Old school Penn pics are the BEST, especially when they show us just how cool people used to be. Well, it looks like Scott Schuman (also known as the Sartorialist) digs these photos, too. This weekend our favorite style blogger posted some pictures that looked pretty familiar. We’re not entirely sure, but this totally looks like the Quad, right?
Schuman’s other pics can be found here, but we took it upon ourselves to round up some more stylish Quakers from the University Archives.
Dapper dudes! Fly honeys! >>
One of our biggest and most important responsibilities is finding out what people are saying behind your back and telling you. I mean, what are friends for, right?
That’s why today we’re back with a third installation of TwitPenn. The Twitterverse has been talking about your school, and as hard as it is to repeat, we think you should know what they’re saying.
So keep reading, and maybe stop rolling one pant leg up.
Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s face it, we kids grew a lot this summer, and you know what that means: cargo khakis falling right at the ankle bone, lacy sleeves hardly covering second knuckles, and too-small shoes that have us tripping in more ways than one. Even the clothes that do still fit are teeming with out-of-style catch phrases and outdated cultural references. Donate it all to charity, student. We’re going shopping!
Tomorrow in Houston Hall, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CollegeSampleSale.com will be hosting, of all things, an enormous College Sample Sale. Details listed below, and even more details listed on the Facebook event listing.
- All merchandise under $100
- Jeans 2 for 1
- Shirts, pants, jeans, jackets, bathing suits and other new products, all 50-80% off and brand new
- Designers including Anlo, T-Bags, Joie, AKA, La Rok, Primp, 291 and more
Listen, if there’s one thing UTB loves, it’s sports. So of course there was no way we could just sit around our lavish headquarters, drinking our raspberry lemonades, dabbing our noses with sunscreen and enjoying our mudbaths when such important, Philadelphia-related basketball news came across our desks. Ladies and gentlemen: the 76ers have changed their uniforms.
This is a big deal! Uniform changes lead to championships. Look at the Denver Broncos. They were a joke of a franchise. And then in 1997, John Elway took to his sewing machine and was like, “Enough already, guys. I got this.” So he whipped up these little numbers and two years later, he was the proud owner of two Super Bowl rings, one Super Bowl MVP trophy, and a couple amazing weekends riding the teacups at Disney World.
Then in 2002 the Angels changed their uniforms and won a title. Last year, the Rays changed theirs and…lost to the Phillies. Whatever, close enough. So many examples, not enough interest in researching more.
But trust us, the Sixers are basically guaranteed the title in 2010. Do you know what that means? Another crazy celebration! Hooray!
We find it frankly mystifying that Greenwich preppies still exist in this day and age — we hoped that the recession’s silver lining was that it had done away with all that madras and seersucker. But alas, as the New York Times‘s Choice blog points out, preppies are resilient, and they need to know what color polo shirts to wear to their college interviews. Help is available, we learn, in the form of fashion shows for admissions interview looks at Greenwich’s Rugby by Ralph Lauren store.
We’re not sure what the point of this article is, other than like, ew, but it includes quotes from our very own Dean of Admissions and a rising sophomore named Margot Neuburger, a friend of the consultant who staged the show. Thankfully, Dean Furda does Penn proud, advising students that “What’s most important is that you’re yourself.” Provided that you have really high SAT scores, of course.
Confession: for most people, summer at Penn is not all it’s cracked up to be. Sure, you’ve got Summer Street to look forward to every Thursday, and it’s perfect weather for gelato, but July and August are brutal, and the campus feels dead and empty aside from the tourists and prospective students gawking at buildings on the walk.
That’s why most people use the summer as their opportunity to really get out of their element and explore everything that Philadelphia has to offer. And contrary to what most of us would like to think, that offering includes Drexel.
This Saturday, Drexel’s fashion design and design merchandising programs will be holding their annual fashion show at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. Not only is this a great opportunity to see what it is that those people do on the other side of Walnut (we’re picturing Project Runway with keggers), but the Naval Yard is a really cool, industrial place that has a completely different vibe to it than University City.
Our friends over at uwishunu tipped us off to the fashion extravaganza, but they also did us one better by letting us know how we can get to the Naval Yard for free. Philadelphia Trolley Works will be transporting guests from 33rd and Market (on Drexel’s campus) to the Naval Yard and back for both the 4 p.m. show ($25) and the 8 p.m. ($50; followed by a reception).
The spring issue of The Walk, Penn’s most faaaaabulous fashion mag, is set to finally hit the streets! Ever the arbiters of cool, we assume the editors decided to Walk in fashionably late, given their decision to publish a week into finals period.
The writing is mostly unoriginal (congrats on discovering The Green Line and Clark Park!), but the styling and photos ain’t too shabby. The models do give us some hope in the sea of sweatpants and messy hairdos that we’re spotting in Van Pelt.
A flip-through version of the issue is available here.
Our friend Brian Hwang writes in with some observations on the Penn student body.
NB to Tae: stole this from your FB album, is that ok?
We’re not sure what it is about the ninety-degree heat that brings out the hotness is all of us, but everyone seems much more attractive today than they did during the rainy season in between Fling and last weekend. In the past few days, excessive temperatures have brought out the gladiator sandals, high-waisted skirts and oversized sunglasses that make the Penn face so much more appealing. Whatever it is, hopefully it continues after the air conditioning turns on and finals begin.
Today in random campus desecrations, Penn’s very own fashion club presents a promotional image for its spring show that manages to offend, baffle and entertain us all at once.
How…shocking! Such a daring combination of patent leather and female euphoria! The tawdry interplay between the human form and the inanimate giant button! It’s destined to become the Leda and the Swan of this century…or at least this semester. DZine2Show just took promoting campus events to a new level.
This is a six-inch Prada creation. Look comfortable to you?
I’m known among friends for being particularly well-heeled–I have a penchant for the teetering, towering works of Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik, Giuseppe Zanotti and many, many others. But my boys are testing me.
Manolo Blahnik, who has traditionally topped off his heel height at a (still respectable) five inches, decided to up the ante to six inches for Fall/Winter ’08. With no platforms. For you male readers, allow me to clarify–platforms on the heels elevate their soles, thereby making them less painful. For a taste of the platform-free, stand on your toes until you’re at a forty-five degree angle, and then stay like that. All night. Sir Blahnik (Yes, he has been knighted. His shoes are that hot.) says that his six-inch creations have accounted for 30% of his sales this season. Pretty impressive, dude.
Now, I have long dealt with six-inch platform heels–a challenge I undertook after watching too much Sex and the City, most likely. But Louboutin has just announced that he plans to release EIGHT-INCH HEELS next fall. Not only would these babies make me nearly six feet tall, but I’m fairly certain they’re also going to make me fall flat on my fucking face. Is this how we’ve decided to cope with the failing economy? By abusing our feet? Masochism just isn’t my cup of tea.
Remember the part in Clueless when Cher and Dionne are washing the dye out of Tai’s hair and picking out new clothes for her and stuff? The makeover scene! This week, Street is fashion-themed (with nary an Ugg in sight, we’d like to note). Here’s what you have to look forward to:
The aforementioned fashion story is front and center, then we have UTB‘s very own Carlin Adelson in print, bigs ups! And is it just us, or is this week’s Ego of Week duo even more attractive than usual? (Does that make us The-hoes?) And look, a super-classy cheese tasting! All that, a bag of chips, and more–it this week’s issue! Writers’ meeting tonight at 6:30, you know the deal.
Most people view their clothes as an extension of themselves. That’s why there are so many meltdowns on shows like How Do I Look? and our personal favorite, What Not To Wear? That’s why we never said anything when so many of our friends went through that “punk” phase in middle school (you know, the one where they wore all those studded belts and jelly sex bracelets?); it was merely a manifestation of their desire to rebel against their parents by being extreme. What you put on in the morning provides an opportunity to make a unique statement about who you are (whether it be middle-aged vixen or conservative, folksy politician). And if the clothes make the initial statement, it’s accessories that add a total flare.
And yet it seems like Penn women are all about suppressing their personalities in the name of boring, bland homogeneity. Whether that manifests itself in a trashy boot or matching North Faces, it drives us crazy.
But even more than that, the one thing we will never understand is why the ladies of Penn are determined to suppress the one area of fashion where it’s okay to be a little crazy: the handbag. We could waste time, but why not just call a Spade a Spade? Ladies, for the love of God, put the Longchamp tote down. Read the rest of this entry »
As if the original Crocs–and the mock-Ugg Crocs–weren’t bad enough, Crocs has recently debuted its new fall/winter “collection” of their YOU by Crocs line. I wish I were making this shit up.
These are called the Twisted Tart. I don't even know where to begin.
Aside from the use of all caps in the title of the line, which makes me feel as though Soulja Boy is imploring me to buy the shoes…. these babies are u-g-l-y. No alibis. It’s great that Crocs is trying to offer “comfortable, ergonomic, odor-resistant, anti-microbial, lightweight” shoes… but there has clearly been an aesthetic compromise that I just can’t tolerate. The attempt to copy these Prada beauties physically pains me. While I am all for recessionista fashion finds, the shoes pictured are $150! Surely Steve Madden makes something similar, cheaper, and not so damn ugly.
Welcome to Over It, in which we allow a disgruntled UTB contributor to rant at length about some thing or another. (How is that different from every other post on UTB, you ask? We’re not sure!) Today, Michael Gold takes on that most odious form of footwear, Uggs.
We were all around in 2003 when Ugg boots exploded onto the scene. “How cute!,” we all squealed, running out to buy a pair of sheepskin boots, rejoicing in the comfort afforded to us by the soft fleece lining. The modern woman was glad to have an alternative to the cowboy boot craze (which had began to manifest itself as the “hooker boot”), particularly one that was much more affordable than leather. To the consternation of many (who preferred the moniker “Fuggs”), knock-offs began rolling off the shelves, and soon every American female had one or two pairs of the boots in their closet.
Those of us who hated the Ugg simply waited. Like all fashion trends, this one was destined to die. If the disappearance of leg warmers and the extinction of the denim jacket were any indication, Uggs would be on their way out sooner than the animals they came from, hopefully to be replaced by something shinier and sleeker. And yet as we stroll around Penn’s campus, we are plagued by the fact that the plague Ugg boot has spread more than SARS. Read the rest of this entry »
This weekend’s New York Times Magazine has a photoshoot of fashionable professors (titled “Class Acts”–LOLNYT!). Among the featured is our very own Wendy Steiner of the English department and the Penn Humanities Forum, looking like a sassy cross between Nina Garcia and Cruella De Vil. This is just like when Amy Gutmann was in Glamour last year, but we think Professor Steiner looks even more fierce! Check her out:
The spread also pictures profs from Columbia, Brown, SMU, Harvard and a few others. Props to Bwog for noticing the feature!
