Students love, loathe new line of clothing

While purchasing books and supplies for this new semester,students came across the newest stock of apparel found in the SMUBarnes and Noble bookstore: pastel pink, green, lavender, orangeand yellow sweatshirts and tees.

According to SMU Barnes and Noble bookstore generalmerchandising manager, Elizabeth Jackson, the eye-catching line ofclothing featuring these hot pastels, or fashion colors, is themarket trend right now.

“Schools all over are moving to these pinks and yellowsfor much of there merchandise,” Jackson said. She explainedthat the new trend came without warning. “Pink exploded andno one expected it,” she said.

Jackson also said that she has noticed an increase in salessince the new line was introduced. But the seemingly popular newclothing has received mixed reviews.

“The pastel sweatshirts make you look like Eastereggs,” sophomore business major Valerie Pennartz said.”They’re not even near our real schoolcolors.”

Pennartz explained that she preferred the time-honored red andblue because it is a better representation of SMU, and the factthat “it just goes well together.”

While there are those that concur with Pennartz, some studentsfind the change to be refreshing.

“I like some of the pastels,” first-year JenniferBlackman said. “They’re different, and morefashionable.”

Blackman, who was wearing a new pastel green sweatshirt at thetime of the interview, said she has seen a few people wearing thenew line of clothes, and more and more by the day. “I wouldbuy the pink one as well,” Blackman said.

But those wanting to catch the apparent new spirit-fashion crazeshould act soon.

“I think people will keep loving the lavenders, but ourfall lineup should be in soon,” Jackson said.

She explained that there will be a lot more dark fabricsfeatured in the fall, highlighting chocolate and olive green ascolors to look for.

While most of the new pastel items are women’s apparel,there are new men’s items as well. These items are displayedmore towards the middle of the clothing section. Women can alsofind attire featuring the traditional school colors in thissection.

Along with clothing, Jackson addressed the question many askabout why there are SMU-themed teddy bears, but no plush Mustangdolls.

“Mustangs are hard to find,” she said. “Butwe’ve finally found a company that is going to produce themfor us. We’ve had them in the store before, and we’vebeen trying to get them back now for some time. But shoppers canlook for a plush Peruna doll to be in the store beforeChristmastime.”