I Hate Puffer Jackets!

Puffer Jackets. Simple, functional, appropriate for cold, outdoor nights. Although, they seem to have become a trend amongst university students during the winter months. And believe me, I get it, they keep you warm, but I don’t understand the sheer abundance of these jackets among uni students, especially since they are everything a stereotypical uni student isn’t. These jackets are 1. Expensive 2. Bland and 3. Represent the outdoors, meanwhile your stereotypical university student is cheap, creative in their image and are normally seen indoors, slaving over a laptop. So why are our eyes now overwhelmed with charcoal and navy Kathmandu? Is it because university students are turning over a new leaf, are they all just sheep copying one trendsetter? You know what, I don’t care what the reason is, it just needs to stop!

Puffer jackets are not a good fashion trend, they are bland and literally everywhere. Fashion, to me, is about standing out, expressing yourself, the only thing these jackets express is that you want to fit into a grey blob of normality…and probably that you’re cold. There is just so many better options out there, these jackets aren’t the only piece of clothing that keeps you warm! Nevertheless, instead of sounding like a broken record I decided to try and understand the mind of a puffer jacket wearer, Aaron Stephenson, an advocate for the puffer jacket community agreed to let me pick his brain.

‘Adaptability’, Stephenson preached,

‘If it’s too warm, and boy are they warm, you can take them off and hold onto it very easy, they fold quite well’.

Stephenson’s comments informed myself about what the puffer jackets function is, which I already know. Everyone knows. They’re warm and light, so? I had to ask Stephenson about succumbing to this new conformity, that if he is afraid of becoming another unidentifiable grey or navy blob.

‘I’ve got a loud personality, so I’m not worried about that’.

How interesting, to combat the idea of fitting in Stephenson relies on his own charismatic nature. Can this be said about the whole puffer jacket community, I would say not. The likelihood of every person being able to break through the barrier of normality that comes with these puffer jackets with pure magnetism would be quite low, especially when the stereotypical university student is constantly stressed, leading to mental health issues such as anxiety that hinders them from shining through.

Regardless, get rid of puffer jackets. There’s cheaper alternatives that keep you just as warm, that also allow you to express yourself. Puffer jackets do not express anything. Stop wearing puffer jackets.