I’m not sure at what point in my life I felt like I was truly an adult. Like many, graduation from high school was a pivotal point in my life but so was my first real job in corporate. Then there was my forced acceleration into adulthood upon the start of my military service. No rolling out of bed and heading to formation in what I went to bed in the night before. Military attire was extremely important both in and out of uniform. There was a standard that was placed on the service members to uphold a certain appearance. That was something that was ingrained in me on a personal and professional level.
When I was discharged from the military I took pride in my appearance more because I had a variety of dress to choose from rather than a closet full of uniforms. I dressed professionally so that I would be perceived as such. It became second nature for many years to grab a pair of nice slacks—until I decided to step away from corporate America and pursue a different career objective.
At first I approached my classes with the same professionalism I demonstrated in my career. I dressed professionally for classes so that I was perceived as a serious student. Often times, I was looked at in a quizzical way from other students when I entered class for the first time and sat among them. That professional attire lasted for a whole semester.
I quickly fell into the trap of comfort over professionalism. Now, I find that I have completely regressed to the attire of my high school years. It has become jeans and a t-shirt or hooded sweatshirt. The fashionable hairstyles are gone as well since my unfashionable, yet highly functional, baseball caps can repair any bad hair day.
Completely forget about makeup too because an extra fifteen minutes of sleep is more worthwhile than a perfect face. I have come to the conclusion that many of the other students sitting next to me could care less about whether or not I put on foundation and eyeliner.
I truly believe that my fashion sense has become an unintended casualty of my complete devotion to my academic endeavors. If I could only figure out how to incorporate my flannel lounge pants into my attire as successfully as some of the younger college students have I will have come full circle in my fashion regression.
The Lewis Flyer
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