While many students still embrace the comfort of basics like Aritzia sweats and Alo leggings, a growing number are experimenting with bold, unconventional styles that prioritize sustainability and personal expression over fast fashion trends. This shift challenges the common stereotype of Queen’s as a hub for ‘basic’ aesthetics, revealing instead a vibrant and diverse fashion identity shaped by the varied tastes of its student body.
Although ‘clean girl’, Aritzia-sourced wardrobes continue to prevail, there are spaces on campus for students to connect with their creative, fashion-related interests. Clubs like Vogue Charity Fashion Show (VCFS) and MUSE Magazine reflect the range of student perspectives on fashion, further disrupting the idea that Queen’s style can be confined to one way of dressing.
2024-25 VCFS Creative Director, Serena Wong, ArtSci ’25, believes the evolution of campus style has been driven by a mix of increasingly divergent influences. “There’s been a growing pull toward what’s often called ‘timeless’ or ‘quiet luxury’ fashion: capsule wardrobes, fashion ‘staples,’ and understated pieces that suggest effortlessness and refinement,” Wong wrote in a statement to The Journal.
Wong notes that although this trend of “timeless” fashion is “often framed as ethical, sustainable, and grounded in thoughtful consumption,” it can also uphold “Eurocentric” and “subtly exclusionary” ideals at Queen’s.
Despite the prevalence of fashion trends that have the potential to exclude students who may not be able to afford trending pieces, Wong finds many Queen’s students continue to break the mold. “There are still plenty of students who carve out their own aesthetic–who thrift, rework, or layer pieces in ways that feel deeply personal,” Wong said. To her, these efforts “are just as much a part of the Queen’s fashion identity as anything else.”
2024-25 MUSE Fashion Editor, Beth Hood, ArtSci ’25, shared similar sentiments about the growing importance of individuality to Queen’s style identity. In a written statement to The Journal, Hood its how “fashionably creative people” tend to be “lost in the sea of Super Puffs,” bold clothing choices, such as “wool jackets, Afghan coats, or full-on fur—second hand of course,” have helped students stand out.
An interest in the wider impact of personal style choice—such as how fashion can be used to advocate for sustainability and alternatively, career-related interests—helps Queen’s students form a sense of community and stand out along with other fashion-forward peers. For of Queen’s For Sustainable Fashion (QFSF) and Queen’s Fashion Industry Network (QFIN), the world of fashion simultaneously intersects with and represents other ions.
“There’s been a continuing shift toward more sustainable and individualistic fashion choices on campus, with many students choosing to thrift or buy vintage,” QSFS Online Director, Hannah Goodman, ArtSci ’27, wrote in a statement to The Journal. This move toward intentional dressing isn’t limited to sustainability—some students are using fashion to reflect professional ambition and business-minded aesthetics.
Personal style can be used a medium to promote “the intersection of business and fashion,” QFIN Co-Chair, Katya Baldwin, ArtSci ’26, wrote in a statement to The Journal. Baldwin has observed “a noticeable shift toward button-down blouses, dress pants, loafers, wool trenches and even faux eyewear”—a far cry from what is usually considered a typical Stauffer study outfit. For these students, style is strategy—an unspoken code for finding their people. Their fashion niches defy the notion that Queen’s has just one look.
The boundary-defying fashion choices of both individuals and student groups challenge the idea that Queen’s style can be summed up by convenient, ‘clean girl’ staples alone. Far from monolithic, Queen’s fashion scene is a vibrant tapestry of self-expression reflective of its diverse student body. And if the current wave of mold breaking is any indication, future students will keep pushing boundaries—and wearing their hearts on their sleeves.
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