What are we wearing this fall?

From Soho to Morningside, Fashion Week has relocated to Barnard’s campus, and a plethora of dynamic fashion trends are populating the classrooms. 

Photo by Aviva Stoken/The Barnard Bulletin

By Sasha Zimet

October 30, 2025

At Barnard, the classroom has become the runway. It seems the milieu of style innovations from New York Fashion Week (NYFW) has transcended the industry and trickled onto the red-brick pathways of our campus. There is no better place to look than Barnard to understand the landscape of the fashion zeitgeist. So, in collaboration with photographer Aviva Stoken (BC ’28), I interviewed some of Barnard’s best-dressed and asked their opinions on upcoming trends. 

1. Stripes

Photo by Aviva Stoken/The Barnard Bulletin

Say goodbye to polka dots and block colors because, for Barnard students, stripes are the new “it” pattern. In a world where everybody is dressed like Waldo, stripes of various shapes and sizes on all articles of clothing are taking campus by storm. Some students even pair a vertically-striped shirt with matching horizontally-striped pants, while others sport a simple striped ballet flat. 

For Bernice Zhao (BC ’28), this pattern is both a basic and a statement. “It makes things interesting, but it’s not super in your face,” said Zhao. 

Photo by Aviva Stoken/The Barnard Bulletin

Barnard senior Mabel Vo noted that stripes also reflect current Scandinavian trends. Pictured above, Vo wore a white and brown striped long-sleeved shirt paired with brown leather boots and a black mini-skirt, both manifesting an autumnal color scheme and nodding to her Norwegian roots. According to Harper’s Bazaar, stripes took over the streets of Denmark during this year’s Copenhagen Fashion Week; the pattern also featured heavily in the likes of the Baumund Pferdgarten and Alis shows alike. It is no surprise that Copenhagen was the most popular study abroad destination for Barnard students last spring because in their striped attire, they look like they are fresh off the plane from Denmark. 

Photo by Aviva Stoken/The Barnard Bulletin

These versatile stripes can be incorporated into a dynamic and multi-patterned outfit or add a fashionable flair to make your outfit stand out. Whether used as a basic or a statement, they are certainly an essential in a Barnard student’s wardrobe this fall.

2. Lace

November has officially begun, and with it, the cool breeze and cloudy, dim skies of fall have followed. Time to take out the trench coats collecting dust in the backs of our closets, bundle up, and layer. Yet, for Barnard, a mere sweater and trench is not cutting it, so students are finding increasingly inventive ways to layer with diverse textures, including lace. The ornamental fabric can add a dainty, textured detail to a warm outfit. Whether worn as a skirt over tights or as a cute top peaking out from under a sweater, lace is a staple this season. 

Photo by Aviva Stoken/The Barnard Bulletin

For some, like Elizabeth Adeoye (CC ’28), it can even be used as nostalgia for the warm seasons lost. “[Lace] reminds me more of the colder weather as kind of a layering piece, but this shirt, with the blue, reminds me more of summer,” said Adeoye. As Adeoye said, it is an essential layering piece that exudes the feeling of spring and summer through its shining blue color. 

Lace is proof that not all fall outfits have to conform to the auburn tones or thick materials of the fall season. The top that frequented your summer or spring looks does not have to collect dust; it is a trendy texture to be worn year-round, rain or shine.

3. Shackets

Instead of the typical long-sleeved or plain T-shirt styled underneath a warm jacket, a fun way to spruce up an outfit is to wear a new, innovative type of top: a shacket, or shirt-jacket. Not as heavy as an ordinary jacket yet not as simple as a T-shirt, shackets are an inventive way to spice up an outfit as another layering piece to protect us from the frigid air. 

Photo by Aviva Stoken/The Barnard Bulletin

Lana Weiser (BC ’28) described a shacket as “a mix between a button-up and a blouse.” Weiser said that it is “a very structured shirt,” so it gives the outfit dimension and shape, even underneath a swallowing jacket or an extra-large sweatshirt. Shackets are a practical way to diversify the outfits worn underneath your coat, so when you take your outerwear off after entering a hot classroom, you are still left with a stylish, refined look.

4. Hair Accessories 

Photo by Aviva Stoken/The Barnard Bulletin

When it comes to accessorizing, students normally reach for a chunky ring, a statement necklace, or a pair of chic glasses. A place often neglected, however, sits right atop the minds of even the best fashionistas: the hair. 

Photo by Aviva Stoken/The Barnard Bulletin

This year’s NYFW reminded us to style our heads, featuring barrettes, newsboy hats, and even sailor caps at many shows. Calvin Klein’s newest collection featured models in headscarves; Sandy Liang’s looks were scattered with chunky, rhinestoned plastic barrettes; Collina Strada included hats made of hair itself; and Who Decides War accessorized hair with strips of lace. It seems almost every runway stylized their looks with some sort of headpiece, which has already trickled onto Barnard’s runway. Before thinking of buying a new trench coat or blazer for this fall, try a headband, baseball cap, or maybe even splurge on a Collina Strada-exclusive hairhat. 

5. Individuality 

Photo by Aviva Stoken/The Barnard Bulletin

Lastly, and the best trend of all: being yourself. 

More and more, we are seeing diverse outfits with unique charm and one-of-a-kind ingenuity. No two outfits worn by any passing student are the same, as a mosaic of distinctive looks paints campus like a multi-colored canvas. 

When asked to name current Barnard fashion trends, Gia Ilardi (BC ’28) found an answer impossible. Ilardi noted that “having personal style is becoming a trend.” 

In a culture fatigued with high-speed TikTok fads and a churning cycle of consumption, more and more students are finding themselves enamored with their own style. Fashion is in the eye of the beholder, as one student may wear a flowy dress paired with a backward baseball cap and another cuffed jeans with a patterned mesh top. A desire for personality is the most popular trend on campus, as fashion is a commonly used vessel for self-expression. 

Photo by Aviva Stoken/The Barnard Bulletin

Though stripes, lace, shackets, and hair accessories are all the rage, Barnard students are finding ways to make every fashionable choice and trend distinctly their own. No two stripes are the same, as a myriad of outfits is found sprawled across campus, each dynamic and distinct. As the cold weather of fall closes in, the key trend to carry forth is individuality — trends are not the be-all, end-all of fashion, but beginnings to inspire a look unmistakably yours.