Student Saviour: Backpacks
This week’s student saviour is the humble backpack. This is the perfect practical alternative for all those who are tired of the bland leather designer; or, if you are like me, mock designer handbags that force girls with a bag full of uni work to contort their bodies sideways just so they don’t tip over. As every girl knows, posture makes for a good appearance, and backpacks are the key to good posture.
Of course the backpack is clearly the sensible choice for student life. They can fit your folders, laptop and Guild Shop meal deal all at once without risking your sandwich falling out the top. They are the pinnacle of another Spring trend, the Utilitarian, and nothing could be better suited for student life.
What is most brilliant about the backpack, however, is its diversity. For the chic, streamlined individuals there is the preppy satchel backpack or the leather-look boxy backpack, yet for the more experimental and creative characters there are backpacks in every pattern imaginable, from aztec to animal print. For something that gets used every day, most handbags are incredibly generic and impersonal, whereas this season’s backpacks give you the opportunity to express yourself. Madonna would be proud.
Student Sabotage: Ruffles
Why. Just why. I have been racking my brain to conjure up any conceivable reason that can possibly justify the return of ruffles and I cannot come up with one. I will admit that a well placed ruffle on a blouse or dress can look rather nice, but my point stands. For some reason this Spring almost every fashion designer seems to have come together and decided to simply vomit strips of fabric onto innocent and unsuspecting garments.
Ruffles, for a long time, have been the butt of so many fashion jokes, largely related to bridesmaid dresses, and for good reason. A ruffled garment breaks one of the cardinal rules of fashion: the person is supposed to wear the garment, not the other way around. Ruffles are simply unnecessary; they add unwarranted bulk to the body and hide the assets of your figure. To my mind a heavily ruffled garment will always look like a costume, be it that of a flamenco dancer, one of the three musketeers or simply a table cloth. So unless you are going to a fancy dress party or a Mexican night at Mos, maybe leave the ruffles at home. They are unnecessary and messy and, unless treated with great caution, will lead to disaster.
A ruffled garment breaks one of the cardinal rules of fashion: the person is supposed to wear the garment, not the other way around
Having finished my rant, I will concede a few exceptions. Peplums can look amazing and a well placed ruffle around the neckline can be rather lovely. If you are brave enough to stray into this minefield of a trend, please just remember this: less, and preferably none, is more.