How to Accept Being Brown Basic
As I walked down Thayer the other day, I was met with a harsh reality. I looked up and realized that the girl walking directly in front of me was dressed in the exact same outfit that I was. We didn’t just look similar. We were identical, down to our chunky white sneakers, gingham print dress, and gold hoops. To someone like me, who thinks that each that each of her outfits are the most dramatic, fresh, and cutting-edge choice in fashion, this was a bitter pill to swallow. Even now, as I write this post sitting in Starbucks, I see several girls excitedly exclaim at their shared styles: another set of gingham dresses and chunky sneakers, paired with hoop earrings.This instance may have brought about a slight existential crisis for me and generally exemplified a broader trend I’ve witnessed at Brown recently: nearly everyone looks the same. On any given day, you can walk through the Ratty and count upwards of 20 people sporting some version of the same cheetah print midi skirt that has haunted your Instagram feed throughout Hot Girl Summer! This points to a trend I would consider as Brown Basic. Recently, I have come to the shocking realization that I am, irrevocably and horrifyingly, Brown Basic.I won’t speak for everyone on campus, but I will say that whenever I am gathered in any group of people, the amount of chunky sneaker-gold hoop-belted big pants-small shirt combos is overwhelming. I would argue, too, that this trend expands beyond style choices. I believe it’s best demonstrated by this tweet, which many of my friends pointedly sent to me this summer.
Now, being exposed so mercilessly never feels good. It hurts for a self-proclaimed ~Cool Girl~ like me to be revealed for what she really is: a dime a dozen, especially on this campus. However, instead of being bummed out by my lack of individuality, I am trying to take comfort in this shared sense of community. Though I am certainly not the first girl to waltz to class wearing a midi snakeskin skirt and Filas, or to hang a Flower Boy poster on my dorm wall, or to blast Blonde on repeat as I wander melodramatically around campus, I am seeking to become more comfortable with my own basicness. Being basic is not the worst thing in the world, I suppose. We all may as well stop fighting it, and embrace our fellow animal-print clad peers as compatriots and comrades. The next time you walk down Thayer, bopping along to some obscure Soundcloud covers and feeling coolly superior, look around and recognize that, though maybe you’re not as cutting-edge as you might hope, there’s a whole community of people out there who feel just as unique and superior as you do! And that is just so special. Images via and via.