As my hands graze over the identical white polos, I ponder which to choose: the one with two buttons, or the one with three? My Dennis skirt or Lands End? Black sweater or gray? This might seem very mundane, but within this sea of gray, there is still endless opportunity for self-expression.

You may not know who I am, but I can guarantee you’ve seen my obnoxiously large purple scarf and matching purple Ugg boots. If there’s one thing to be said about Dolores, it’s that she knows how to have fun with the uniform. I get it, sometimes I detest wearing the same thing every day, blending in with 500 other students,
but a uniform is not the end all be all of taste. Here, I’m going to outline my tips and tricks for breaking the cycle of monotony and spicing up the Marlborough look.

I’ve been at Marlborough for nearly six years, and it has been a process, to say the least, of finding the perfect accessory or sweater to throw a curveball into the everyday dullness. I can say confidently that there have been times where I have gone to school in the most horrendous outfits known to man. As I would like to spare all of you the embarrassment of looking back to your old outfits, here are some easy and doable ways to create a fun and stylish uniform.

Now look, I get it, I don’t always want to be in uniform either. I remember my phases of uniform rebellion: pajama bottoms under skirts, the complete erasure of the skirt and its subsequent replacement with the sweatpant or, even more fundamental to the Marlborough experience, the hard launch with the classic Loyola hoodie. I am no stranger to all of these (except for the last).  And while I do love my navy blue sweatshirt days, here, I will outline strictly in-uniform ways to have fun.

1. Bring back Fun Sock Fridays.

I know you all have them, the socks that sit in the back of your closet that you wear on wash day, gifted to you at a random event or by an eccentric grandma. I personally love wearing mine, my favorite being the classic “I am silently judging your grammar.” Why is that on a sock? The world will never know.

2. We all know I love a scarf.

My purple scarf provides comfort on particularly stressful days and warms me in the Arctic tundra that is the math classrooms while throwing a wrench in the feeling of wearing the same thing every day. It doesn’t have to be a scarf – many days you’ll catch me wearing my red balaclava, an ingenious way to blend practicality and (dare I say) fashion.

3. Footwear.

Something about a bright sneaker, for instance, my green gazelles or my cheetah print Uggs, make me feel ever so slightly creative when put together with my uniform.

4. Find your personal look.

I love a good sweater and am always trying to find a new one that is in uniform yet also feels like something I would wear outside of the classroom. This could be wearing a button-down instead of a polo or your favorite pair of jeans and a hoodie. The uniform is what you make out of it, and I’m sick of hearing com-
plaints about the “lack of freedom” it entails