Name brands flash, high heels tap linoleum floors as stylish students walk in all directions.
It’s not a conference or a cocktail party. It’s late Friday afternoon on the campus of Southern University.
Students at Southern haven’t adopted the LSU roll-out-of-bed-five-minutes-before-class routine.
Every day, they wake up and put on a show for their classmates.
“People [at LSU] can go to class and have on sleeping clothes. Not here,” said Patricia Simmons, a social work sophomore at Southern. “Even our teachers dress fashionably.”
There are a few exceptions, but almost everyone dresses up for class, said Arieal DeLotte, a nursing sophomore.
“LSU definitely dresses more comfortably,” said Shardae Bonds, a marketing sophomore. “Sometimes I wish we could walk around in a T-shirt.”
But Simmons said most girls adopt a stringent “no T-shirt” policy for class.
“It’s heels and big earrings every day,” Simmons said.
DeLotte said some of the biggest trends this year are ponchos and blazers for girls.
Headbands and scarves abound at Southern, hiding even bad hair days with a trendy flourish.
Similar trends are spotted frequently around LSU, but fashion for men varies more between the two campuses. The men at Southern are rarely outdone by their chic counterparts.
Urban brands such as Roca Wear and long white T-shirts, baseball caps, baggy jeans and boots are standard items.
“There’s nothing too different here,” said Keidrick Bailey, a computer science sophomore. “We wear our white T’s and caps and Timberlands.”
Jay Minor, a mass communication freshman, said “button-up shirts, Timberlands and ‘tall’ T-shirts” are must-haves for Southern men.
The tall T’s, which fall a little above the knee, surprised Ben Bethard, an LSU alumnus now attending Southern Law School.
“I didn’t know those shirts existed,” said Bethard. “They look like a regular shirt, but they just never end. And it’s almost always completely white.”
Brent LeDuff, an architecture sophomore, added throwback jerseys and Jordan tennis shoes to his list.
Southern students take their fashions a step further once a week. On “Dress for Success Wednesdays,” students come to school in dress clothes and business attire.
“It’s fun,” said Keishawn Melancon, a nursing sophomore.
Bethard said he usually forgets to dress up on Wednesdays.
“I forgot about it again last Wednesday,” Bethard said. “I went wearing a shirt with holes. I guess I kind of stood out.”