Even though summer isn’t officially over until Sept. 22, there’s a fateful date that heralds the end of carefree days spent clad in shorts and flip-flops: Today is the end of vacation for most college students.

Gone are lazy, hazy afternoons. Gone, too, is the magnificent feeling of joy that comes from knowing you have no assignments due for weeks on end.

Alas, it is true that we students have lost such precious gifts of the summer season, but we have gained something grand in its own right: an ironclad excuse to go shopping.

Back-to-school shopping is a scholastic tradition. After all, academic excellence is much easier to achieve with some brand-new pencils and a few new wardrobe staples in tow.

The first day of school – be it your first day of kindergarten or the first day of your freshman year in college – is the day to display the fruits of your back-to-school shopping labor and, as such, it should be celebrated. While it is tempting to seize said celebration by overhauling your entire wardrobe, back-to-school purchases should reflect your personal style — not solely the season’s latest trends.

Of course, I would never argue that the clothes make the student, but I would assert there is a strong correlation between high self-confidence and positive academic performance.

On the same thread, when you are happy with your outfit or proud of a particularly wonderful piece of clothing – like a perfectly distressed jean jacket or pristine pair of mahogany riding boots – you are more likely to be excited to get dressed in the morning and therefore more likely to go to class.

A large part of success, in both academics and in life, is simply showing up. If a great outfit is what gets you out the door and where you need to be, then fashion serves a far greater purpose than many would initially assume or be willing to believe.

As a general rule, I mute virtually all commercials on my television or laptop, but last week, I accidentally ended up hearing two back-to-school advertisements for J.C. Penney.

The first ad depicted a cheerful teenage girl discussing first-day outfit stratagem like she was going into a warzone instead of a classroom. I deem this notion of “strategy” to be a tad overwrought.

The second ad postulated that you, the consumer, are telling people “who you are” based on your clothing choices, and I find this tagline to be disconcerting, as well.

Clothing and fashion preferences do not tell people who you are. Likewise, you should not build a persona based entirely on a new wardrobe. This particular tactic only works for Madonna, and even she doesn’t reinvent herself like she used to – minus her recent foray into the world of gold-rimmed grills.

Clothing and fashion choices are meant to complement your personality, not define it. This vital dividing line is blurred all too often by both the media and retailers that simply want to make a healthy profit during the fall quarter.

Fashion is both fun and diverse. It can be high art, utilitarian or simply an afterthought, but most importantly, it is a tool that allows us to express ourselves.

So this back-to-school shopping season, I implore you to buy clothing that speaks to you — not clothing that speaks for you.

Jenna Belmonte is a magazine, newspaper and online graduate student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Her fashion column appears every Monday in Pulp. She can be reached at jmbelmon@syr.edu.

Published on August 26, 2013 at 1:00 am