacket, low cut black boots with a black silk stocking. Everything on her body just matched perfectly. Well, about the budget thingy, we don’t really get to ask her because she herself didn’t remember how much she spent on them. She is an oversea student from China and she bought the items from her country.

Looking confident , rock star Jane Tan serving us fashion sense!

She usually dresses in a rock star style since she was influenced by her favourite rock star celebrities such as Avril Lavigne and Arch Enemy’s lead singer Alissa Violet. “Wearing black makes me look bold” She giggles as we asked what made her dress this way. Well, we don’t see any flaws in her statement, wearing black does make you feel that you are taking control on yourself. Sometimes, she managed to dress like a Disney princess due to her reddish hair or go for a Korean style, so it actually depends on her mood. However, we can all agree that she looks wonderful in any kind of dressing, right?

Others rocking denim/leather jacket with a pair of boots. Source: Google

Look at all these people in the picture, do they look rocky? Yes, of course. A leather or denim jacket always fits with other clothes, and it can make you look gorgeous as well. Black boots are essential for a person to be fashion.

If you want to be fashion but are worrying about the budget, don’t worry, here’s some tips to be fashionable on a budget:

1. Shop the classics - always stick to the classic items and furnish with trends, and don’t forget to write down the fashion items that you like because a small closet full of quality clothes that fit you are much better than a huge closet with clothes that are cheap, old or ill-fitting.

2. Take a buddy & your cash only - take a friend shopping with you to hold your accountability and never bring your credit cards with you because you will tend to spend more.

3. Sell, trade or toss - sell or donate your nice clothes that you don’t wear or use it anymore, when your closet is cleared, you will see what you are missing!

4. Make a review of what you have - Take some times to review and reset your closet.

Last but not least, it is good to look fashionable but at the same time you should know where is your limit. Before you want to buy any clothes, set a budget. Actually, fashion has no limitation. Also, it doesn’t mean that wearing all branded clothes make you counted as fashion. Fashion is something we deal with it every day. Fashion is a language which tells a story about the person who wears it. Remember readers, be yourself. Express more within your dressing and be confident!