The Daily O’Collegian

As school resumes, Becca Whitman lays down the law about what to wear around campus and how to put your best foot (and outfit) forward.

We are settling into our new places, buying books, reading syllabi and taking one more step toward our careers.

It can be extremely stressful and sometimes we neglect our wardrobes.

One common faux pas in college is forgetting that dressing well is important.

Sure, we don’t have to wear tailored suits (luckily!); But, we do need to look nice.

A professor of mine said it best: “I can’t have you wearing sweat pants and T-shirts all the time, if I ever want to introduce you to someone important, I don’t want you to look unpresentable.”

Would you hire yourself for an internship or even a high paying job if you interviewed in sweatpants and an old T-shirt?

I most definitely would not.

So, to help all of you college kids who are a little clueless as to what to wear this fall besides your ‘I’m about to go to sleep’ garb, please keep reading.

Last spring was full of bright colors, loud floral, gladiator sandals and crazy layers of jewelry.

This season, the color scheme seems to be more monochromatic.

I noticed a lot of colors closely related in the red family; magenta, burgundy, deep red, fuchsia.

Although there is definitely room to continue to wear colorful clothes, they need to be the focal point underneath a dark pair of denim and a charcoal or black jacket or cardigan.

Don’t wear any lighter versions of colors, i.e.: Hot pink, baby blue, canary yellow or lime green.

Lighter colors are worn during the spring and summer.

They make your great tan look even greater and because it represents how bright and alive nature is around you.

Colors are darker and seem to be alike in family, just look at the sky and the leaves as they change.

Onto my favorite part of the season, buying a new bag!

It’s always smart to buy a new bag that doesn’t coincide with the season.

The famously year round oversized bag is still in style and probably won’t go out for another year.

I personally have about four oversized bags, even though I don’t completely fill them up; the bigger the better!

When it comes to bags this season, texture is great. Snakeskin is definitely in style but only if you get it in darker colors (remember what I said before).

Also, animal print is popular right now, but not too much of it and please don’t mix animal prints!

That’s almost as bad as wearing stripes and plaid!

An extremely cheap bag that would be great this fall can be found at http://www.target.com (type in: Mossimo Large Satchel Red).

If you don’t mind paying a little extra, an even cuter one can be found at http://www.hsn.com (type: Python-Embossed oversized bag).

Remember; no bright colors, the red family is the new black. And an oversized textured bag makes the outfit even better.

Also, avoid the sweatpants and try to look nice.

Who knows, maybe you’ll meet someone important and your amazing style will blow them away.