Sometimes when I walk down UFV’s halls during the fall season, I trip out. One after another, a parade of people wearing the sweater and vest combo stream past me as I walk to class. The combo is always the same with slight tonal variations: grey sweater, black vest, black sweater, grey vest, black sweater, black vest, white sweater, black vest … never any colour. It’s like a wardrobe clone machine malfunction spitting out copies of the same outfits. Suddenly, I feel like I’m walking the linoleum path of some university dystopia. I feel out of place in my long pink raincoat and cropped sweaters. Clearly I missed something because my current ‘fit sticks out like a sore thumb. I ponder the fascination with this go-to combination, and although it does look cozy, I just don’t get it. What’s the appeal? This is not a rhetorical question; I am truly bamboozled. Send help.
Darien Johnsen is a UFV alumni who obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree with double extended minors in Global Development Studies and Sociology in 2020. She started writing for The Cascade in 2018, taking on the role of features editor shortly after. She’s passionate about justice, sustainable development, and education.
