Just because this is funny.
Her: You need to have a conversation with your people.
Me: ?
Her: Your people. White people. About wearing flip-flips in the winter. Why do they do that? When I was at Princeton* they used to do that. Sometimes your people would even wear flip flops and shorts. I mean, it was Princeton, so they did lots of egregious shit… like oppress me.
Why do white people wear flip-flops in the winter?
__________________
*Don’t hate her too much for dropping the P-bomb
Worse still, why flip-flops AND SOCKS?
Huh, I did not realize I wore flip-flops in cold places because I was white. I thought it was because I’m from Southern California and I find closed toed shoes oppressive. Seriously, were the flip-flop wearers maybe just from a warmer state?
My girlfriend wears flip flops all the time because she has a disease that causes her feet and ankles to swell. Its too uncomfortable to wear shoes even in winter. But we are in California….east coast in the snow is different.
Maybe… but why wear them in January in New York??
The only people I know who do this are international students from southeast Asia (at my cold, cold CT college). Maybe it’s the warm-weather thing, like Morgan says?
Get her to deal with mesh hats, sweat-wristbands, and Pabst Blue Ribbon while she’s at it. Please.
It’s all the Viking and Alpine heritage. Would Vikings throw out their flip-flops just because they might get frostbite? Would the Swiss Guard? HA!
Because we CAN! I will wear flip flops whenever I please. Be there sleet or rain or snow. I don’t like shoes, they annoy me :D
It’s also a generational thing. White people I know of my age and older just do. not. get. it.
To be honest, I don’t get wearing flip-flops during the summer. Back when I was a lass, flip-flops were for the beach and swimming pool and that’s it. Real shoes like sandals and jellies were for walking around in. When and how did flip-flops start to be treated like real shoes?
Morgan, I guarantee you most of them weren’t from a warmer state. My alma mater was populated mostly with students from MA and NY, but the upper- and upper-middle class white preppy kids had this thing about flip-flops even though we were in upstate NY. Even in the snow. The three feet of snow. In April. Ah, memories…
Oh god, my brother does this. Flip-flops and board-shorts. In Pennsylvania. In winter. Coming from California, the boy does not realize that “pneumonia” is not a fictional disease, that places can actually be cold enough to wear proper shoes.
People did that all the time at my high school, both the flip-flops alone and with socks in the winter. I’m on the east coast of Canada. They wore them even when the snow was three feet deep. I never understood it then, and I still don’t now.
At least people know how to walk in flip flops. There is nothing sadder than looking at the scampering girls who decided that wearing heels on our hilly Boston campus in the MIDDLE OF AN ICESTORM was a smart fashion choice. They won’t be quite as fashionable when they crack their tail bone walking Down Hill to the cafeteria.
I agree its generational. I’m 49, and I live in Colorado…I observed this *today* while it was actively snowing out. Shorts and flip flops. In Colorado. In February, in the snow.
I can only hope the young people doing this figure out it’s stupid before they lose their toes to frostbite.
I have honestly NEVER seen anyone do this! I’ve been a bit taken aback at people who wear really short skirts or even shorts when there’s 3 feet of snow, but never flip flops. Weird. Maybe if anyone in Kingston, Ontario bothered to shovel their snow…:)
I have to admit, that has always puzzled me, too. My people are very strange sometimes.
When I was at UW Seattle it seemed like just about everyone did this – myself included. There were a couple of reasons:
1) Closed-toe shoes are uncomfortable for some people.
2) Rain was quite common on the campus, and pathways were frequently flooded. It was a choice between walking upir flip-flopped feet through cold water (which does kinda suck) or having cold, wet feet for a few minutes or getting your shoes and socks wet and having cold, wet feet all damn day (which really sucks).
3) Some people think they have really cute feet and like to show them off.
4) When you wake up at the last possible minute, they are the easiest things to put on.
Oh, and on the reverse side, we have my people in Los Angeles who wear Uggs year-round. Even when it’s frickin’ 100 degrees outside. What the hell is up with that?
Flip-flops are pretty much an American thing, too. Europeans (Western and Eastern alike) find them pretty gross and ugly. Plus, if you wear them, you might as well wear a giant American flag t-shirt, because everyone will know you are American.
I suspect this is the true reason. My best friend went to Michigan State for one year and she said that right around mid-January, people would wear their pajamas to class and you would barely notice because everyone was so bundled up.
Now there’s a mystery I’d love to solve. At least flip-flops are easy to put on, etc etc. Uggs are possibly the ugliest footwear ever invented. You have an excuse when it’s cold out, but if you’re wearing them to be fashionable… gah. And don’t your feet get sweaty??
I’ve noticed the SE Asia thing too, and from what I’ve seen/heard, I think that is simply financial. They can get a coat from Goodwill but a pair of shoes? I think not due to simple nastiness. And they begin to wear the coat in September in Texas.
But as for why my people do so in the snow? Why do we do any of the stuff we do? Knee socks with shorts, little butterfly clips on grown-ass women, bare skin from rib cage to pubic bone, high heels on a college campus, electing Republicans…who knows?
The kids at my daughter’s middle school (central Maine) do this when there’s less than 3″ of snow- but the last time we had bare ground was Dec 2nd and even then, we had subzero wind chills. Even the kids who insist on doing this stopped for the season months ago.
I’m not cool- my daughter can wear them only on non phys ed days over 60 degrees. So about 2 weeks of the school year!
I only wear them if I’m running outside to take out my garbage/recycling and I don’t want to bother putting on socks and tying my shoes. =\
I don’t wear them out and about, though.
I submit that:
Snow/cold represents misery and isolation.
Flip flops represent leisure, opennness, and hope for the future.
This discussion would be best had while sipping mojitos on a dock overlooking Abaco Sound. I certainly hope we can all agree on that.
But…but…but…I don’t understand! Growing up, the concept of “Oh my God it’s fucking cold” didn’t have to be explained to me! It…was cold. I felt it. Doesn’t your brother…get cold when it’s cold? Don’t his toes hurt?
If there isn’t snow on the ground, it’s flip-flop weather. THAT IS WHY.
I called my sister with this important question. She is from Michigan, but currently in the South Beach area, which is closer to mojitos and Abaco than I currently am. She said to tell you all:
Flip flops are a triumph of the human heart over the vicious, unfeeling cruelty of nature. This is why they are worn in 3 feet of snow.
I fell into a feedback loop; it’s hard to find my socks, because I hardly ever wear them, so they’re hard to find… so I wear flipflops.
(I actually do keep one pair tucked into my snow boots, for shoveling snow. But otherwise, I need several days’ warning so I can find and wash socks before having to wear shoes.)
Is it still a thing to wear a miniskirt with the Uggs? Because that is a true mystery.
I *love* my flip flops, but living in a city with lake effect snow means that I really have to put the, away for several months a year. (As an aside, Reef flip flops are the most amazing thing ever. And they make me think of drinking rum runners.)
Bah! I stop wearing the flipflops when my feet get too cold.
The complainers are just wimps.
(that and i only wear them for trips a block or less in winter :P)
(usually…)
I thought that was just a Marist* thing. My friends and I would always make fun of the people wearing flip-flops in the cold Poughkeepsie winters that lasted like 6 months.
Since race was brought into this, I was wondering if anyone ever saw the short documentary called Flip Flotsam. It’s about how popular flip-flops are as footwear in East Africa. There are even people who specialize in flip flop repair and maintenance. During monsoon season, the discarded flip-flops float into the ocean and end up floating down to other African countries. Obviously, these flip flops are too messed up to wear, so the people make toys out of the rubber. I think you can watch the whole thing at http://www.journeyman.tv/?lid=12179
*Don’t hate me for dropping the M-bomb.
I attended Princeton and of all the stupid shit I did while I was there, I never did that. But I appreciate the opportunity to answer for the stupidity of white people who apparently are too stupid to make their way through Jersey winter without risking frostbite. Though I guess if the dorms are too hot, or you are worried about soaking your feet in damp socks outside, flipflops are a somewhat useful way, if now “ethnically stereotyped”, of dealing.
As for me, I have not owned a pair of flipflops in over 25 years, I don’t think. Though I am pretty pale and I do listen to hard rock, and I do get Seinfeld most of the time.
Haha!
I wear flip flops ’cause my feet are too wide to fit in “normal” or even “wide” shoes (oh yeah, that’s right, I let my feet hang over the sides–cute! uugh). Once you get beyond that the stuff is either too repulsive or too expensive, in my opinion. I WILL trade ‘em in for something horribly uncomfortable if it gets too cold (I’m in Georgia so it isn’t usually bad at all). Except last winter! I was hugely pregnant with swollen feet which wouldn’t fit in anything. Plus I constantly felt like I was on fire anyway so the cold didn’t bother me much.
I can’t really say what other white people are thinkin’ though. I’m pretty sure we don’t all have super wide feet or DO WE? And all this time I’ve felt embarrassed by my little giants.
Also at a PNW college,and what Manda said is totally true:
“It was a choice between walking your flip-flopped feet through cold water (which does kinda suck) or having cold, wet feet for a few minutes or getting your shoes and socks wet and having cold, wet feet all damn day (which really sucks).”
We hardly ever get snow, but the walkways are almost always flooded. Regular sneakers will not cut it if you want to get to class on time.
This means that you take the time to put on more rugged shoes (no cute flats or clogs-we’re talking about boots) or you can roll up your pants and put on self-draining shoes.
The more fashion-forward,lazy women wear pull-on rubber rain boots instead (not joking at all).
I personally choose which pants I can wear based on how much water is on the ground.
I’ve never really noticed it being a race thing. It’s mostly a morning-people versus non-morning people thing.
P.S. I don’t wear flip flops, but I’m guessing that my river-type sandals are also mysterious to your friend.
??!!!WHAT??!! You gotta be kidding me. People do this shit? Go damn near barefoot in the snow?! What the fuck, chuck? My winter footwear for snow consists of two pairs of socks (one polypropylene, one wool) under my RedWings, with a heat pack if it’s subzero. Flip-flops, really? How the hell do their toes not freeze up and fall the fuck off?
La Lubu: My German Oma (great grandmother) used to walk around the block barefoot when it snowed, first thing in the morning. Said it was good for your health. She lived well into her 90s, so maybe she was right.
Ah college students. I have to admit, it’s the Ugg boots and mini skirts that kill me. Pick a temperature and DRESS FOR IT! Sorry, it inspires rage in me. It is a very, very popular look in the DC area. My sweetie is a high school teacher and he starts most classes with “if no one is wearing Ugg’s today- then no class!” They always, always have class.
Huh. And I always thought I did it because I grew up in upstate NY, so no weather that involves visible ground is worthy of notice. If snow is actually covering the ground, I put on boots. Since I now live in Indiana, this is about two weeks (non-consecutive) of the year.
Is this a big thing at NYU? I don’t see people around the city doing much in the way of flip-flops in winter. As much as I like wearing them in the summer, my feet get FILTHY.
[...] by Matt Zeitlin on February 6, 2008 Jill at Feministe excerpts a conversation she had with a fellow student, concering the strange phenomena of preppy, white, [...]
Does the friend of the OP mean the nasty rubber type or any sort (even the nice leather type)? I have a pair of leather Colarado “flip flops” (in Australia we call them thongs) and I live in them. They don’t give me blisters like a lot of shoes do and they are comfortable. That said, I wouldn’t wear them in the snow! And I certainly wouldn’t wear socks with them. That is such a bad look.
Oh and what’s with “reverse racism”? Isn’t it still pure racism no matter who is perpetrating it?
I live in Hawaii, where the slippah (don’t call them flip-flops) is the state shoe. We wear them when it’s beyond sweltering (90 degrees F); we wear them when it’s oppressively cold (68 degrees F). Yes, we’re hot house orchids.
They’re great for rainy weather, and they come off your feet easily when you enter a private dwelling or even some public spaces (e.g., my kid’s daycare).
I remember many years ago a Boondocks cartoon that just consisted of Huey and Riley waiting at the bus stop all bundled up in multiple layers of winter clothes, with thick coats with fur-lined hoods, mittens, and scarves, giving dagger eyes to this random white boy who was there in just a t-shirt and shorts saying “Hey guys, what’s up?”
I don’t remember if there was enough background drawn in to see whether there was snow.
I guess what I’m saying is that the racial stereotype goes beyond footwear to a whole range of inappropriately cold clothing choices for whites.
I’m with “Oma”; if the kids aren’t watching, I fetch the newspaper, feed the local stray cat, and fill all 8 birdfeeders barefoot if temp is over 10 degrees. Below that, I either wear slippers or boots if more than 4″ of snow. Husband is more like Lubu and wears heavy wool socks to bed; feet are always cold.
The unseasonable wearing of Ugg boots seems much more confusing/common to me than unseasonable flip flop wearing. Because of my job, flitting around the metro area to different high schools, I feel like I am an expert in racial differences in teenage fashion and I am constantly horrified at how young white women dress.
My two least favorite white girl (and only white girl) fashion trends are long, stringy hair and leggings as pants. If one more teenage white girl flips her disgusting pile of hair into her face in front of me I will scream. Also, it is so inappropriate for me, as a teacher and authority figure, to see the outline of your vulva. please.
Fake equestrian seems to be the style of choice for black teenage girls, for some reason. It’s silly but at least it involves neatness and actual pants.
I go to Princeton* and haven’t ever really noticed this here in particular. Now I’m going to be looking at everyone’s feet for the next few days–though we have Freaky Al Gore Weather right now, 48 degrees, so it would be slightly more acceptable.
I have high arches so flip-flops are uncomfortable (and they were out of dress code at my high school back in the day). I adore my Birkenstocks, though.
*Sorry. I’m a grad student if that makes it any better.
I see people doing this in Minneapolis all the time. Maybe because I work on a college campus so they don’t think walking a few minutes outside with bare feet is bad but…hello, it’s -5 today? Perhaps you want to at least wear socks with the flip-flops. (And don’t even get me started on how bad they are for your feet.)
Ah! damn unclosed tags!
Still, this post made me laugh. I’m a TA at a northeastern university, and some of my students make me feel like a granny – I always want to shout at some of them, “put on some clothes!! You’ll catch your death!!” This includes boys in shorts and flip-flops and girls in tiny skirts and Uggs. I saw a young woman a few weeks ago wearing a “skirt” if I’m being generous, and could be more accurately described as a wide, low-sitting belt, no tights or leggings, in 25 degree weather. Now, I have no problem with girls dressing sexy; if it were summer I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. But I kept worrying her knees were going to get frostbite!
I’m suprised no one has really mentioned that at it’s heart it is a classist issue. Someone who walks (who does not or is not able to own a car) cannot go tromping around in flip-flops, especially if you live far from where you work (again, an income issue).
Wear flip-flops in winter is essentially saying “I don’t have to leave my car or building for more than 5 minutes at a time and I certainly do not need to go any distances on foot”.
It’s the same with people who do not wear coats in winter, and coats that only go to the bottom of the ribcage do not count.
Yeah, actually… US flip-flops are based off of one style of traditional Japanese footwear, the zōri, and in some places they’re still called “japanese slippers” or something similar. There’s a much greater variety of formal zōri in Japan, of course.
My original post was half-joking, since you can’t wear socks with zōri — you have to wear tabi! Which are basically ankle socks with a separate big toe slot. And in the winter or in bad weather, you don’t wear zōri unless you can’t afford anything else, you wear shoes. Or geta, which have big wooden blocks to keep your feet further from the ground.
LAUREN: If there isn’t snow on the ground, it’s flip-flop weather. THAT IS WHY.
Agreed. What more reason do you need?
I’ve experienced this too. Most often I do see white people wearing really just weather inappropriate clothes like it’s nothing.
I know I’m in the ATL, but it gets COLD down here some times 30′s/40′s and in the city it’s just wind tunnel, taking the wind chill to NEGATIVES and yet, ppl are wearing shorts and flip flops. The streets are wet and dirty! I just don’t understand.
Yazikus is correct. There is also the desire to be fashionable. I teach at the high school level and the students will brave pain, discomfort, and disfigurement to be in the now.
I’m 40 and crazy kids did this 20 years ago in college in suburban Chicago. I didn’t understand it then and I do not now. BTW, I also do not get how people find flip-flops comfortable. You got something stuck between your toes, which i do not like. They have no support and you have to keep your toes curled to keep the damm things from flopping to much. And they look crappy IMO. I’ll take a good pair of sandals with toe and ankle straps over flip-flops any day. They are much more comfortable, look better, and our better for your feet.
FYI, the technical term for that is “camel toe.” My husband spotted one on Project Runway last night. ;-)
Whenever I see a college boy in shorts and flip-flops in wind-chill factor -10 degree weather, I think “There goes a kid whose parents are wasting their money!”
Plus, I hate guy’s feet in flip-flops. Creeps me the hell out.
and are better for your feet. Damm homonyms.
BTW evil Fizz – Spouse wasted our money once on a pair of reefs for me. I still do not like them and will only wear them to the pool because they are still flip-flops; ergo f****** uncomfortable.
It’s because white people hail from the icy northern regions; our winters seem downright equatorial by comparison. You should be careful commenting on their fashion choices, though; Caucasians are known for their fiery tempers.
It’s a W.A.S.P thing–not getting too comfortable, prepared for yachting at all times. Top siders w/out socks also common.
You can wear socks with zori, you just have to stretch your sock a bit. ^_~
Also, yazikus brings up an interesting point.
So this explains why the American exchange student I knew wore flip-flops and a miniskirt in the freezing Scandinavian fall weather when everyone else had already taken out their winter gear… Just looking at her gave me goosebumps.
Thank you, whoever first mentioned the Uggs in Southern California. I hate them! I moved here (Southern Cali) about 2 years ago, and it still perplexes me. 100 degrees out, and people are in Uggs. And yes, still with the miniskirts.
Huh, I did not realize I wore flip-flops in cold places because I was white. I thought it was because I’m from Southern California and I find closed toed shoes oppressive. Seriously, were the flip-flop wearers maybe just from a warmer state?
I’m from South Florida and now live in the Northeast and no way in hell would I ever wear flip flops in the winter.
But I have the same question about all the college interns I see in subzero weather wearing a skirt or a dress and bare-legged. Or women who wear knee high boots in 70-degree weather.
I think Yazikus is on to something about inappropriate wear in the winter. It’s the same thing with boots that have super high stiletto heels. I mean, no way could you walk more than a block in those things in the dead of winter with all the ice and snow — only if you can afford to cab everywhere or drive in the city would you even bother.
You’d think, but that’s why they’re called “fashion victims.”
Uggs are possibly the ugliest footwear ever invented.
Hey! I just bought a pair! *sniff*
But no way am I going to wear them in summer.
And no way do I wear flips in the winter. That’s just dumb when its 15 degrees out.
Your friend is right on. I went to Princeton and it is clear, having been there, that Flips Flops are a sign, if not a tool, of the desire for old school, Anglo Saxon white supremacy. I’ve noticed this phenomenon in my graduate school travels too. It is part of the Abercrombie & Fitch/Polo Ralph Lauren white supremacist aesthetic — which eroticizes power indifferently held and exercised. Power that knows it’s powerful enough to relax, in other words, that doesn’t need to strain to oppress you.
as a person who loves fall and winter specifically BECAUSE i CAN wear minis with boots (as oppossed to ugly flip-flops), i will explain the uggs/mini skirt “mystery”.
im from san diego, so it’s never really cooler than 30 degrees. and myself, i can survive *perfectly* in a mini and boots, as long as the boots are snuggly and my shirt is long sleeved or i have a jacket.
Really, i dont know why someone’s KNEES and like THREE INCHES OF LEG UP AND DOWN would present a full-body heat problem. (and no, i dont mean to say i wear long skirts. I wear tiny skirts. i make my parents cringe, but people love my outfits and theyre simply adorable.)
The thing is, my legs don’t freeze up as long as my boots are snuggly or long. uggs..hmm…they are not very snuggly (or cute. hah! i dont own any, but i’ve borrowed), but you DO have the option of buying long uggs. and you can always put on a layer of tights or fishnets. that has actually OVERHEATED me during the winter (at the bus stop at 7am!). explain that!
some things to consider because i see some have a problem with understanding people’s fashion choices: a girl is not stupid because YOU think she looks cold. you’d be the dumb one for assuming you can tell a person’s temperature by looking at them. lol ive had too many stupid guys think “isnt it cold out for a skirt?” is a pickup line. i say “no, actually, because im the perfect temperature.”
and people would get MAD at me as a child b/c i ALWAYS wore my sweatshirt to school all day long (uniforms) even when it was like 100 degrees. They would say i was making THEM hot. but i never felt overheated..
just because your body is uncomfortable w/ certain outfits doesnt mean others bodies react the same way……basically my message. adios.
i think flip flops in the winter (fall is acceptable, at least here in san diego) is just ugly looking. your outfit is probably going to consist of a sweatshirt and jeans, so having your feet exposed just LOOKS stupid. like..why are you airing your feet? feet have that tendancy to freeze up and ruin your mood. I guess you aren’t really outside all day, youre in a room (classroom in my case) that isnt exactly cold…but…idk…i think it just looks humorous….teehee…
what the hell ar Uggs?
i pay less than no attention to fashion. i just wear what i like and what i think looks good.
flip-flops, btw, do NOT look good on a person who’s teenage years were spent en pointe. i do NOT have pretty toes
As for shorts in winter, some people are just human furnaces. Although sometimes especially guys seem to get into weird, “I have a penis and therefore am immune to cold” kinds of pissing matches with each other too. Me, I have an ankle-length down coat that I break out for winter.
Why do white people wear flip-flops in the winter?
Ah, the perpetual flip-flops in winter debate. I wore flip-flops throughout the winter my whole four years of college in New England, even when I was living off campus and walking to school in the snow. At least once a week I’d get the “OMG aren’t your feet cold?!” in the elevator at school.
Flipflops are just comfortable for me, because shoes make my feet feel sweaty and confined, my feet aren’t sensitive to cold, and I like to sit cross-legged.
And I’m not even white.
Bunny214, wow, that’s a big change from your earlier post, which said
You have every right to think that I look stupid in the winter because I wear jeans and sweatshirts with flipflops, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid. Not everyone is equally sensitive to temperature extremes, so maybe your feet would freeze in snow while mine are perfectly fine. Maybe I’m actually more comfortable with flipflops in the snow than I would be with shoes, because I prefer my feet be exposed to air rather than confined, sweaty, and stinky in shoes. It’s pretty dumb to assume you can tell a person’s comfort level by looking at her/him/it. You make good arguments for not calling people in uggs and miniskirts stupid; those arguments apply just as well for not calling people in flipflops stupid, no matter what the temperature is outside.
Okay… well… my general rule is I will wear flip flops if is above 50 degrees and sunny, or above 65 degrees and sunny/rainy. BUT. I come from GA and spent the 4 years of college in South GA. Where it rarely GOT below 50. So it was not uncommon to see flip flops all year long. Both white kids AND black kids wore them. I like them because I find “real shoes” to confining. I like the freedom of flip flops. Though, I am looking into a pair of Birkenstocks for the winter, so I am no longer tempted to wear my flip flops when it’s freezing out.
Also, someone made a comment about not being able to walk far in them… and that is not true. I walked half of NYC in a pair, and every major city in Italy. My feet hurt LESS in a good pair of flip flops then in “real shoes.”
And guys, you are all clearly missing the best fashion statement of all time…
Flip flops and TOE SOCKS!!!
I went to a NE prep school, and wore flip flops through the winter. To be fair, my dorm connected was connected to the main building (with classrooms) as well as the dining hall. It required too much foresight to change my footwear on the occasions when I left the span of connected buildings to go to the science and math building. Plus, our paths were shoveled. Ballet flats aren’t much warmer.
Eh, I still wear my flip flops year round because they’re the most comfortable shoes I own. Flats give me blisters and sneakers sometimes just don’t look right.
I do this. Why? B/c the cold doesn’t bother me & they are comfortable. I think thats reason enough.
Someone thinks its weird or wrong? Guess what, I don’t care – I’ll rock the flip flops any day.
It’s not that the people who wear miniskirts and Uggs are stupid. It’s that they look stupid. I see them and say, “There goes a fashion victim.”
Not that I have any room to talk. I have plenty of pictures from my teenage years that I cringe over. Hot pink Flock of Seagulls-style shirt? Check. Studded leather belt? Check. Flashdance-style tops. Sadly, oh so sadly yes.
You mean “slumming.”
No, not slumming. The thing with the whole preppy aesthetic is that it signals to others that one can run around in shabby (albeit expensive and well-made) clothing because one is of a social class that does not have to impress via neatness. Or, really, proper choice of footwear.
I’ve heard about both phenomenons but it was hard to tell as the quote “Everyone goes out of their way to dress ugly” was quite applicable to my undergrad institution while I was there. That was fortunate as I was still wearing mostly hand-me-down/second-hand clothing until well after graduation. As for wearing flip-flops……I rarely saw them outside of the dorm…..and certainly not in the winter considering how cold the northern Ohio winters tend to be.
The most effective, though imperfect way to tell if someone was of a wealthier background was the degree of campus progressive left liberal political activism…especially if it was to the point they neglected their academic coursework. I personally knew several classmates whose numerous activist activities were such that they were overwhelmed and placed on academic suspension for a year for failing two or more courses. As they came from well-to-do families, they did not seem particularly concerned.
Though I took part in some political activism related to Asian/Asian-American awareness, the fact I was on a near-full college scholarship meant I had to keep my grades up or face the risk of being suspended/expelled with few options and much scorn from extended family members.
Compounded, no doubt, by the fact that there are those who go to prep schools and those who just dress preppy, and they’re not the same thing.
Zuzu,
Oddly enough, dressing preppy was considered a serious fashion faux pas on my undergrad campus as that was seen as conforming with the snooty White bourgeois capitalist set. In fact, I didn’t really start seeing people dressing preppy regularly until I started working in the Boston area and regularly visiting friends attending Boston area colleges.
In fact, it was a bit of a “culture shock” to see undergrads being so fashion conscious in the Boston and New York areas when I spent four years on a campus where being fashion conscious was looked upon disdainfully as a sign one was a craven “bourgeois capitalist” tool. The only on-campus exceptions I could recall were the conservatory students who had to dress up for recitals and musical performances.