University of California at Berkeley - The Blue and Gold Yearbook

“North versus South, East versus West. Southern Californians have made a big splash on this campus, perhaps because Los Angeles fashion is apparently homogeneous but also isolates from the rest of the country. Accusations of " Bar- bie Doll Republicanism " have been leveled at the LA or Valley Girl influx, often by those who are just as image- oriented. They cannot deny that the universal conception of bright mellow sunny California has been richly com- plemented by the LA look. The war between East and West seems less intense. Perhaps this is because the East Coast, the Northeast in particular, is the home of the preppie who sports a more refined native subur- ban look. It is the look of pink oxfords, LaCoste pastels with green khakis, and topsiders or penny loafers. Easterners in the Bay Area (like myself) have a lot to reject and a lot to keep, and it seems a relief either to meld into the native look, suburban or nostalgic Californian (twen- ties ' hawkstooth bla zers, candy pumps, etc.) or go punk. This last is a nationwide fashion that seems to be the young generation ' s response to its 60 ' s flower- child forebears, and to a certain extent, New Wave is part of the same response. This fashion entails mohawks, cellophane-dyed hair, spikes, black leather, armbands and even, to some extent, the dark Bogartian overcoat. It is interesting that these national fashions — suburban preppyism and Punk/New Wave — exhibit little polarity between the sexes: unisex seems to be the newest wave of national taste. One potentially enriching source of fashions which is horribly downplayed in our " integrated and cosmopolitan " town is the international or ethnic look. It is too bad that a kimono or a dishiki worn in public might be considered either trendy or foreign. I suppose it ' s fair to assume that Berkeley, for all its racial diversity and liberalism, is still a very American, and therefore Western, city. All this talk about fashion has pro- bably either raised your hackles or left you in the dark as to the basic question of what might be your own style. Most students come to college a little tired of the jeans and t-shirts or cords and button-down apparel. When you get down to it t hough, spending big bucks in Marika or Sunshine Fashions might land you in some fashionable duds teat just aren ' t you. Spending fewer bucks at Aardvaark ' s or Buffalo Exchange might go further towards establishing a new you. Keep in mind one thing: being stylish is not necessarily being fashionable, and vice-versa. Style could be the way you express your resistance to all the fashions you know you ' re a part of. Phil Inje tt 47 IS \ ”