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'Oxford/Cambridge University' T-shirts: cool or pretentious?

"Hmm, or possibly there's the contributing factor that if I walk around Huntingdon in a hoodie proudly proclaiming that I'm a member of CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY I'll probably get beaten up and left to die; college scarves are less obvious to people outside of Cambridge"

How about the ingenious idea of wearing a non-university scarf? Perhaps a nice plain black or charcoal one? Could work, y'know...

Reply 41

Elles

17

Sock Puppet

I don't think you can hide behind the line that "we're just saying that it's mainly tourists that wear them". This thread is by its nature talking prescriptively, not descriptively. People are saying that it would be uncool/pretentious for students to wear stuff that named the university rather than a college.

meh. i was just making the observation that i think most students don't wear stuff with the uni on unless it's blues sports?

i don't really think i would buy something with just 'oxford' on, because it's so vague & seemingly pointless, IMHO..i'd go for college sports or society stuff.

if people from whatever uni want to buy stuff with that emblazoned on, fine. it's not something i've seen much, but whatever floats their boat. if tourists want to buy a souvenir..fine.

i don't especially think it's cool or pretentious. & if you looked at the poll you'd see that i personally hadn't actually voted. :p:

Reply 42

blissy

15

Sock Puppet

"Hmm, or possibly there's the contributing factor that if I walk around Huntingdon in a hoodie proudly proclaiming that I'm a member of CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY I'll probably get beaten up and left to die; college scarves are less obvious to people outside of Cambridge"

How about the ingenious idea of wearing a non-university scarf? Perhaps a nice plain black or charcoal one? Could work, y'know...

But then madnatsci would never ever ever be able to wear her college scarf :frown:

She lives in Huntingdon, dontcha know?

I see people wearing hoodies/stuff from other unis - why shouldn't I wear mine :mad:

? Because people might think "ooo look at her trying to show off.." ? Or if I wear my college scarf I might incur the wrath of people thinking "oooo look at her trying not to show off". I say it's the people outside Oxbridge with the problem :biggrin:

Reply 43

MadNatSci

12

Sock Puppet

"Hmm, or possibly there's the contributing factor that if I walk around Huntingdon in a hoodie proudly proclaiming that I'm a member of CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY I'll probably get beaten up and left to die; college scarves are less obvious to people outside of Cambridge"

How about the ingenious idea of wearing a non-university scarf? Perhaps a nice plain black or charcoal one? Could work, y'know...

Because I'm proud of my college and I like my scarf! I thought you were having a go at people who were being anti-university stuff :confused:

And I agree with blissy!

Reply 44

Sock Puppet

I'm proud of my mum, but I don't go round wearing a T-shirt with her face on it.

How come it's acceptable to be proud of your college but not your university?

Reply 45

MadNatSci

12

Sock Puppet

I'm proud of my mum, but I don't go round wearing a T-shirt with her face on it.

How come it's acceptable to be proud of your college but not your university?

I'm proud of both, of course. It's just that wearing clothes that obviously pertain to my university is more likely to get me ridiculed/beaten up than wearing a scarf of the other, which isn't so obviously marked. When did I say I wasn't proud of my university, or that it wasn't acceptable to be so?

That said, I don't tend to advertise where I go to university, but this is due to the reactions of others that I've experienced and don't wish to again. There's an assumption made about you if you tell people you go to Oxford or Cambridge. See 'oxbridge students are 2 conspicuous' thread...

Reply 46

dazednconfused

So what do you guys think of people who go around wearing University of Bristol/Durham etc. stuff? Does the university make a difference?

Reply 47

blissy

15

dazednconfused

So what do you guys think of people who go around wearing University of Bristol/Durham etc. stuff?

Not a lot really - I don't usually think much when people I don't know walk past me wearing clothes (even if they're got enormous words written across them). I just carry on doing my stuff! I don't have an opinion on hoodies really. They're sold, people buy them, people wear them. End of story :biggrin:

Reply 48

Sock Puppet

Is the trend for university-branded gear something that's largely imported from North America? People here wear college tops all the time, and no-one bats an eyelid. Having said that, it is more likely to be sportswear, e.g. jogging tops. But the whole identification with your alma mater thing is much stronger here.

Reply 49

Lucky number 8

If wearing Oxbridge clothes means saying "oh look at me, I’m smart", then we must say that anyone who wears expensive clothes is saying "look at me I’m rich".
For most people, whatever one chooses to wear, they are aiming to make some type of statement about themselves. Clothes tell us something about the wearer in all circumstances.
Perhaps wearing a college hoody is just a sign that you are proud to be a member of that community. To be proud and to be pretentious are quit clearly two different things. Surely at the end of the day, it's just up to the individual?

Reply 50

InterCity125

1

Squishy

Or at least, I Think I'm Superior To You In Some Way.

To be fair, a lot of companies/clubs/organisations like to display their logos on clothes, but I dislike the Oxbridge merchandise because it just encourages some people to be even more big-headed.

College scarves are fair enough though...they're not too conspicuous.

How is it different from a sweatshirt that has 'Harpenden model railway club on it?'

Reply 51

InterCity125

1

Sock Puppet

"Hmm, or possibly there's the contributing factor that if I walk around Huntingdon in a hoodie proudly proclaiming that I'm a member of CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY I'll probably get beaten up and left to die; college scarves are less obvious to people outside of Cambridge"

How about the ingenious idea of wearing a non-university scarf? Perhaps a nice plain black or charcoal one? Could work, y'know...

Having both, I think that my college one looks nicer than my 'formal' scarf. I really don't see what the problem is. Other university students can wear branded stuff without critisim, so why should Oxbridge be any different. University branded stuff is not diffrent from fleeces with 'first group' on them, for example.

Reply 52

Sparrowhawk

Since I am in the US, I probably won't get teased if I wear an Oxford or BNC hoodie - lots of HS seniors run right out and buy one for their fall college as soon as they get accepted. So where would I find one online?

Reply 53

coldfish

12

Hrm... the whole point of a university or college scarf or top is to display that you go that college/uni. The problem is, as somebody pointed out, the fact that you are a student at Oxford or Cambridge has an -awful- lot of connotations that come with it, both good and bad.

The reason that the college alternatives seem more popular than the uni ones is that it displays your allegiance to those who won't judge you for it, in my opinion. Few people hostile to students of the uni would identify the colleges with the uni, whilst most people favourable to it (other students, mainly) _would_.

In any case, from what I gather there is a stronger sense of loyalty to your college than to the university anyway, probably becuase it's just so much smaller. Being loyal to your college lets you have the silly, fun rivalries and comeradeship in the place where you spend most of your time - at university.

Alex
*tired*

Reply 54

RxB

1

Sparrowhawk

Since I am in the US, I probably won't get teased if I wear an Oxford or BNC hoodie - lots of HS seniors run right out and buy one for their fall college as soon as they get accepted. So where would I find one online?