My mom, aunties and I at my little cousin’s hula performance. Taken by Aunty Diane on May 10, 2025.
Rome is the only city I know that hosts professional, one-night fashion shows that Temple students can stumble into. In front of the Spanish Steps, right around the corner from our campus, my roommate Bea texted me to come outside ā wait, since when did this place have a stage? With spotlights, speakers and its own camera crew?!
Off these runways, on the streets, it’s clear why Italy is the fashion capital of the world. Even the way nuns hang their rosary like a chain belt is fashion forward, as my roommates are fond to point out. I can get inspiration for outfits just by walking to school ā who needs Pinterest when you have the passerbys of Rome?
But with the high standards comes a pressure to conform to the long dark coats and shades, the well-styled hair that will endure through all time and weather. This does not come so naturally for me, where back at home, my brother has somehow avoided wearing a formal shirt for the past 10 years. I guess we’re much bigger fans of aloha shirts, sweats, and a beat-up pair of slippers for any and all occasions.
No one is straight-up telling me I have to dress more similarly to here, but I feel whether we are aware of it or not, how we dress plays a huge role in our sense of belonging. It’s the same reason for school uniforms or fan sports jerseys, after all.
In order to keep a balance between what I’m familiar with wearing and feeling like I belong in Rome, I’ve been observing the styles here and taking a few things I genuinely connected with from it, rather than copying straight from their fashion answer-book. It can be difficult to have a style authentic to you rather than to the whims of friends, strangers, or people on the internet, but I feel Rome especially encourages everyone’s own fashion journey!
I’d like to imagine Rome as a time-capsule from when clothes had to be tailor-made and made for a life of wearing, not for a life forgotten in an overfilled closet (as my mom frequently describes my own). All the seamstresses, specialized concept- and second-hand stores in my neighborhood alone show a clear overall appreciation for both high-end and everyday individualized fashion.
Next to the city’s well-preserved old palaces and royal busts, I see how their appreciation for fashion is also still preserved as a way people exhibit power. Fashion was one way kings and queens could show their opulence, single out the ranks in their military, and bring together their subjects with their family crest across European history. Perhaps even today, there is a language of power sewn into designer jeans and vintage leather ā or choosing to ignore it all for your own new rules.
Ironically, wearing a school uniform until my sophomore year of high school helped me decide my own style regime. After I broke the chains of the uniform, I did follow trends, what my friends liked, what I saw on the internet. But nothing stuck with me. I had to think: what am I actually trying to get people to see of me? How in control do I want to be of their judgments?
I realized how I dress is, honestly, just about being silly. I love dressing like an island pirate on a Tuesday then a bum on a Thursday. Who cares? I can literally do whatever I want. Wow. That makes me sound like my brother. Maybe he did have a point in never caring about dress codes (still, no one’s allowed to tell him I actually agree with him on something).
So when I’m out in Rome, it can be hard to strike a balance between being authentic to me and feeling like I belong on these runway-ready streets. But getting to decide what I wear, what I feel like in the moment is powerful, and I don’t have to sacrifice that for anyone in any place. No matter what my style is, I know I can find a community who share my passion ( ā shoutout to our new friends from Warsaw we met at the show!!)
No matter how you dress in your hometown, in college, or abroad, I hope it’s entirely up to you, however much power you want to give to it. I at least will be, to my utmost joy, in sweatpants going to the grocery store.
Exploring my identity through fashion while studying abroad has been an incredible experience. To learn more about studying abroad in Rome, visit the Temple Rome program page on the Education Abroad website.