Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like this semester has gone by at lightning speed. Hopefully, this article will give you a chance to take a breather; I know writing it will do that for me. You got this (whatever “this” is that you are worried about), and take the time to treat yourself.

Amid all the business of assignments and labs, I’ve been trying my best to keep up with the fashion news. Here is a quick recap for those who have been meaning to read up on Paris Men’s Fashion Week:

For my male readers — or readers with male-identifying partners — get ready to bare those legs! JW Anderson, Loewe and Dior Men had looks with hemlines just shy of the mid-thigh. Although JW Anderson’s model was wearing some tights to go with his oversized sweater, I noticed some other overlap: Loewe’s model also had an oversized top on (a green trench coat, technically), but only oversized in terms of length rather than all-around fit. Additionally, Dior Men and JW Anderson models still donned mid-calf socks to match with their loafers and flats.

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Rick Owens drew his iron curtain back as he held his show at his own estate. As expected, both his show and his house looked spectacular, but his collection made me think of the idea of visual shapes being either “kiki” (sharp and angled) or “bouba” (softer). Continuing to blend fashion with concepts of architecture and traditional technicality, his clothes (or in some cases, lack thereof) were demanding and dramatic, all the way down to the spotlight of the collection: the shoes. Working in collaboration with Straytukay, a London-based designer, the play of the inflated bulbs seemed extraterrestrial.

Pharrell Williams’ sophomore collection for Louis Vuitton continues to get rave reviews as he begins to leave his thumbprint on the historic brand. According to the show notes, taking inspiration from “the iconography of American Western dress,” Williams continues to make waves by spearheading a tying of the knot between sports and fashion. With stars attending such as Serena Williams, his runway even included the rising football stars, Shedeur and Shilo Sanders, sons of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. While expressing their gratitude for the opportunity, Shilo made a remark that actually perfectly transitions to what I wanted to write about today: the vastness of our personalities and how our style contributes to that.

Before telling you what Shilo said, I must explain how I even got here.

I was on a lovely sunrise hike watching the sky turn from gray to a fiery pink. Thinking immediately of the opening scene in “Barbie” (2023), I began to think of Barbie’s wardrobe, particularly the different career outfits. It made me realize that Barbie is multi-talented not because of the outfits, but because of who she becomes when wearing them. Of course, this does not mean that in the real world, I can throw on a lab coat and suddenly have my Ph.D., but it does mean that I feel like a rock star when wearing my three-piece thorn earscape from Marc Jacobs.

Then, on the drive home after a girls night, we discussed the theory that every person has five personalities. While these are different hats we wear in different settings, we oftentimes slip into these different versions of ourselves with our outfits in mind. But is it the outfit that makes us each of these different people?

Maybe the quote from Shilo will allow you to form your own thoughts before giving you mine: “We want to be multidimensional. We don’t want to be just football.”

I understand it can be hard when you’re at the level of the NFL; you’ve dedicated your entire life to the craft of playing football, and the tie to your identity is just as permanent as a philosopher or infamous snake wrangler. But I suspect another reason behind the desire to be seen as more is because humans tend to compartmentalize anything and everything in order to aid our understanding.

Careers and hobbies keep each respective person in that box upon first meeting them, intentionally or not. It makes me wonder if even having such identifications and labeling of the first remarkable event or interaction has to be treated as such — a file in our filing-cabinet brain.

If clothes are meant to be a form of freedom, does dressing for certain occasions, then, aid in suppressing our understanding of not only others that we meet but ourselves as human beings and entities of the universe? Maybe that’s getting a little meta for a Wednesday column, but if clothes could speak, imagine the things they would say. Imagine the things they would say with you, instead of on behalf of you.

So, by even labeling outfits as at-home clothes, going-out clothes, work clothes, etc., are we putting a roadblock in what articles of clothing can become in their expression of the wearer? Why must your blazer only be used for interviews? Why can’t you wear it with that silk slip dress, jeans and see-through Jordans?

Maybe part of being able to understand the five (or more) personalities in all capacities has to start from true stylistic freedom, away from trends and anxiety-based decisions of fitting in/fit/form/color. Just as we justify interesting food combinations with “just because,” perhaps reverting to more childlike, stubborn and, yet, confident self-belief is how we can break out of the boxes we’ve assigned to ourselves.

I love the word multidimensional — it reminds me of the Walt Whitman poem I referenced in an earlier article — and so I hope you remind yourself of that as you decide on your next outfit.

It shouldn’t always be what you want it to say to other people. It should also be what you want to say to yourself. So when you’re getting dressed, turn off your music or that TV show in the background and listen: Your clothes might have been speaking to (all of) you this entire time.

Hadyn Phillips is a junior writing about fashion in the 21st century, specifically spotlighting new trends and popular controversy. Her column, “That’s Fashion, Sweetie,” runs every Wednesday.