Varsity’s Fashion team is made up of a brave bunch. We’ve sent our best investigative journalists all over Cambridge in the name of identifying the biggest currents rippling through Cambridge students’ wardrobes, while also uncovering the micro-trends brewing under the surface (and behind the mini scarves and leather jackets). We’ve sent them out into the mayhem of the Rumboogie queue, the revelry of King’s Affair, and even the darkest place known to man on Sidge (the Seeley. Some of us are haters, okay?) Our conclusion? We Cambridge students can be a bit of a predictable pack. We love our staples. We also seem to LOVE our accessories. So, on arguably one of the most important nights of the year for our wardrobes, what were we wearing?
Inexplicably costumed
Why see in the New Year in an ordinary outfit, when the opportunity to go out with a bang (or a pop, in TJ’s case) presents itself? There are few opportunities to dress up so brazenly, and with Halloween still in the far-distant future, why not take the second most important date in the “costume party calendar” as seriously as possible? Admittedly, no one could go quite as hard as this particularly committed representation of a can of Diet Coke, but we can aspire.
Jeans and a nice top? Never fails
Jeans and a nice top is the only definitively cool way to dress for a NYE house party. Emily, pictured here modelling a green lace number, aspires to be too environmentally conscious for the traditional glittery New Year’s clothing choices, but really, the glitter would have just cramped her style.
Comfy but conspicuous
Jeans and a nice top, but accessorised, one might say. Why not? It is New Year’s after all. If the glitter doesn’t make the cut for the main fit, it may as well squeeze its way into the accessories, as is modelled here. An investment piece for sure (not many other opportunities are likely to arise for this particular pair of glasses to be worn), but a worthwhile one certainly.
“I’m pretending to be an adult by wearing a maxi dress...”
“... but it’s actually just a lie I’m telling myself,” is how Heidi describes her New Year’s Eve outfit. It’s giving effortlessly cool, “I whipped it out my wardrobe earlier because it’s needy to think about NYE fits before 9pm” energy, and we’re all grateful for it. Sometimes it’s best to avoid the all black, all sparkles cliche, and, as Heidi says, “pretend to be an adult.”
Classic NYE: skintight, sparkly, or strappy
Sometimes, though, in spite of all these many other options, we’d be wrong to mess with what we know works. There’s nothing wrong with going for the typical all black, little bit of skin, and slightly sparkly option.
It irrefutably says “2024 is going to be my year”, and likewise says “this dress has been in my wardrobe for six months, unworn, because it’s too skimpy for a formal, but too classy for MASH”. You may as well start the new year looking your hottest – start as you mean to go on, eh?
