The Cate Closet: What’s Trending on Campus

By: Fiona Pan '27 and Violet Monda '27

Sambas, Longchamps, denim, shirts, skirts, and spring style into summer. With the Carpinteria spring weather ranging from rainy days to 70s and sunny, the outfit of a quintessential Cate student changes day by day. While a majority of the time is spent in a classroom, the challenge when looking in the mirror is trying to find an outfit that represents oneself while also being elegant, minimal, and comfortable for the five class days. Cate is home to numerous international students and many from different corners of the country all coming with their own unique style. All these elements are compounded into the current “Cate style.” Here is what Cate students are wearing this spring and their opinions of the Mesa style.

In a Google Form sent to the student body asking them their opinions on Cate fashion, the responses ranged from trends they would like to stay to ones they didn't, with an emphasis on dressing up for class. There was a great variety in the responses and many disagreed with each other, adding in some very different opinions. For the question pertaining to specific trends, many expressed that they enjoy wearing sun dresses, flip-flops, anything denim, and other shoe preferences, specifically Onitsuka Tigers and Adidas Sambas. However, some people have found that Onitsuka Tigers and Sambas have become very mainstream at Cate, usually being the go-to shoe for students. Other answers mentioned white flowy and baby-doll silhouetted shirts, paired with a classic darker-wash jean. 

In the next question, the participants were asked to state their least favorite trends. Throughout these answers was the overarching theme of ‘overwearing’ or being too ‘basic.’ Answers to this question included designer bags as replacements for the typical backpack, pajamas, Uggs, jorts, hoodies, and sweats. Many also commented on how similar everyone dresses, which can take away from the unique and individual styles that each student has. 

Lastly, students were asked how often they dress up, whatever that means to them, specifically not in sweatpants, over the span of one week. Out of the 51 responses, the most common answer was every day, with a total of 20 votes, the second common being 3 times throughout the week, with a total of 12 votes. 

When asked about her personal style, Alison Wang ‘25 recalled, “I love wearing asymmetrical pieces, different textures in the same outfit, or a regular outfit with one or two unexpected items. My favorite thing to wear is this black asymmetrical skirt I have…” 

However,  the challenge with wearing unexpected items is that the Cate student body often wears similar clothing. Sofi Ridgway ‘26 described the challenges of branching out by saying, “It’s a 300-person school, so everyone kind of dresses the same.” With the rise of Onitsuka Tigers paired with baggy jeans, it has become the mainstream outfit for a day on the Mesa. Alison said that with trends, “[They] usually start with a few people who saw it on social media (TikTok or Pinterest); they start wearing it, some other people see that they wear it, and they start wearing it while other people are also discovering this trend online by themselves. Eventually, it becomes a campus-wide safe option (I saw this with the tigers, sambas, mad happy hoodies, boots…)”  

Since people follow trends a lot at Cate, the fashion around the campus is very similar from person to person. Some think that it would be great if people started to wear more unique things, so the trends can change more often, and the students aren't restricted to one idea of “right” style. Sofi also added that, “Wearing cute stuff and feeling confident in what you wear” is important when finding one’s own style. 

As students transition into the spring season, the colors in the wardrobe start turning away from white, navy, black, and brown and more into yellow, pink, florals, and light blue. It is a great opportunity to see new trends and for people to travel a bit outside of their comfort zone with their clothing choices. The only thing left to see is what people are going to wear next…