High-Waisted and High-Fashion

Rachel Alford
Zeta Tau Alpha

As we all know, high-waisted jorts (jean shorts, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term) are in high demand right now. Summer/fall 2011’s biggest fashion trend has swept Florida State’s campus with an unrelenting force. 

Surprisingly enough, Tallahassee is just the place to find this hot item. There is no need to search up and down the web, spending far more money than the shorts are actually worth. You can find them right here in places you may not have guessed. In fact, you can make them yourself and spend under $5 doing so.

 The art district that inhabits Gaines Road and Railroad is littered with consignment shops that carry an endless supply of these precious garments. Two in particular are Olde Fields and Avant Garde, located directly across from each other. If you can’t find what you’re looking for at one place, you can simply walk across the street and try another.

However, if you’re feeling especially crafty and don’t have much cash to spare, Goodwill is the place to go. A little more work is involved, but for people that want to stay trendy on a budget, it is absolutely worth it. 

You can use shorts or pants- whatever you can find that fits your waist- and create your very own tattered shorts. Just cut to the desired length, and you can begin your work of art. Once you have them showing the right amount of leg, you can start on the distressed look. Sandpaper works best for making holes. Rub it along the front of the shorts in the spot of your choice and the fabric will begin to fray. It is completely up to the owner how far to go with this, so have fun with it and get them to be the perfect shorts. They only get better with time. After a few washes the frays will become more extreme, giving them the look that is so popular.

A year ago, this item was scarce, but now you can find them on countless females around campus. How did such a trend come back and why are “mom jeans” suddenly cool again? Well, that is a question I’m afraid no one can truly answer. 

Styles are always getting recycled; brought back from the past only to make our parents wish they had kept those awful articles they thought should never be seen on anyone… ever. 

This, however, is a never-ending cycle. We have seen it happening for years now, and with no novel ideas springing up, it seems that we will continue to get modified versions of past trends.

What does this mean, we ask, for fashion then? Are designers truly out of ideas, or are they just not trying hard enough to come up with something fresh? There are only so many shapes and garments we can craft. 

After so long, we have nothing more to offer. Although we seem satisfied with what is it out there, we may not be getting a hold of everything we can. We open up a magazine and that’s what they’re showing us, so we follow along without question. Perhaps there is more, but we are not skeptical enough to sit back and ask why?  

Rachel is a sophomore studying communications, editing, writing and media. You may contact her at rla10d@fsu.edu.