Pajamas are a common sight on weekend mornings at the campus center. However, sweatpants are also synonymous with daily collegiate life. When it comes to appearance, students seem to care more about bar attire than what they look like in the classroom.
Many students do take the time to get ready and be presentable for class, but others find it easier just to roll out of bed rather than set the alarm a few minutes earlier.
“I think it’s lazy, but I wear sweats myself because it’s just comfortable,” said Lauren Wood ’08. “And it’s easier to sit through class when you’re comfortable.”
Comfort is a huge priority for Americans, according to a survey entitled “The State of Comfort in America 2003.”
“For most Americans, comfort is one of the most critical elements of everyday life,” the survey said, as stated in The Alestle, the student newspaper of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
This trend has become apparent in our society and is evident through “casual Fridays” or even in the way people dress to go grocery shopping or run errands. Dressing casually has just become more acceptable in our society, and the trend can be seen on college campuses as well.
“I don’t think I notice a dramatic trend in clothing,” said David Schmidt, professor of ethics at Fairfield.
However, he says students have been dressing increasingly more casually.
“It is probably more casual now than when I first started teaching 15 years ago,” he said.
According to Dr. Margaret Wills, an assistant professor in the Communications department, a study was conducted several years ago in a senior research methods capstone course that studied how clothing could be a type of non-verbal communication.
“Their findings clearly demonstrated that, compared to their peers in sweats, the better dressed students felt more competent, were more likely to contribute to class discussions, and were more often called upon by their professors,” she said.
Many professors, however, do not seem to notice or care how students dress for class.
“I am not a big follower of the theory that a person’s clothes say a lot about them,” said Les Schaffer, a Physics professor. “I think people should wear what they feel comfortable in. I think students in general are worked hard, and if wearing their PJs is a way of reacting against getting pushed so hard, that’s fine by me.”
Students agree that comfortable is usually the way to go but many disagree with wearing actual pajamas.
“I like being comfortable so I usually just throw on a pair of shorts,” said Rob McDonnell ’08. “But I think that you should also care enough about what you look like to actually change [your clothes] after you wake up.”
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