As Ohio University alumni flood the streets during Homecoming weekend, they may notice the same bricks but different shoes that tread on them.
Athens has seen each generation bring a new style, as a whole and within each major.
“It’s probably true that retail management majors dress a little more unique than other majors – (but) it really goes back to personality,” Maggie Boyle, a senior studying retail merchandising and the fashion director for Thread magazine, said.
In that case, Athens has no shortage of personality.
Here are some of the highlights of OU fashion through the decades:
The 1959 Athena Yearbook showed sorority girls clad in white shirts and short haircuts, and their male counterparts dressed in suits in their pictures. They radiated honor and formality as they stared into the camera with excited grins. Women wore long skirts and modest shirts – usually with matching logos – for their club pictures. Wide-rimmed glasses were an ever-popular choice for many students and professors. Picture day seemed to capture the unspoken uniform of college students of the era: suit jackets for men and white sweaters for women.
The 1978 yearbook entitled Spectrum Green was a sharp contrast to the modesty and neatly creased shirts of the 1959 edition. Both men and women wore clothes they could more easily rally and rave in, like wide-collared shirts and flared jeans. There were entire pages dedicated to motorcycle gangs, with students’ skin taking on a pallor that accented their leather jackets and black boots. Men and women with long, flowing hair are pictured sunbathing at Strouds Run State Park in board shorts and flowered bikinis. Facial hair, particularly mustaches, was extremely popular with male students as well.
The 1999 Athena Yearbook provides a different perspective than its predecessors. It has a much more laid-back vibe, even in the midst of formal senior portraits. Kids spinning records in baggy T-shirts and walking to class in sweater vests and untucked shirts were the new norm. Turtlenecks and oversized sweaters were trendy attire during the brutal Midwest winters. A typical OU female student had blown-out hair, either tied up in a scrunchie or left to flow naturally, perhaps reminiscent of the ‘80s trend.
Now, students can be found wearing OU gear, running pants, Birkenstock sandals or Adidas sneakers walking up Jeff Hill or Court Street. At night, however, the attire changes to mirror ‘80s and ‘90s vibes. Tube tops, denim jackets and skirts are popular.
“The typical (2018) OU student goes for comfort,” Boyle said. “Most people walking to class are sporting athletic, leisure-type wear, (though) I do see the occasional person who puts an extra few minutes into their outfits for class.”
Elizabeth Roush, a 1989 OU graduate, agrees and so does her son Daniel, a freshman studying biochemistry.
“The typical dress attire (in the 1980s) was high-top Reebok tennis shoes, high-waisted skinny jeans or denim mini-skirts, stirrup pants or long sweaters,” Roush said. “Both males and females had big, long hair. The only major that had a particular style was the artists, who dressed noticeably more goth/grunge.”
Roush noticed how much this style was recycled in 2018, as she stepped back on campus.
Athens style has varied greatly over the decades and has seen many repeated trends, such as the current resurgence of ‘90s attire or ‘80s bohemian looks. As Homecoming weekend approaches, College Green will become a melting pot of fashion, both old and new. The one style Bobcats have in common: OU swag and a love for their eccentric school.
