Look sharp and trendy for a night on the town

The Hopkins routine can certainly take a toll on your wardrobe.Studying all night, 9 a.m. Orgo lab and extracurricular activities can leave little time to worry about what you're wearing. And if you're spending all day in the library, who cares how you look anyway?The ubiquitous Juicy sweatpants, flip-flops, and Greek sweatshirts are all excusable before 9 p.m. But when you make the transition from your daytime pre-med identity to your night-time, party-loving alter-ego, there are a few fashion don'ts that should never be ignored.The first is Ugg boots. Yes, they're really comfortable, but you've probably been wearing them since eighth grade. When they first came out, they were cool because they were so bizarre and different. But now that the novelty has worn off, nothing kills a cute outfit faster than a pair of boots that look like two shapeless blobs. They're too casual to be trendy, and now that the warm weather is approaching, you can't even use the "but-my-feet-were-cold!" excuse.Moving up, let's address the issue of "leggings as pants." Comfortable? Maybe. Appropriate outside of athletic activities? Definitely not.Let's call them what they really are: spandex. Would you show up to a party in a pair of biking shorts? Again, they're too casual to be cute.In addition to the sloppiness factor, leggings also are perhaps the most unflattering bottom ever invented. If you really want the entire bar to see every fleck of cellulite, by all means, wear the leggings and bare it all. But unless you want to go home alone at the end of the night, cover up the trouble spots and leave the leggings at home.Let's not forget about what's on top. At a frat party, less is more, and if you can get away with wearing next-to-nothing without looking like you're for sale, go for it (theme parties are particularly useful for this purpose).But there are three huge no-nos when it comes to picking out a shirt. The first is the semi-long tank top worn as a dress. It looks great at the beginning of the night, but by 2 a.m. everyone can see everything that's underneath. Put on some form of pants (this would be an appropriate use for leggings) so that going up stairs doesn't become a hazardous situation.The second shirt offense has almost died out, but it still pops up from time to time, and always makes the offender look completely ridiculous. The turned-up collar used to be a way for pretentious prep school kids to pick each other out in a crowd, but now that the masses have picked up on it, it's become totally gauche.Prep school kids have put their collars down, and the kids who leave them up are clearly posing. People in some cultures believe that the neck is the most sensual part of the body. Keep your collar down to show yours off.The final "trend" that has to go is the silkscreen T-shirt that says things such as "Lick Me, I'm Irish." Besides the fact that the slogans are rarely clever and always trashy, nothing screams, "I'm a sexually inexperienced high-schooler" like a T-shirt that proclaims the complete opposite. You should probably put away the "College" T-shirts, too, because those weren't ever funny.Another important reminder: don't wear anything that you don't want to walk home in at 10 a.m. the next morning. Yeah, that short skirt and tiny tank top might look great at SAE -- but you might feel a little out of place running into families with young children out for a stroll in Charles Village the next day.Finally, let's run through a few things that should be obvious. No sweatpants or sweatshirts. Nothing announcing where you went to high school or what sports team you played on. No sunglasses at night.Getting dressed isn't hard. And in the age of Facebook photos, an ill-chosen outfit can easily be immortalized. Stop, think and look in the mirror. If you'd wear it to the library, it doesn't belong at a bar.