If you take a stroll around campus, you will likely see students sporting Lululemon leggings, Canada Goose coats or Apple watches. On their feet, you might see Blundstones, L.L. Bean boots, Birkenstocks, Tevas or Chacos. These are some of the most trendy and popular brand-name items that students wear, but they’re also often prohibitively pricey and don’t always live up to the hype.
“There’s a lot of crunchy, outdoorsy people, and a lot of wealthy people. And so that combined, you get a lot of Patagonia, North Face, HydroFlasks and Osprey backpacks,” Helen Vaughan ’24.5 said.
When asked about what he considered the MiddKid look to be, Jeffrey Bolnick ’24 said, “I would say pretty preppy, which is expected for a liberal arts school, especially in New England.”
Isabela Bahadorzadeh ’23 felt an immediate sense of pressure to fit in with the Middlebury image even before coming to campus. “When I got into Middlebury and found out I was going to go here, I immediately started saving up to buy a Patagonia rain jacket,” Bahadorzadeh said.
However, she did not find that it lived up to the hype. “It’s a perfectly good rain jacket, but there was no need for me to do that,” Bahadorzadeh said.
Bolnick has a Patagonia sweatshirt and agreed that brand names play an important role in deciding to buy these items.
“It’s definitely a good sweatshirt, but it is a lot based on the brand,” Bolnick said. “People want people to see the little Patagonia logo. It definitely is a bit of a status symbol.”
Vaughan questioned the necessity of purchasing brand-name items, especially since there are plenty of alternatives.
“I definitely do feel like there are brands that are totally blown out of proportion sometimes, or that you find products of equal measure from different stores, but because it has the brand name, people buy that product,” Vaughan said.
Julia Pepper ’24 found that her personal style has started to change since coming to Middlebury, and now she incorporates more flannel and sherpa into her wardrobe.
“[Outdoorsy styles] honestly feels pretty engrained,” Pepper said. “To me, at least, it doesn’t seem like people are changing, like this is what they’ve always worn.”
“I do think Middlebury attracts that kind of person since we’re kind of in the middle of nowhere and the middle of the mountains; it’s going to attract people who want to spend time outside,” Vaughan said.
There is also a significant cost barrier to the Middlebury look. Blundstones are about $200 per pair, Patagonia fleeces are typically over $100 and North Face backpacks start at around $70, raising the issue of exclusivity.
After being on campus and making friends, Bahadorzadeh felt less pressure to fit in.
“I got here and realized that this preppy, white Middlebury vibe wasn’t my vibe, and my closest friends weren’t going to be part of that group,” Bahadorzadeh said. “I can wear whatever, and it doesn’t matter.”
Ultimately, not all students align with these trends, and many choose to spend their years at Middlebury exploring and refining their personal styles. Students are constantly creating new styles with the understanding that Middlebury should be a place of experimentation where it is okay to exist outside the norm.
Charlie Keohane ’24 (she/her) is an Editor at Large. She previously served as the SGA Correspondent and a Senior Writer.
She is an environmental writing major and a psychology minor from Northern California. Outside of academics, Charlie is a Senior Admissions Fellow at the Middlebury Admissions Office. She also is involved with the women’s track team and hosts Witching Hour, a radio show on 91.1 WRMC. In Spring 2023, she studied abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, watching Greta Gerwig movies, polar plunging, sending snail mail, and FaceTiming her rescue dog, Poppy.
