Although the hey-day of Wesleyan’s unofficial fashion blog, “Well-Dressed Wes,” may long have since passed, there’s still something to be said about Wesleyan student style, as proved when a troupe of photographers and stylists from The New York Times added some excitement to this year’s freshmen orientation. The guest celebs spent the week hunting down first year students to be photographed in a “style documentary” for the Sunday Magazine style pages.
Debuting this Sunday, the eight-page feature will run as part of a special collegiate-themed issue of the Times’ weekly Sunday Magazine. The spread will feature the portraits of 12 members of the University’s Class of 2011 wearing designer clothes in various campus settings.
Though some group shots were taken, New York Times photographer Ryan Pfluger said that during the final editing process the portraits were more compelling.
“The portraits really told the stories best,” Pfluger said.
The search for participants for the shoot began over the summer when the Times sent an email—through Dean Whaley—to the entire Class of 2011, asking interested students to submit recent photographs of themselves. Though they received around 100 replies, the Times set up a table in Usdan during orientation to encourage even more students to have their photos taken for consideration.
“It was a lot about how kids reacted to it,” Pfluger said. “We didn’t want to force anything on anyone, so enthusiasm counted.”
After Pfluger and two head stylists went over the Polaroids of dozens of students, callbacks were made to those who fit their vision. Around three-dozen students chosen to be photographed reported to the Chapel basement the next day for fitting.
“There were at least three racks of clothing for the girls, along with shoes, bags, and various accessories—they really had a lot of stuff,” said Katherine Scahill ’11, who was photographed behind Freeman Athletic Center.
Each participant then had to stand in line and wait to be fitted and refitted by the stylists. Though some students wore an item or two of their own clothing, the final outfits that the stylists chose were a far cry from what a typical college student would—or could afford to—wear.
“When I went into the shoot I was wearing an extremely simple outfit, and once they dressed me I was wearing the most complicated and expensive ‘look,’ as they called it, I had ever worn,” said Katherine McDonald ’11, who was photographed in the CFA.
Matt Perry ’11 was dressed in two outfits, both of which he couldn’t imagine anyone ever actually wearing.
“For my first outfit I was wearing huge black vinyl pants with zippers down each leg, a turquoise and orange Prada sweater, and a 1,500-dollar Prada backpack,” Perry said. “For my second one I was wearing black combat boots with blue capri felt pants, some random hardcore band t-shirt, a motorcycle jacket and a blue felt hat with a brim that made me look like I was in Fat Albert.”
After the fittings, the Times photographers and stylists sent groups of students to different locations around campus to be photographed. Shoot locations included Foss Hill, Freeman Athletic Center, Andrus Field and the CFA.
Overall, the students who participated described their experiences as positive .
“The photographer and all the people working on the photo shoot were really nice,” said Sara Haile ’11. “The experience as a whole was a new one for me, and they understood that, which was helpful.”
Students also gained insight into the fashion industry.
“They were very willing to talk about why working in fashion was important to them, and they all told great stories,” said Davy Knittle ’11.
Nonetheless, the obsessive attention paid to detail in the shoots mystified some of the student models.
“My jacket got unbuttoned and re-buttoned for almost every other shot,” McDonald said. “Though the final outfit did have its appeal, I realized how easy it is to get caught up in what you’re wearing.”
Most of the participants agreed that the explicit intention of the Times was to showcase the fall collections of major fashion houses, as opposed to the unique personal styles of the University’s students.
“They told me from the start this was for fall fashion,” said Terrence Agbi ’11. “Any regular student would not wear this stuff. I’m not going to be like ‘Oh, I’m going to run out and buy this stuff, that looks good.’”
Pfluger described the students’ outfits as neither completely “real” nor completely fabricated.
“The shoot was kind of a gel between fashion and editorial,” Pfluger said. “Putting real students in fancy clothes doesn’t change how they look, which is why we used real students instead of models.”
Pfluger said that the University was chosen in part for geographic balance—other stories in the magazine concerned mostly Mid-Western and Western schools—but also because of its diversity.
“Our diversity is one of the reasons they came here, but then they didn’t let you wear your own clothes. They just picked people who fulfilled their own ideas of beauty, which was a pretty mainstream one,” said McLean Denny ’11, who also participated in the shoot.
Problematic premise or not, most of the student models found the Times shoot to be valuable as both a candid glimpse into the world of fashion photography and an exciting story to tell friends and family back home.
“When people ask ‘Hey, how was orientation?’” Devon Hopkins ’11 said, “I’ll be like ‘Oh not bad. You know, I just did a photo shoot for the New York Times and some other stuff.’”
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