Just days before the Howard versus Hampton Truth and Service Classic, Dominique Wilbon was with a friend watching television and doing a DIY project that brought her back to her middle school days, cutting up a T-shirt to make a dress for game day.
The trend, which has been popping up across social media and Howard’s tailgate grounds, allows students to show off their creativity while giving them a cost-efficient option for a quick game day outfit.
Students typically start with a T-shirt one or two sizes up, using a fitted dress as a pattern for cutting — after that, the rest is up to their imagination. Some turn them into halter tops or off-the-shoulder looks, add tassels along the sides or experiment with other designs to make each dress unique.
Wilbon, a senior psychology major from Sacramento, California, first saw this look on Pinterest with jerseys and thought it could be recreated with a T-shirt. She said she was both excited and nervous to take on the challenge of making her own dress for the game.
“I’ve been cutting shirts up since middle school,” Wilbon said. “Being able to put your own little flair on your style, you can accessorize it how you want with a little belt, some boots, a purse.”
The $20 Amazon T-shirt checked all her game day boxes: style, comfort and confidence.
“I need to step, but I also need to be comfortable in my own skin,” Wilbon said. “Howard has an overall really nice fashion culture, so I’m not opposed to borrowing an idea here or there.”
For Syntia Nkongolo, a sophomore business management major from Montgomery County, Maryland, showing school spirit is her priority when attending games.
She said this DIY project does just that. While she received many compliments on her look as she walked through last year’s Truth and Service tailgate, she also admired how other students styled their looks.
“It was really cool that there were so many people who not only found a way to showcase their school spirit but also their creativity,” Nkongolo said.
Nkongolo crafted her outfit using a free jersey she picked up at a campaign event last semester. With a friend’s help — and plenty of safety pins — she pulled it together in under an hour.
“There’s a lot that you can create without machinery or sewing machines,” Nkongolo said. “You really just need to have a vision and the patience.”
As students continue to find efficient and fashionable ways to express themselves, they add new layers to Howard’s fashion culture, where the focus isn’t just on what someone is wearing, but how they created the look to match their personal style.
Rolyshaye Thomas, class of 2023, made a T-shirt dress inspired by another alumna’s design she saw on TikTok. After realizing that commissioning someone might be pricey for the customizations she wanted and worried it wouldn’t arrive in time, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
“If they can do it, I can also participate, and that can be something that we share and even talk about when it’s time to meet at Yardfest and the tailgate,” Thomas said.
Thomas has created things since she was young. What began as a personal outlet has now become a valuable skill. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she learned how to sew because she wanted to make scrunchies big enough for her natural hair.
Around the time of her graduation, she designed a tapestry on Canva, had it printed, and turned it into pants using one of her favorite pairs of jeans as a pattern.
She said that the best resources for students who want to be a “baddie on a budget,” are creativity, research skills and patience. Her inspiration did not come with a tutorial or a list of materials, so she did extensive research before starting the project.
“Even when I was at Howard, paying for a lot of things, I knew how expensive it could be,” Thomas said. “You still want to be able to look cute. As long as you’re willing to put in the work and do the research, you can make and create anything.”
Elka M. Stevens, coordinator of the fashion design program in the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, said she’s excited to see the growing range of Howard paraphernalia — and how students make it their own.
“People are valuing the [Howard] brand and rather than waiting for traditional outlets to provide materials, they’re infusing their own ideas,” Stevens said.
As a class of 1990 alumna and fashion designer, she has also repurposed clothes, including an off-the-shoulder hoodie and cinch-waist top with a hood, which she plans to wear to this year’s Homecoming.
To Stevens, fashion’s core meaning is wearing clothes to decorate the body and communicate identities without using words.
With Howard being a large part of her students and her identity, repurposing paraphernalia is an instinct.
“There are people saying, ‘This is important to me, and I want to make this my own.’ They’re personalizing their Howard experience through this manipulation of the closures of clothing,” Stevens said.
Copy edited by D’Nyah Jefferson – Philmore