Observations...

So far i have observed that college students in Madison like to wear clothes that are comfortable, practical and affordable from stores like The Gap, H&M, Urban Outfitters, Levi, Express, Hollister, Forever 21 or American Eagle. Basically all the stores you see in a mall.  Because Madison is a small city and not a major urban city, it is easy to go to a Mall  say on the West Town and find everything on one trip.

What is also interesting is that because people shop in the same types of stores. I have seen a lot of repetitive fashion for example the same jackets, boots, jeans and scarves but just all different variations of each other depending on what store people bought their clothes from. So, basically people look the same, but not! (if that makes sense). Of course there is the odd exception to this, with a handful of people opting not to shop in high street stores as mentioned and instead at thrift stores or independent boutiques. What i noticed was that these people who shopped in vintage stores that i talked to tended to be with people who dressed the same and shopped at the same stores. Generally though, i was surprised by the amount of people you had items from thrift or rethread stores, which tells me that the trend is becoming popular not just in major cities like New York or Chicago but also in places such as Madison.

What is important to remember is that this is a college campus. One has to dress to practically. To suit the cold weather and to be able to walk from one end of  the campus to the other. However, having said this Madison students do follow fashion trends, just in smaller numbers and less drastically.  People in Madison, i have observed, seem to have adopted a few of the key seasonal trends from past seasons like  leather jackets, patterned scarves, jeggings, cargo military jackets but they are not  dressing head-to-toe in up to date looks. The Madison style is a simplified fashion, it is easier, more accessible and naive in a sense.