Guaranteeing comfort and available in an endless selection of colors, the Nike shorts and T-shirt trend has been a popular outfit of choice for some members of the college community. Yet while comfort continues to be an important element in deciding what to wear to class, various questions arise.

Is it possible for comfort to be taken too far? And what exactly does relaxed clothing say about students when worn in educational settings, or when taken to the extreme in a pair of slippers and pajamas? Further discussion has arisen about the comfortable sleep and exercise wear worn on college campuses and the impressions that these ultra-casual clothing items can project.
Clothing stores like American Eagle, Abercrombie and Victoria’s Secret are also well known for their sleepwear lines, with trendy patterns and collegiate designs that sometimes resemble everyday wear, garnering support from a number of shoppers.

Abercrombie sales associate and psychology junior Megan Cristwell, who sports a boyfriend hoodie, tank top and sleepwear pants to class, discussed how casual wear worn on campus can sometimes cross a fine line and go from comfortable and cute, to sloppy and unacceptable.
According to Cristwell, students have to be careful when sporting any kind of sleepwear to class, making sure to maintain a certain level of professionalism and style.

“It’s never okay to wake up and go to school in the clothes you woke up in,” Cristwell said. “Clothing that are comfortable reflect an ‘I don’t care’ attitude that can call into question your seriousness as a student.”

Likewise, youth and community studies junior Helen Hunter is a fan of the relaxed look, but believes that sporting exactly what you slept in on campus raises eyebrows for all the wrong reasons.

“We’ve all woken up late for class before, I did yesterday. But wearing pajamas to class makes me wonder, ‘if you didn’t have time to change your clothes, then you must not have had time to brush your teeth, put on deodorant or do anything remotely hygienic,” Hunter said.

Instead, if the goal is to wear an outfit that feels comfortable and won’t take very long to style, she advises trying on a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. She also agrees that seeking a put-together, comfortable outfit overrides resorting to the easier thing to do — literally just getting out of bed and going to class.

According to Hunter, while high school days held a heavier importance on appearance, dressing for success on a college campus demands comfort. However, Hunter suggests avoiding the extreme.

For some students, the relaxed look has actually improved their studying habits, as psychology freshman Nicole Pazary pointed out. She claims that in a pair of sleep pants and a tank top, her motivation to study increases significantly as opposed to when she wears an outfit she’d usually save for the weekend. Pazary understands how completing homework in clothing that allows you more wiggle room can make the learning experience less stressful.

“It’s nice to have clothes you can just throw on without looking like a slob,” Pazary said, while still acknowledging the existence of a fine line students should refrain from crossing.

While there is no doubting that comfortable clothing, in general, makes the trek back and forth on a 40 acre campus more bearable, caution should be taken in regards to what you wear when you sleep through an alarm, especially in a learning environment full of respected professionals.

Printed on Friday, February 3, 2012 as: Students comment on sloppy outfit choices around campus