Fashion Friday: Nasim Abu-Dagga ’17
Not always having been into fashion, Nasim Abu-Dagga shares his story of realization, hard work and eventual happiness.
April 21, 2017
While it may seem as though Nasim Abu-Dagga ’17 has always had an engaging style, he only had started making an effort to be fashionable halfway through high school.
“[I got into fashion during] sophomore year. [During] freshman year, I didn’t care about clothes at all,” he said.
Abu-Dagga suddenly became aware that he was unhappy with the way that he looked while walking through an unlikely spot: the school cafeteria.
“I remember walking through the lunchroom and looking at myself in the big mirrors on the wall,” he recalled. “I was wearing a pair of sweatpants that were five inches too short on my legs, and my shirt had a hole in it because I was wearing my PE clothes around school.”
Realizing that he wanted to change, Abu-Dagga went through a long process of developing a sense of fashion and building up his wardrobe, crediting many websites and forums for providing advice and guidance.
“I think that Male Fashion Advice on Reddit and also eventually Streetwear on Reddit have really helped me improve my fashion,” he said.
Abu-Dagga’s fashion now encompasses several different styles, and he regularly combines their different aspects to create new looks.
“My main is classic clothing, stuff like button-downs [and] khakis but with a modern fit. [My clothes] are slimmer, and have higher leg openings.” he said. “I also like to wear streetwear, so bombers, sweatshirts and jeans.”
Abu-Dagga keeps his clothes dependable for a variety of events, opting for with solid colors or patterns that are consistent throughout the [peice] of clothing.
Having bought many clothes over the last 3 years, Abu-Dagga prefers to get his clothes from J. Crew, but can say firsthand that looking fashionable doesn’t need a big monetary commitment.
“Getting clothes doesn’t have to be expensive, you can go to outlet stores and get clothes for really cheap,” he said. “At the J. Crew outlet in Williamsburg I got a pair of $70 slacks that were priced there at 10 bucks. You can find deals if you look around, especially on websites like ‘Grailed.’”
Because looking good does not necessarily come with a big price tag, Abu-Dagga has one main piece of advice for those trying to develop a style.
“It doesn’t matter if the shirt is a nice shirt, if it doesn’t fit well, you’re going to look really bad in it,” he said. “So I would much rather be wearing a lot of really cheap low-quality clothes that fit well and are more consistent than super expensive designer clothes that don’t fit well.”
