UA Runway: Individuality and Inspo

By Sophie Michaelis | September 22, 2025 

Photo Credit: Amani Evans

One’s style is influenced by everything around them, especially the media they consume. From the influences they follow to the music artists they like, it all contributes to their personality and, in turn, their style. These things combined create a person’s aesthetic ー whether that be a “skater” aesthetic or a “cottage core” aesthetic. 

Different aesthetics can be seen all throughout the University at Albany campus. Lots of people also follow trends and put their own personal spin on it. Each choice attracts different types of people, and the trends one follows can often reflect aspects of their individuality.  

Photo Credits: Bella D’Andrea

The components people use to curate an outfit speak to their personal style. For some, following every clothing trend can be unrealistic. 

The contrast between D’Andrea’s outfits show the versatility of her style and therefore personality. Whether she chooses to wear a “cozy” outfit or an outfit on the more “stylish” side, both outfits show her simple yet fashionable wardrobe. 

As for showing her personality, it displays her casual and cool vibe. D’Andrea listens to a lot of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, 2pac and Tyler the Creator. And it’s reflected in her outfits and her overall vibe. Avid listeners of these artists can sometimes be seen as people who are more impulsive and outgoing. So while you do not always get this impression directly from D’Andrea’s outfits, you discover this from her vibe and talking to her for a few minutes. 

Photo Credits: Amani Evans

Evans’ use of  altering pieces of clothing shows her creative side. The way she tucked in half of her vest and cut up and altered a UAlbany T-shirt for the school’s block party – Evans’ style displays her “cool girl” personality. 

Altering pieces of clothing and making cute outfits that portray her personality are talents. She brings her own individuality to everything she wears with the way she styles her clothes. Evans listens to artists like Lana Del Rey and Childish Gambino who – while they might be mainstream artists – are not pop artists. Both artists have a cool, “vibey” feel to them and tend to be artists who are more creative or produce music that artsy people listen to. This reflects in Evans’ outfits with the way she is able to creatively alter her clothes to fit her personality. 

Capsule wardrobes, versatile staples and thrifting offer students a way to stay stylish without constantly adding new pieces to their closets. Several students stroll to class on the first day at UAlbany wearing neutral tops and button-down shirts paired with jeans and jean shorts. For them, this keeps things simple, with pieces that are easily mixed and matched. Such an approach also reduces the pressure of constant consumerism, reflecting the emerging desire among many Gen Zers for cost-friendly, sustainable wardrobes.

Regardless of their style, many students collect their articles of clothing from popular stores, more niche boutiques and thrifting. However it’s not always where they get their clothes that matters, but it’s how they style them. 

This is why having a quality capsule wardrobe and versatile basics is important. Curating these pieces can be expensive, especially if one is going for quality pieces. But it’s actually less expensive in the long run because you won’t have to re-buy them, and because they can be used to mix-and-match easily. Using them for simple and classic outfits or pairing them with “fun” pieces of clothing makes elevating and personalizing one’s style much easier. 

A good way to gather basics and more “fun” pieces of clothing is through thrifting. Vintage clothing is usually better quality than more recent fast fashion, mass-produced clothing. Thrifting, therefore, allows one to collect quality pieces at a much lower cost. And you can usually find more one-of-a-kind pieces that can make great additions to one’s wardrobe. 

For many, fashion is all about expressing yourself through your wardrobe. Outfits on the UAlbany campus represent the individuality and personalities of people on campus. From trendy or "basic" aesthetics to more “alternative” or “cottage core” aesthetics, their fashion choices demonstrate a generation whose style blends subcultures with emerging trends.