As the days get shorter and temperatures drop, UO students are transitioning into their winter wear. T-shirts are being swapped out for waterproof jackets and Birkenstocks are retired for more water-resistant alternatives such as Dr. Martens.
With 48.7% of the student body being either out-of-state or international students, the plummet in temperature and excess of rain can be cause to invest in an “Oregonian” wardrobe. Freshman Aaron Ryan had to buy new clothes when they came to UO.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be this cold,” Ryan said. Ryan’s winter look in Eugene consists of long sleeve shirts and a raincoat or leather jacket overtop.
With an abundance of rain comes an abundance of puddles, which on UO’s lush campus means that students prioritize warmer footwear in the winter months. Kara Steinberg, a sophomore at UO, opts for boots in the winter months.
“My favorite shoes are my Blundstone boots, which are waterproof and perfect for the rain,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg also wears her Columbia puffer jacket on most cold days with a sweater underneath. Puffers are a staple on the UO campus, an easy and versatile piece that many students already have in their closets. The North Face is one of the most popular brands for puffers with students at UO. Their eye-catching colors and reputation for warmth make them a great option in the winter months.
“I feel like my style is pretty boring, I end up wearing the same North Face jacket everyday, my puffer,” Jacob Brown, a sophomore at UO, said. “And then I switch between my two shoes, either my boots or my Blazers.”
Nike is a popular footwear option at UO, the alma mater of Nike co-founder Phil Knight. Due to the walkability of UO’s campus, comfortable shoes are the way to go.
“I definitely go with sneakers,” Julia Wu, a freshman at UO, said. “I have boots but I don’t really wear them that often.”
Wu is from Taiwan but spent the last 10 years living in Singapore.
“It’s all summer there,” Wu said of Singapore. “So in the beginning of being in the cold I was like, ‘Wow I haven’t been in a cold place in a while,’ so it took me a while to adjust.”
Rather than invest in separate winter clothing items, Wu opts for layering.
“If I want to wear my summer pants I’ll put thermal pants underneath it so it’s double the layers,” Wu said. “So I can still wear my summer pants and I don’t need to buy new pants.”
Freshman Lydia Struble is from Indiana and explained that the winters in Eugene are warmer than back home, though definitely more rainy. Because of this, Struble had already amassed a collection of winter clothes prior to moving to Eugene.
“I feel like I mostly wear jeans and sweaters and a different puffer or rain jacket most of the time,” Struble said.
Agreeing with the general consensus of UO students, Struble opts for sneakers or Dr. Martens on most days.
Overall, students at UO have similar ideas when it comes to dressing for cold weather. Take a walk through campus this winter and you are bound to spot at least a handful of puffer jacket clad students. It might be harder to express individuality through fashion in the winter months –– however, it does make it a little easier to get dressed in the mornings.
