Fickle? Wasteful? Vain? I don’t think so. Much valid criticism launched at the fashion industry is that it perpetuates a culture of wastefulness and superficiality. But barring issues of brand-name elitism and pure vanity, shopping isn’t always just a question of handing over money and getting a commodity in exchange.

Though fashion is foremost a visual expression, sometimes sartorial statements are selfish. That is, they reflect an internal shift in the wearer. My backpack is just as obnoxious as it was before. (I traded in the zebra stripes for a camouflage print that I believe is cool, but my most style-conscious friend tells me otherwise.) But these days, I don’t dress myself in the hopes that I can change the immutable: that I’m young, that I go to school, that there’s a lot I know but much more I don’t.

I bought a backpack because I’m a student, and that is what students buy. Younger iterations of me would scoff at the way I earnestly don my book-filled backpack each morning. But I love being a girl with so many interesting classes—and books to match—that my backpack simply must distribute their weight to both sides of my aching spine.

That, and camo is totally in these days.

Lily K. Calcagnini, ’18, a Crimson editorial writer, lives in Dunster House. Her column appears on alternate Fridays.