An Outfit for Your Cup of Joe
Graphic by Quynh-Nhi Tran. Image via Inc, Third Wave Water
Amid the end of midterms season and finals week peeking around the corner, students are settling into their new favorite study spots. Within the Northwestern student body, many of these study spots are the coffee shops sprinkled around campus. Since I started at Northwestern two years ago, three coffee shops have recently opened and added themselves to the market of top study areas. Seeing that I am someone who doesn’t stick to one spot, I decided to visit some of Northwestern students’ favorite coffee shops for studying. Being the fashion-minded person I am, I was inspired by the atmosphere of every coffee shop and created an outfit for each cafe.
I made my first stop at Backlot Coffee on Central Street, one of the farther coffee shops from campus. This shop is very community-based. Many older adults were in the shop, working, catching up, and relaxing. Mothers walked in with their children and plopped themselves on the staircase seating. If you want to get to know the Evanston community and get some networking in, I would go to Backlot. After sitting there for a few hours, I decided that a great outfit for this shop would be a soft turtleneck sweater, mom jeans, sneakers, and a comfortable beanie.
Image via Nia Harris
The next day, I decided to make my way to Philz Coffee, a very popular cafe at the moment due to its recognition and recent grand opening. Philz was super upbeat, with loud music, quirky and caring baristas, and a constant line. It felt like a college town cafe. With the cheerful and casual vibes, an outfit to match would be a colorful sweater, mom jeans (again), a fun beanie, and sneakers to match.
Image via Nia Harris
Making my way through downtown Evanston, I stopped at the next brand new coffee shop — Newport Coffee House. This cafe reminded me of my home state of California, particularly Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, California. This is a very modern, beachy street that has many creative boutiques, galleries, cafes, and restaurants. Newport Coffee House is a very minimalistic cafe, decorated in pristine white and bright wood. The owner, a Swedish woman, holds strongly to her Swedish coffee lifestyle and wants to deliver that lifestyle within her coffee shops. While settling to study within this shop, I decided a capsule wardrobe would fit perfectly into Newport Coffee House’s atmosphere. Using my staple pair of mom jeans, I would add a simple white t-shirt, layering with a black and white turtleneck (for warmth) and finishing it off with a classic pair of black booties.
Image via Nia Harris
On another day, I ventured into Collectivo, the one-year-old cafe in the heart of downtown Evanston. This cafe is very eclectic, having a feeling of home along with a college lifestyle buzz. I feel like this cafe is a melting pot of college students, business men and women, parents, and young teenagers. Due to this, I figured an outfit to match this coffee shop would be casual, simple, and, most importantly, comfortable. I would wear a graphic t-shirt — layered with a long sleeve to fight the cold — tucked into a pair of jeans with an added pair of sneakers to top it off.
Image via Nia Harris
Lastly, I ended my coffee shop journey on Noyes Street at Coffee Lab. A place I call home because it’s so close to my apartment and I have been there many times writing papers or studying. I consider Coffee Lab a very college centered coffee shop. It’s a great place to work and has a variety of people working in the shop as well. Like Collectivo, I would wear something that was comfortable in Coffee Lab because I know I will be sitting in a chair for many hours. With this in mind, I would put on a large Northwestern sweatshirt, a turtleneck under, comfortable leggings, and sneakers to match.
Image via Nia Harris
In the end, I had a great time visiting all the popular and new coffee shops around campus. I went to places I hadn’t been before and tried many different Iced Vanilla Lattes and Mocha Lattes. I saw familiar faces and met new ones. I left each shop feeling like I had a new outfit to create out of my wardrobe. Whenever you’re losing creativity within your closet, go to a new place, look around, and get inspired. Be creative, think of how you would feel in that space and the next time you walk into that area in your new outfit, you’ll feel like a regular.