You know what really bothers me?
OCM: Obsessive Compulsive Matching.
No, I did not make this acronym up just to be funny (although I do hope that perhaps it elicits a smirk or two); rather, I truly think that OCM is a disease that cripples potentially fashionable students, robbing them of their right to a stylish outfit.
Let's look at some examples, as there are many to choose from.
First we have the OC Matcher who must match by brands. This type pf matching isn't that bad, it's just really annoying. A typical OCM outfit by brand would consist of a pair of Abercrombie shorts with one of those faux vintage Abercrombie t-shirts, topped off with an A&F cap and perhaps a shell necklace (not from some exotic Spring Break destination, but from the display case of the nearest Abercrombie store, mind you) thrown in to spice things up. This type of matching is troublesome because it results in outfits bereft of any creativity.
Moving on, we have the OCM color coder. Basically, the OCM color coder rolls out of bed and chooses two or, if he or she is feeling especially frisky, three colors to dress in. Let's say, green, light blue, and navy blue. So, head to toe the outfit looks like this: We've got a green ribbon in the hair, then we've got light blue eye shadow (not Mimi-esque, just a light powdery blue) with a pair of green dangly earrings. Then we've got a light blue sweater with a navy blue ribbon belt, blue jeans, and green loafers. If we're especially lucky, we also have a little white jacket with blue and green trim to tie the whole outfit together into a nice, neat little vomit-inducing package.
Awesome.
Next, and finally, we have the OCM student that doesn't match in an in- your-face way, but just matches slightly, to the point where it is easy on the eyes, but hard on the actual wearer, who agonizes over how she will tie in a pair of pink shoes or who goes by every fashion rule in every magazine to the point where she only feels stylishly safe dressing in all one color (except for white after Labor Day).
You know who I'm talking about...that friend/roommate/random guy in your Spanish class/fashion magazine/family member that tells you that you can't wear white after Labor Day, can't wear brown with black, mix gold with silver, wear a black belt and not black shoes, wear dangly earrings with a necklace, high heels with shorts, or random colored shoes or bags that don't match anything in your outfit. These fashion mantras mean nothing; the only purpose they serve is to paralyze anyone trying to plan a decent outfit.
The problem with this matching is that it's so subtle that it can slowly creep up on you, rendering you helpless in a matter of seconds. You're wearing a light blue shirt with hot pink shoes and jeans. Your roommate (perhaps a victim of OCM) walks by and asks innocently, "You're going to wear pink earrings or a pink purse to tie those shoes into your outfit, right?"
You weren't planning to; you were actually planning to wear these cool peacock feather earrings and a bright green bag. Suddenly, you take your roommate's concern to heart and you're struck with a sudden bout of OCM. You say to yourself, "what was I thinking? Pink with light blue? I can't wear these shoes with those earrings! And the purse? BRIGHT GREEN? Arghhh!"
So instead, you end up going out wearing jeans and a white polo shirt, a pair of pearl earrings, and a pair of rainbows instead of the totally bangin' outfit you had on pre-OCM.
Sure, you'll get a lot of compliments, but they're all probably from Obsessive Compulsive Matchers, and who wants to dress like them anyway?
Demetra can be reached at fashion@cavalierdaily.com
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