In my humble opinion The angels wear Patagonia

Author: Daniel Roberts

Here's a first - I want to take this week's column to respond to another column. If it helps, look along online as you read me this week. The column is Jordan Nassar's "The Devil Wears Patagonia" (Nov. 15). I had not read this column until a friend of mine brought it to me and said, "This is the most enraging thing I have ever read in The Campus."

Basically, Nassar writes that the vast majority of students here do not know how to dress well (but he does) and that if we were to visit New York or Tokyo (where he has worked in fashion) we would be ridiculed.

He also graciously includes a list of "rules," blacklisting items that pretty much every student on this campus owns and wears. "No flip flops. No running shoesÖ No sweat material. No polar fleece." Unfortunately for Nassar's tastes, the vast majority of people here, both guys and girls, like to wear jeans with sneakers and a hat. As for the "no sweatpants" command, good luck telling that to any varsity athlete on campus. Finally, look around. Everyone here owns a North Face fleece. It's like a rule.

In fact, here we reach the meat of this "discussion" and I hope it's clear that I am not writing a personal attack against Nassar, but rather a defense of the student body to any other elitist fashionista that feels a need to look down on the citizens of our comfortable campus.

I finally realized the true issue here when Nassar wrote that Middlebury students have a "hubristic belief that anyone worth dating would overlook your year-round flip-flop-and-messy-bun look for intellectual connectionÖ You're wrong, and you don't look cute." No, they are not wrong. I feel confident that Middlebury men are smart enough to choose a woman based on stronger factors than how well her purse matches her top. In fact, I would say that even a person who is shallow, and chooses who they date purely based on physical appearance, still sounds more noble to me than one who forms opinions on people from the way they dress.

The column also sets some pretty high expectations of students. Nassar writes, "A dress or collared shirt with a North Face or L.L. Bean backpack is unacceptable." What a strong word. Who is it unacceptable for? I see these backpacks on nearly every student here, so I believe this is accepted after all. On the Web, "Sarah" puts it well when she comments that for a student who is often "lugging heavy books and such, Louis Vuitton isn't going to cut it."

It is wonderful that Nassar has such a passion for fashion. However, not everyone shares the same interests. The mistake Nassar made is to have assumed that we all care about fashion as much as he does. When he realized this was not the case, he pompously scolded the entire student body for their poor dress habits. I'm an English major - would it be fair for me to write a column mocking anyone on campus who is unfamiliar with Melville or Chekhov? I would be hated and ignored for such a choice.

The bottom line is that this all feels childish, as though we are still in fifth grade arguing about who has cooler jeans. Are my JNCO pants better than your Gap cords? Who cares? We are college students, and have better things to do at the moment, such as studying or having some laid-back fun before we have to go "out there." Once we are in the business world, my choice of suit may indeed decide if I get a job. But here at Midd, anyone who looks down on me for wearing a fleece and Red Sox hat is not worth my time. And I would bet most students agree.

Daniel Roberts '09 is an English major from Newton, Mass.