Coolhunt

What's cool these days? I think it's hard to tell in a place like Madison, WI during winter. I didn't really have time to sit in one particular public place and observe, so most of my observations were mad around campus, in class, on the bus, that sort of thing. Doing that i saw quite a few trends. Like i said, I'm not sure anyone in Madison at this time of year would be considered a hub, I think a lot of what people where are out of necessity to keep warm rather than to look cool. That said there are still some trends that I've noticed even before doing a coolhunt. I would say the most popular winter jackets on campus are either north face or columbia brands. I've seen a ton of both. There is also an overabundance of weird looking fuzzy boots among the female population on campus. From what i hear they are very warm and comfortable, but i can't help but think some of them still look ridiculous. Other than those two trends, it seems practically everyone has an ipod or some sort of mp3 player, myself included. I've also noticed the razr phones seem to be the cool thing to have.

I can't think of any difference between something being cool vs. a fad. Fads, while they last, are what people think is cool. I don't think that necessarily makes everything that's cool a fad, but i'd say everything that is a fad is cool, at least to most people. As i said before i'm not sure there are many hubs in madison as far as fashion goes, at least for anything that doesn't have bucky badger on it, though i would argue that if it doesn't have bucky, it's probably not worth wearing. I would say some of the fashion trends are brought by students from other parts of the country, but most are just what have sold well in places like chicago, twin cities and maybe milwaukee, due to the similar climates because lets face it, for most of the year people in this part of the country base what they buy and wear on whether they will get frostbite walking to class or going to get groceries.