What my friends, my classmates, my coworkers, and I wore from January to March 2024.
The first three months of the year always seem to crawl by. The weather here is grey and wet and the sun doesn’t make enough of an appearance to brighten anyone’s mood. The last two years in NYC have also been uncommonly warm, meaning we only got a true snow one time for the whole winter, which makes the cold feel even more futile. Still, we have to get up and get dressed every day, and everything I dislike about this time of year lends itself well to my wardrobe. Dirty slush on the streets gives reason for heeled boots, sharp gusts of wind for heavy milsurp coats and wool hats, and the constant soggy feeling from cold moisture means one thing: layering is key.
What I wore:
Obviously, this isn’t everything I wore (my instagram captures a more complete picture), but I think these fits capture most of what I was doing from January 1st to March 31st. About a third of my school outfits are purely utilitarian, black jeans and a t shirt for working with charcoal or ink, a third are intentionally fashionable but nothing too crazy, and a third are so over the top they border on drag. I’m very fortunate to be at a school that has no (enforced) dress code and where I am socially encouraged to wear whatever I feel like. My only limiting factor is that I walk for forty-five minutes as part of my commute (where are my real walkers at?), so I save my six inch heels for the weekends.
What the people in my world wore:
There were so many amazing looks I didn’t get a chance to capture, but some of my favorite moments here are:
– Bryan’s hand-crocheted crocodile scarf!
– Delta Rae’s sock and shoe combinations. Cowboy boots with tartan tights and Z-coils with athletic knee-highs are both inspired choices.
– Michael’s western look, complete with a cardigan visibly mended by a friend.
2024 Trends
With my own fashion, it’s a bit hard to pin down overarching trends within a short timeframe because I wear such a wide variety of styles, but looking at the New Yorkers around me I did notice some prevalent trends surfacing:
- Masters of the Air
This season’s preferred flavor of milsurp is vintage air force memorabilia (or modern repros). This trend is in tandem with Apple+’s recent show Masters of the Air starring Austin Butler. Bomber jackets, aviator helmets, and flightsuits are all popular at the moment.
- Schoolboy Streetwear
Since its inception in the early twentieth century, prep has never fully fallen out of vogue, but its unsavory connotations with classism and racism ended up leading to a welcome rebrand from the communities who were historically excluded from its garb. Repp ties are now paired with JNCO-style jeans, navy blazers with Adidas Sambas, and collared shirts with athleisure.
- A Fistful of Statement Rings
Dainty, barely-there rings are out. Chunky bands with big stones are in. And if you have one, why not buy a few more? I noticed several of my friends sporting multiple statement rings on one hand.
Final Thoughts
Going forward into the spring I have a few personal style goals. I’ve never known what to do when it comes to my hair. Even when I wear wigs, I rarely change how they look out of the box– in a way, they’ve been more like accessories to me than hair. Now that I feel more confident in applying lacefronts, I want to approach my look holistically and start styling wigs to complete my look. Using makeup to mold my appearance has been a transformative process in more ways than one, and I’m excited to play around with a new medium.
I also want to pull away from drawing inspiration from existing fashion sources, particularly contemporary ones. Haurki Murakami wrote “if you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking”, and while that’s a bit reductive, I do think seeking inspiration from unconventional sources can lead to more compelling invention. My style will always inevitably be influenced by what (and who) is around me, but even the simple act of looking everywhere (brownstones, cocktail garnishes, peeled advertisements, etc…) for my next outfit has led to some interesting explorations.
See you next quarter!
Backseat Driver 
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