Hints of UVA’s rich history can be found in its architecture, its Honor Code and the clothes worn by its student body. Here, we explore the historical progression of fashion trends from the past several decades.
Fashion Shows
FAME—short for Fashion, Artistic and Musical Expression—is the University’s fashion and design club. The organization hosts an annual runway show featuring student designers and models, musical performances and an art gallery. Abby Ciucias (Col ‘12), fourth-year visual arts major and president of FAME, has shown several of her creations in shows over the last two years.
Ciucias acknowledges that students at UVA dress well, but laments the fact that “everyone dresses the same.” It’s a trap even she falls into, she admits: “You see everyone wearing these things and you think, ‘Oh, I should go buy those.’” And it doesn’t take a designer to recognize that UVA is less friendly to fashion experimentation than universities in larger cities.
FAME follows in the footsteps of previous organizations that have brought fashion to the fore at UVA. Following World War II, the Cavalier Ladies, a group of more than 1,000 wives of University veterans, hosted a biannual fashion show for charity. Featured pieces included everything from ball gowns to professional attire.
The October 2011 issue of Glamour magazine includes a six-page fashion spread of UVA students around the Academical Village. Student models wore clothes by Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger and Prada as well as Cavalier wear socks, T-shirts and ties.