What Your Major Says About Your Style

Going to a large public university like Berkeley, it’s often hard to tell who’s who. But, if you look closely at what people are wearing, their clothing may give you subtle hints as to what kind of person they are, such as what they’re interested in or what they study. Here is a loose guide to what students of different majors are typically wearing.

DISCLAIMER: This is not meant to offend anyone, it’s all fun and games.

Haas Students/Economics

Berkeley is home to one of the nation’s finest undergraduate business schools, and for those lucky few, there are a handful of students in Haas. The rest of the “business” students probably major in Economics  A typical business major will be wearing their coveted consulting club Patagonia jackets with. Or maybe a suit to rep their cult (I mean consulting club).

Engineering/EECS/CS/Math

If you look on any of Berkeley’s meme pages, you are bound to find a post about an EECS boi. These students clearly have sacrificed looking put together, for just being practical. They might be wearing something like a zip-up jacket, a worn out graphic T-shirt with awful physics or math puns, a loosely fitted pair of jeans, a pair of tennis shoes, and glasses because they have to sit in front of their computers and code for hours. Sometimes they might even up their style a notch with a Caltopia shirt!

Pre-med

Pre-med students are what you would call a jack of all trades: they don’t have one specific style. Their style is all over the place: one day you’ll see them in streetwear, the next day you’ll see them in something a little more sophisticated. Or they might mix the two together in their outfit. They don’t care though, because they’ll be making loads of money as doctors. One thing for sure:they’ll definitely be wearing close-toed shoes, because you know, they gotta follow lab rules. 

Environmental Sciences/Architecture

These students have an obvious passion for the environment.To minimize their ecological footprint, these students choose friendly alternatives like vegan leather and sustainable brands! They can’t be seen without their Birkenstocks and loose, flowy clothing.Most importantly, if you ask any of them, these tree-huggers  would proudly tell you that they thrifted their outfits, because they’re all about sustainability and respecting Mother Earth.

Humanities/Social Sciences

Students who study Poli Sci, History, English, or something similar can often be caught at local coffee shops sipping on some artisan Italian coffee and reading Dostoevsky or Tolstoy. Upon first glance,you can immediately tell that they are just fiending to spew out their “extensive” knowledge about literature and history (which they just overheard at lecture today) . This sophistication translates into their style, which is typically comprised of button downs, cardigans, and chinos. You could say they look like your professor.

Art

Art majors are edgy. They don’t follow the trends, they set them. Their Instagram feeds are aesthetic and a lot of them wear glasses “for the fit” even though they don’t have prescription. They’ll always be the first to grab the newest style of pants. Art student style can be compared to that of Rex Orange County -- loose-fitting clothing and cuffed straight leg jeans. Much like the environmental science majors, a lot of their clothing is thrifted. And check out their laptops, they have the most stickers out of anybody.

Words by Steven Liang

Photography by Chloe Akazawa