by Meg Huntley
Aside from the fact that 99% of the Brazilian population is now wearing the country´s colors and futebol jerseys to support the country in the World Cup games, two distinctive styles can be noticed on campus.
Both of those Brazilian fashion trends might be considered very different from what one would find on any Southern California campus. Tall, chunky platform boots are everywhere and all of the spandex pants and athletic gear that the girls wear suggest they are all either going to, or coming from, the gym. The fact of the matter is... none of them actually is.
The reasons for both styels are hard to pinpoint. As most people would react if asked why they are wearing what they are wearing, or who they look up to for fashion trendsetting, no one interviewed down here could put their finger on one person who started these trends.
PLATFORM BOOTS
Let´s start with the platform boots, which are something we have all seen before in the States but mostly when the Spice Girls were a big deal, and only then.
They came into style really fast and left even faster. Responses as to why they’re popular at UFSC ranged from the fact that they make the girls taller since a lot of them are on the shorter side, to comfort, to the fact that they are just what everyone wears. Even going through stores in the mall, it seemed as though the big chunky platform were almost all that was for sale.
"I can't remember back to a time when people were not wearing them," said Rosinete Vieyra, a young woman who sells handmade jewelry on campus.
Rosinete Vieyra wearing platform boots
She also mentioned that since they were popular in the 1970s, "they just never went out of style." Rosinete said that the boots are probably more noticeable now since it is the winter, and that in the summer people do not wear these boots at all.
ATHLETIC WEAR
Next, the athletic attire craze that is so prominent on campus. Everyone is wearing big t-shirts or sweaters with spandex that come up to the mid calf with tennis shoes. A very casual look but still form fitting and definitely flattering on beautiful Brazilian girls, this trend of course is a more recent one.
When asked why everyone looks like they are going to or from working out, Eduardo Asbun, a literature student at UFSC, laughed and said, "But they are not, none of them."
Asbun and Karolinne Zomkowski, who was a little shy but gracious enough to have her photograph taken, came to the conclusion that the style is so popular mostly because it is comfortable, and that it is most likely influenced by the soap operas that are so popular in Brazil. However, the style cannot be assigned to one trend-setter in particular.
Karolinne models the sporty trend
Joana Caldas, a freshman journalism student at UFSC, confirmed that soap operas have a major influence on the trends here in Florianopolis. She said that she has been to the mall with her friends and they have "asked for specific earrings that one character from the novela was wearing on the last episode and everyone knew exactly what she was talking about."
Although these trends are popular on campus, and people do express themselves through their clothing, the biggest point that everyone tried to make was that the key is to be comfortable at school.
It will be interesting to see if we in the United States are just a little behind in the trend setting. Maybe this reporter will just have to bring trendy spandex and chunky boots back with her and see if people will catch on.