By Gianna Bartolini ’15

The past few seasons have reacquainted us, the fashion-conscious community, with military inspired pieces. While the counter culture of the eighties was the beginning of the military style trend, it has slowly moved out of the thrift shops and into department stores.

In the eighties, the keys to being a punk were having a nice leather jacket, big heavy boots, and an attitude to match. The combat boots and jacket are popular military inspired pieces, especially if the jacket is an oversized bomber or your dad’s from his years overseas (many people had parents who served in Vietnam or Korea).

The nineties called for the oversized (again) green army jacket, baggy cargo pants, and tight, plain tee shirts. If you were more grunge, however, plaid flannel and camo print anything mixed together quite nicely in any combination.

Since then, the latest fashions have been a revival of both of these looks; many couture designers are inserting these themes into their collections, and bloggers show all of us how to make those oversized pieces of decades past look classy and relevant.

There are many different ways to incorporate militaristic elements into your style, some more subtly than others:
Colors: olive green, camouflage pattern, tan, black, and brown
Pieces: structured jackets, combat boots, cargo pants, aviator glasses, and bomber jackets, double-breasted coat
Accents: big gold buttons, French braids, buns, bandanas, and minimalist makeup and bright lips