After so many years of the tradition, it feels like a right of passage for almost every Edinburgh student at least once in their degree to grab a bottle of La Vielle Ferme and race to the races: and for me, this was my lucky year. However, the most pressing thing for me was certainly not the betting, or the drinking, but rather the clothes. After having seen so many Invades videos and Instagram posts, it seemed to be an adamant requirement of mine to wear the perfect outfit. This would be much more formal than I was used to in daily life, and even be more experimental now, with many people truly taking the theme and running with it in their own way as I noticed when I was there.
From afghans, to fur coats, to even beige cargos in place of chinos, anything went as long as you could make it pass you off as some kind of trust fund baby. So now, one race and many bottles of wine wiser, here are a couple of trends I noticed, and whether I think they would work outside the barriers of Musselburgh.
Chinos: Tear
I understand the trends at the moment of moving menswear away from streetwear, and more towards mature dressing, and I am fully behind it. Overcoats, loafers, and knitwear are staples of my wardrobe, and I think they will be for quite a few seasons to come, but let’s be honest, do you want to spend your early twenties looking like a middle aged man? Chinos to me, especially in an age where the jean silhouette is remarkably slouched, feel like a step too far outside of the contemporary style, and into a midlife crisis.
Flatcaps: Wear
A major trend in the last year, and particularly in Edinburgh, flatcaps have become a new favourite of mine to truly elevate the presence of an outfit into something original. Accessories are the perfect way to push something over the barrier into iconic, and with the variety you can have in dressing up an outfit, I think it is perfectly versatile for the coming winter months.
Tweed: Wear?
This is a slightly odd one, but I personally think it’s totally doable. Want to impress your friends with a little bit more of a dazzled outfit? Tweed. Fancy a new material and texture in your wardrobe? Tweed. Maybe you just want to experiment; do it with tweed. Perhaps this is not in the same way that you would wear it at the races, because it is a very overpowering material if worn incorrectly, but a simple piece can really accent an outfit.
White Jeans: Controversial Tear
I know this is the new juggernaut among the future ‘Stockbridge Yummy Mummies,’ but I cannot get behind it at all. In the weather of Edinburgh, how can they be safe from the mud and the muck that will inevitably ruin them in only an hour — paranoia would kill me. So, unfortunately, it’s a no from me.
Image provided by Sam Morton for The Student
