Choosing what to wear is a valuable part of human expression, and it was a scarce luxury during the COVID-19 lockdown. With quarantine measures changed, Seattle University students and faculty can finally resume in-person education. With the emergence of staff and students, the campus is once again full of impressive outfits.

First-year Creative Writing student Genny Sheara has been extra conscious of her new setting when getting ready in the mornings. 

“Sometimes I tend to overthink, especially being in a new college environment. I kind of worry how people will perceive me. Ultimately once I get comfortable, I just wear whatever I feel like that day. Right now, there’s just a little bit of everything,” Sherara said. 

Sheara noticed that her style changed a great deal after quarantine.

“I think I changed a lot. There was a lot of self-reflection. Like, ‘who do I wanna be? How do I want to come off to other people?’ That kind of thing. So, I think I definitely came out of it more confident.” 

Sheara’s favorite piece of clothing holds sentimental value.

“My dad was in the marines in college and he has this big bulky army jacket and that’s probably my favorite thing that I have,” Sherara said. 

First-year Film Studies major Raymond Carr is inspired by old movies and the vintage aesthetic of the seventies and eighties. 

“I felt like I was ready to dress nicely because I have been dressing to be at home for so long. I wasn’t scared to take risks in public because life is short,” Carr said.

Carr credited his brown low down chaco shoes as his all time favorite. 

“I wear them all the time, all day, everyday. I’ve walked hundreds of miles in them, so they’re probably my favorite,” Carr said. 

Second-year International Studies major Hannah Rodrigues looks to street style and her favorite bands for style inspiration, adding her own twists to make it her own. Seattle’s winters can prove challenging for some styles, but Rodrigues takes a more utilitarian approach.

“The first thing I do when I wake up is check the weather so I know what I am going to be putting together. All my clothes are pretty much all functional,” Rodrigues said. 

First-year Computer Science major Ashley Esperanza mixes the new and the old to find her personal style. 

“I think today’s trends are really influencing how I style. I have a lot of hand-me-downs from my parents and relatives, so I try to match it with other stuff I have,” Esparanza said. 

Senior Mathematics and Physics major Reece Keller cites academics as the biggest influence on his personal style.

“I’ve always wanted to be a professor one day, so those kinds of ideas influence the way you see yourself and think about yourself and for me, that means being a little bit more mature in the way that I dress,” Keller said. “Unless I’m sitting at home I think what I wear is completely a function of how I feel that day, the mood I’m in.”

With that in mind, Seattle U’s students can now once again express themselves through clothing, thus continuing their journey of defining themselves. Regardless of formality, comfort or trend, seeing people on campus happily wearing their clothes is now a joy in itself.