Welcome back to Fashion on Fifth, a beloved Free Press series showcasing New School students’ unique and wide-ranging style. After seeing how this creative community translated their personal looks to Zoom, our reporters are taking to the streets of Greenwich Village once again. This semester we are bringing you more in-depth profiles and thoughts from your peers about their style evolution throughout the pandemic and since being back in New York City.
Rie Boice
By Shivam Sachdeva
Rie Boice is a fourth-year student studying Journalism and Design at Eugene Lang College. Boice is originally from Sun Valley, Idaho and is the lead editor of the “Fashion on Fifth” series in The New School Free Press.
She shared with the Free Press that others have described her outfits as “street and classic styles meet mountain western vibes,” and loves the diverse array of materials Idaho fashion presents. “I like utilitarian stuff that’s not just Mountain West and cowboy culture, but also the technical fabrics of skiing and mountain biking,” Boice said. “I love materials from [Idaho] and combining those with street style and different silhouettes.”
She purchases a majority of her clothes from thrift stores across her hometown of Idaho. Boise learned how to sew from her mom and enjoys customizing pieces she thrifts. “My mom is the craftiest woman alive and does costuming,” she said. “We have this massive art room at home with fabrics and almost every art supply you could imagine, which I am so grateful for! She taught me how to use the machine, and then I figured [the rest] out.”
Boice dove into her fashion interest and solidified her style in the downtime she had during quarantine. “I had a lot of time on my hands, so I did a lot of sewing and thrifting over those months. I got to play around with my style and look at imagery for inspiration and just spend a little more time on it,” Boice said.
Since returning to school she has been participating in “the Parsons fashion show,” as she calls it. “I’ve been experimenting with different things,” Boice said.
Boice said she is currently inspired by TikTok and the multiple styles creators present on the platform.. “There’s a bunch of girls on [TikTok] that have incredible style that I love keeping up with and seeing what they’re wearing,” she said.
Boice shared that she feels the most pressure from herself, not from peers, when choosing outfits for school..“I have fallen back in love with fashion and clothes, so I put a little bit of pressure on myself to keep improving my taste and ability to assemble outfits,” she said.
For her interview with The Press she wore a sweater she thrifted, vintage pants from Beacon’s Closet, a Newhatten hat from L Train Vintage, thrifted belt, and Doc Martens. Her jewelry is either thrifted or family heirlooms and her silver ring was made by her sister out of a spoon. As the lead editor of “Fashion on Fifth”, Boice has a true appreciation and admiration for fashion and the styles presented by the New School Community. “We go to the best, theoretically the best fashion school in the country and the students think more deeply about what they’re putting on their bodies and it is very much an expression of self for everyone here,” she said.
Christian Richey
By Harry Batalingaya
Christian Richey, a fourth-year Journalism + Design student at Lang and co-managing editor for The New School Free Press, described his personal style as “still changing and still evolving.” Much of Richey’s fashion choices and personal style are based on inspiration gathered on Instagram, TikTok, and the people he sees in the streets of New York.
For his interview with the Free Press, Richey wore a pair of black Converse sneakers, jeans, and a classic denim sherpa jacket, both from Levi’s. He paired that with a colorful, graphic T-shirt from a small business on Instagram called Alex’s Stupid Shirts.
Richey’s style has not changed drastically since we returned to in-person classes, though his confidence and poise have. “[I’ve] definitely become more loose, comfortable and confident in what [I wear],” he said.
Richey spent all of last year dialed into Zoom classes from his home state of Maryland. His go-to outfit for online classes consisted of a shirt or sweater that “looked pretty presentable,” paired with sweatpants or pajamas. Richey was “trying to focus on comfort” since his classes typically began just after waking up.
Richey does feel some pressure to pick out clothes for school each day. “You look around and see people dressed to the nines, looking great,” said Richey. Though the daily fashion show on The New School campus can be intimidating, Richey tries to focus on himself rather than on comparing himself to others. He finds this personal focus the most effective tactic for avoiding being overwhelmed by the pressure of picking out clothes.
Since his confidence and overall looseness in his personal style have improved since the pandemic, Richey said choosing clothes to wear for the day is more exciting now. His go-to outfit is usually a sweatshirt, black or blue jeans, and sneakers – like Converse. Now that the weather is getting colder, Richey has started to wear more jackets and hoodies, too.Richey, a reporter for Fashion on Fifth, wasn’t sure what to expect when he signed on. “This is a really awesome series,” said Richey. “It has been great to be a part of it.” It has been gratifying for Richey to hear students’ stories and to learn how their lives have influenced their fashion choices and above all, to get a better understanding of “what makes them tick.”
Shivam Sachdeva
By Alexandra Nava-Baltimore
Photo By Alexandra Nava-Baltimore
Shivam Sachdeva, reporter and photographer for The New School Free Press, describes his style as “simple, [with] neutral colors,” but also “classy [and] a bit sophisticated.”
Sachdeva, who is originally from Philadelphia, PA, is a second-year Strategic Design and Management student at Parsons with minors in Journalism and Design, and Museum Curation. His style is greatly influenced by how he was raised. Sachdeva attended a Catholic school for most of his life, and then went to a boarding school for high school. At both he wore full suits or ‘preppy’ uniforms. “Comfy clothes are not really in my vocabulary, I would say – at least for social settings,” Sachdeva said.
For his interview with the Free Press Sachdeva wore vintage Dolce & Gabbana pants that he purchased at Reformation on the Lower East Side, a cream top with a silver latch from The Real Real and sneakers from Hermes — which he admitted he “stupidly bought, four years ago, and I’ve only worn [them] three times. I’m trying to wear them more now,” Sachdeva said.
Photo By Alexandra Nava-Baltimore
To accessorize his look, Sachdeva wore a vintage Cartier watch and red string bracelets which are a meaningful part of his Hindu heritage. His cousin, an important woman in his life, tied them onto his wrist, he said. “[They] symbolize companionship, a really strong relationship, and just focus back on the women in your life,” Sachdeva said. The beige button-up jacket he layered on top is from Scotch and Soda, which is one of his favorite places to shop because it offers a lot of unisex clothing.
Photo By Alexandra Nava-Baltimore
Reporting for Fashion on Fifth has given Sachdeva the opportunity to do something he loves: talking to people about fashion. “[I love to] really hear about the dynamic styles and lives of the students at The New School because everyone is very cool,” Sachdeva said. “I have an affinity for the Lang garden now because I do all the photoshoots there.”
After speaking with students this semester about their relationship to their personal style, his advice is, “don’t [feel] any pressure. Just have fun, wear whatever you want to wear,” he said. “I love people who wear sweatpants to school and graphics.”
Photo By Alexandra Nava-Baltimore
However, Sachdeva said he typically feels stressed when picking out his clothes each day because his day-to-day life is always changing. “Life is so unpredictable right now, I never know what I’m going to be doing on a given day [after class],” he said. “It’s stressful, but it’s fun!”
Despite the stress, getting dressed thoughtfully each day is really important to Sachdeva. During the pandemic, Sachdeva gravitated towards sweatpants and t-shirts, putting “no effort” into his looks for online class, he said. But he found that without the ritual of preparing for the day, he wasn’t fully engaged in his studies and felt generally divested from his day. “I think just the way you dress and how you present yourself gives you a confidence boost,” Sachdeva said.
Photo By Alexandra Nava-Baltimore
Over the past few years, Sachdeva has seen a shift in his relationship with his wardrobe. In high school, he would typically buy the latest trends and colorful pieces, but now he gravitates towards garments that make him feel comfortable, are generally more neutral-toned and are items that he can invest in and care for overtime.
“I’m excited to see where [my style] will go in the future. I wonder if I’ll start wearing more colors,” Sachdeva said. “I don’t see that happening… [but] I think it’ll be cool to see how it shifts and changes.”
Alexandra Nava-Baltimore
By Christian Richey
New School Free Press Co-Managing Editor Alexandra Nava-Baltimore is a second-year BAFA student studying photography at Parsons and Journalism + Design at Lang. Nava-Baltimore, a native New Yorker, said her style is constantly changing — often as she moves through her various roles on campus.
“[My style] depends on my mood, where I’m going, how I feel that day, what I’m doing. … But there [are] definitely many sides to my style,” Nava-Baltimore said.
Much of her style is influenced by her grandmother, the former owner of a fashion boutique in her basement.
Her grandmother often trades clothes with her or gifts her pieces. “I think I’m very inspired by my grandma and mom in terms of their style, and just having powerful female figures in my life growing up,” Nava-Baltimore said. “I think that’s definitely… given me the inspiration to feel confident in what I wear.”
Though Nava-Baltimore is typically behind the camera, for her shoot with the Free Press she wore a blue blazer from Rebecca Minkoff, a scarf from her mom, a white long-sleeve shirt from Free People, jeans she thrifted from Beacon’s Closet and furry slides from American Eagle. She accessorized with necklaces from her great grandmother and mother, three rings given to her by her grandmother, one ring she picked up at a flea market and one ring gifted to her by her mom. “My mom got my grandma, her and I [rings on] Valentine’s Day many, many years ago and it says I love you all around it,” Nava-Baltimore said. “We all have [them].”
Her go-to outfit usually includes a blazer and platform Dr. Martens, she said. Nava-Baltimore finds a lot of her clothes at Zara, Urban Outfitters, Free People, and Anthropologie, as well as thrift stores and sample sales throughout New York City.
Nava-Baltimore’s style didn’t change much while school was online, though she did prioritize comfort more when classes were online, she said
“Most of the time I wore sweatpants or pajama pants on my bottom half and then [on] top I would dress up like a normal school day,” Nava-Baltimore said. “[My roommate and I] would just joke [about] how crazy our outfits could be because no one saw our bottom half.”
In the spring semester of 2021 Nava-Baltimore joined the Free Press as an editor as well as a reporter on the Fashion on Fifth team. She helped transform the series during the pandemic and virtual classes. Formerly the series was very photo-heavy and focused solely on the subject’s fashion in those photos. During her tenure on the series, she placed more focus on understanding the nuances of subjects’ personal style and how that has developed over time, with photos being of students in their outfits on Zoom.
“I had this idea to really get to know the person [and] their style through the interviews as opposed to just seeing the photos,” Nava-Baltimore said.
Nava-Baltimore said the series’ move to Zoom necessitated its expansion. Now, with the series back in-person they’ve adopted the more conversational format used while online while going back to shooting students in-person. “I’m excited that we’re in person and able to really capture incredible photographs of a person’s outfit and really get to know them,” Nava-Baltimore said.
Nava-Baltimore said she’s always been interested in what her peers are wearing and what it says about them — in part because she values her own self-expression through fashion. “The past few years I’ve definitely honed in on my style and felt more comfortable dressing in it,” she said. “I know many students feel pressure to dress a certain way but I don’t necessarily feel so much pressure. I feel excited to be able to share how I’m feeling that day and how I want to portray myself.”
Harry Batalingaya
By Karen Arrobo
Harry Batalingaya, a second-year Journalism and Design student at Lang and reporter for Fashion on Fifth, incorporates poise and sophistication into his everyday formal style.
“[I wear] a lot of sweaters, button-up shirts, ties, slacks… especially to school. [They] help me feel a lot more confident and prepared because I’m in a learning environment,” Batalingaya said.
For his New School Free Press interview, he wore a gray Polo sweater layered over a polka-dotted Ralph Lauren button-up shirt with a floral navy-colored tie from J. Crew. He refines his gray monochromatic theme with a pop of color from his light-brown Cole Haan leather dress shoes and plaid, Banana Republic slacks.
Batalingaya dialed into his first-year Zoom classes from his hometown of Washington D.C. He frequently wore leisurewear for his virtual classes. “On Zoom, I would just put on my camera with whatever I wore to sleep that night,” Batalingaya said. “Like a big t-shirt, a sweater, hoodie, and basketball shorts. It was so calm.”
Batalingaya, however, steered away from casual clothing when classes began in person again, he said. He grew his taste for menswear and high-end prep fashion. He plays around with solid colors and patterns, like plaid or polka-dotted button-up pieces and slacks. “I’m so happy that we’re back in the world,” he said. “It’s finally spinning again, then you can put in a lot more effort.”
Batalingaya’s fashion lens draws inspiration from New York Fashion Week shows like Michael Kors’ 2018 menswear collection and Louis Vuitton’s Spring 2017 runway. His male fashion icons are Oscar-nominated actor and 2021 Met Gala co-chair, Timothée Chalamet, and NBA All-Star player, Lebron James. He also seeks inspiration from the pages of Vogue and Vanity Fair for his outfit ensembles.
Batalingaya breaks his normal formal attire during his days off and leans towards jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers for comfort. He accessorizes his casual outfits with hats and bandanas to portray a “hipster vibe” and keep it on the “down-low,” Batalingaya told the Free Press.
The pressure to maintain a suave look lingers in Batalingaya’s mind whenever he picks out an outfit for class. “I’m always trying to make an impression on certain people, a lot of people here dress really well,” he said. “I’m always ecstatic to dress this certain way, but there’s definitely a little bit of stress of being judged or that I don’t look good as I did yesterday.”
Batalingaya is consistent with everyday accessories like his prized, gold Michael Kors watch and colorful, stacked marble beaded bracelets from Target’s jewelry boutique. One of the bracelets has a copper-embossed, triangular rose quartz charm alluring spiritual elements. On his ring finger, he has a custom, engraved flower silver ring. “Sometimes, I’ll put on like eight rings at once,” Batalingaya said. “Other days, I wear one or two.”
Batalingaya said he can get a sense of others’ character through their clothing style, especially in a creative environment like The New School. “When I look at what somebody is wearing, I can almost assume what music they’re into, what stuff they watch, or how they carry themselves as a person, what they care about and how they treat others,” he said. “I think it is such a large [expression] of your personality, your character and who you are.”
Karen Arrobo
By Rie Boice
Photo by Rie Boice
Karren Arrobo is a second year Journalism + Design student at Lang, now on campus for the first time in in-person classes. Arrobo’s love for fashion began to take form in her senior year of high school, even before applying to The New School. Now, as a reporter for Fashion on Fifth, Arrobo has found new inspiration in her fellow New Schoolers style and expression of self.
“Senior year was when I really started exploring [my] ‘fashion personality,’” said Arrobo. She spent a lot of time last year, at home in Nutley, New Jersey scouring Instagram and Pinterest, gathering inspiration and considering how her style could better reflect her personality. “I was in a weird setting,” said Arrobo, “where it felt very conservative. I was in this very white, suburban town, where there obviously wasn’t much diversity. So you didn’t really get a lot of variety in style, either.”
Arrobo started thrifting most of her clothing in high school and said that she “cheats the system” by returning to her hometown to thrift. “[The thrift stores] here are extremely expensive,” said Arrobo. “So I go back to the ‘grandma shops’ at home instead.”
Arrobo wore an entirely thrifted look for her interview with The New School Free Press. She found her red corduroy jacket at Value Village, and her lace blouse and green corduroy pants at Salvation Army, all at locations back in northern New Jersey. Arrobo’s “grandma shoes,” which she says are one of her favorite pieces, were thrifted from MyUnique, also in her hometown. Arrobo accessorized with an eclectic array of jewelry, some were given to her by friends and others that she purchased at flea markets.
Photo by Rie Boice
While in lockdown, completing her first year of university online, Arrobo focused on expressing her style through her accessories and the way she did her hair. “I dyed my hair three times actually,” said Arrobo. All the while, she was keeping up with other New School students and making trips to the thrift store as soon as local regulations allowed. “I was trying to see what I should prepare myself for,” said Arrobo.
“I remember one of my first days after arriving at Lang. Everyone was gathered outside and I was like, ‘oh my God you guys are literally slaying,’” said Arrobo. She admits to feeling some initial pressure to keep up with the fashion culture at The New School. “I remember feeling like I wanted to be on their level, but I realized that I needed to focus on expressing myself instead.”
Arrobo loves playing with styles and silhouettes from the 70s and 80s. She wears a lot of wide leg pants and has been loving the cold weather for the chance to layer. Alex Russo from “Wizards of Waverly Place” and Donna Pinciotti from “That 70s Show” – are two of Arrobo’s biggest style influences. “I also get a lot of inspiration from being at school, seeing what everyone is wearing,” said Arrobo.
Photo by Rie Boice
Connecting with new people and drawing new ideas from her classmates has been Arrobo’s favorite part of writing and reporting for Fashion on Fifth. “Just seeing where people draw from for their fashion sense and how the people I’ve interviewed thrift and upcycle clothes. Also getting to take their photos – doing what I love… It’s been so interesting and fun!”