After reading several articles about what it’s like to be a fashion student, especially at FIT, I have decided to write my own post. I’m here to stomp on all of the stereotypes and tell you the truth about fashion students.

First of all, no matter what major you are or what project you are working on, we are always consumed by something that has to do with school and work. We are always trampled with our next project and assignments. Grades are probably the most crucial thing, especially when it comes to a fashion student. We are always applying to internships, searching for new jobs, and waiting for new opportunities to come along. We are exhausted day to day, going from an 8am class, then to work or to intern, then to go straight home and finish school work all night.

This leads me to my second point: the competition. No matter what, there is always fear of someone being better than you. There’s nothing worse than applying to a job or internship and then later receiving an email from your dream company saying, “We have decided to move forward with another candidate.” This is why we, as fashion students, are always pushing ourselves to be better, to improve, and to constantly change to fit the mold of perfection.

On the contrary, this has nothing to do with the way we dress. So, point three: WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT WHAT OTHER STUDENTS WEAR! Compiling points one and two, we are so consumed with our own everyday lives that we cannot stop to look at someone else in our class or someone in the hallway to judge what they look like or if they are wearing sweatpants (I’ve read sweatpants in every article). Personally, to me, whether you are wearing old Nikes or the latest Louboutin’s (doesn’t happen here, but just an example), I could give a shit less. Neither can anyone else. So, dear oncoming students, wear sweatpants if you wish. We. Don’t. Care.

Leading to point four: yes, we like to be stylish and are trend conscious for the most part, but that doesn’t mean we ALWAYS look like we stepped out of a magazine. I can vouch for the fact that maybe 80% of students at FIT wears leggings, sneakers and baseball hats. Some see this as a trend, some just could care less about what they look like, some are just too tired to plan their outfit the night before.

Next is point five: everyone really is different. It’s obvious that, especially at FIT, students come from all different walks of life. Different countries,  races, tastes, lifestyles, personalities, beliefs…just different everything! When people think of fashion students, their automatic thoughts are, “Wow, they must be pretentious.” and “Why do they spend so much time picking out their outfits?” and “They’re all stuck up, rude, and arrogant.” This is true, for some perhaps, but you can’t just put every single person into one category. Everyone has feelings and we aren’t just all judgmental assholes that look at you like you have two heads if you wear something that isn’t “in style”. This doesn’t just have to with fashion students (even though it does in most cases), but it has to do with getting to know people in general. Get to know people first before you make assumptions! You wouldn’t want someone to do that to you, right?

I wrote this article because I got very upset with the way that people wrote about fashion students like me, especially since some authors are fashion students themselves! Treat everyone like how you would like to be treated and quit with the stereotyping!

xo, Desirae