WHY IT MATTERS
Comfort is key for college students. For many, getting to class on time is the only priority, which doesn’t always leave time to pick out the perfect outfit. 16% of UNL students surveyed described their style as "comfy" or "comfortable."
“The last thing I want to be doing is pulling down a skirt or a dress and trying to get across campus when I’m in a hurry,” said sophomore Laynie Emsick. “I prefer to be comfortable every day but also when I want to dress up, I want it to represent me and I want to be sophisticated, trendy and personal.”
Athleisure is a key player in the world of comfortable fashion. Another 16% of survey respondents described their fashion as “athleisure” and “athletic.”
“Athletic apparel makes me feel comfortable. It’s easy for me to throw on sweats and a hoodie rather than dressing up,” said sophomore Austyn Stewart.
On the other hand, dressing for success is the norm for other students. Feeling put together plays an important part in the confidence of many individuals.
“It determines how my day is going to go. If I am dressed better, I am more confident and more motivated going about my day-to-day,” said junior Quin Sleddens. “Don’t get me wrong. I love dressing comfy but at the end of the day the better I look the better I feel.”
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At the end of the day, we all have our own reasons for why we wear the clothes that we do. What matters is the way it makes us feel.
Our data
To get a better understanding of the student fashion on campus, we sent out a survey to a group of UNL Students asking a variety of fashion-related questions.
Do you Shop at Thrift Stores?
Second-hand stores are not new by any means, but they have been growing increasingly popular in the last few years. We asked UNL students whether they shop at thrift stores and found that the majority do.
How much do you care about your fashion?
We asked survey respondents to rate how much they care about their personal fashion on a scale from 0 (not at all) to 5 (fashion is my life). We found that most students lie somewhere in the middle, but lean toward caring more.
Describe your fashion sense in one word
We wanted to see what styles were most prevalent among UNL students, so we asked our survey respondents to describe their fashion sense in one word. Through our variety of responses, we found that "comfortable," "athleisure" and "basic" were among the most popular.
Do you Prefer to shop online or in Person?
The convenience of online shopping is hard to beat. However, we found that the majority of UNL students surveyed still prefer to buy their clothing in person. "I like browsing online, but I hate returning things if they don’t fit," an anonymous survey respondent said.
EXPLORE LINCOLN THROUGH FASHION
From thrift stores to boutiques, students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln buy their clothes from a variety of locations. We surveyed students to find out their favorite clothing stores all around town. The red stars show our survey respondents' picks and the yellow stars show our profile interviewees'. Check them out on this map!