Mariana Martinez | The Longchamp tote: Is twinning winning?

This article asks the question: why do so many UPenn students try to imitate one another in how they dress?  And how do questions of identity, both in terms of race and socioeconomic status,  influence their choices?

The author starts by walking down Locust Street (a main drag in Philadelphia) and trying to photograph one girl wearing what might be considered typical Penn fashion of the moment: wide-leg jeans, Adidas Sambas, trench coat, and the ubiquitous Longchamp tote.  But trying to photograph one girl, she accidentally caught a photograph of three, all clad in similar outfits. 

This raised the question: do the author and her cohort at Penn wear these items because they “look cute” or because they help them fit into the look of Penn students or Ivy League schools, which tend to reflect higher socioeconomic circles?

There are a lot of psychological factors that go into fashion.  As the author says, while they wear certain items because they are attractive, the real reasons for them are the cognitive and emotional processes tied to fashion trends.

She cites social proof as a psychological phenomenon where people mimic others’ actions to reflect correct behavior in a given situation. Then she asks if there can be “correct behavior” at Penn.  Social proof is often called “herd mentality” and can be seen when people don’t know what “correct” behavior is, so they follow the lead of others, assuming they know best. The question she asks is fair: why do people need to look to others for guidance in fashion?  

She talks about the fish-out-of-water feeling that comes to any new student at Penn, regardless of socioeconomic status, when they arrive at the Ivy League school, full of peers who have led lives utterly different from their own.  As she says, you go from having no clue of what an elite school is like to one where you have friends who are wealthy socialites. Fashion becomes a way of coping.  Students like her copy those they feel fit in better with the Ivy League ideal.  She describes the iconic clothes as a “subconscious defense mechanism.”

Another aspect is race.  The author writes of people being surprised that she is Latina because she is lighter-skinned, and their perception is presumably that she would be dark-skinned.  She has used fashion to better blend in with other students.  Dressing as she does makes her “look more American,” which makes her more accepted.

These tendencies connect back to a “similar to me effect,” a cognitive bias to surround ourselves with people who think and act as we do.  This explains why a single photograph of Penn students on Locust Street shows three girls in virtually identical outfits.

He points out that Penn’s diversity is what makes it great.  However, it can also be daunting to those who may be unsure if they fit into an Ivy League environment, and it can be overwhelming to some students.  Fashion can provide a safe place in “a sea of cognitive biases.”