The DM Manual of Style

The warm evening merited an outdoor, Collis porch interview. The shadows created by the limited porch lighting added an ambience appropriate to the Ryan Williams French '12 experience. We've had our eyes on French since we first started the column in the Fall. He has a unique sense of fashion and a great understanding of organic individuality. Having never been required to categorize his fashion, he hesitantly describes his style as "urban streetwear." Unlike many of the other inhabitants of that spectrum of style, however, Ryan's individuality comes naturally. "I like to do me," he said simply, and continued speaking naturally very stream of conscious."I'm from Southern California," and more specifically, "Long Beach so I'm used to dressing relaxed what am I saying right now? Can we start all over?" He began again this time elaborating on the basic structure of his wardrobe. His outfits act as a memory of where he's been. When he travels he likes to buy random pieces, he said."I never buy a full outfit from one place," he added. "Everything I wear has been accumulated over a couple of years." French believes in the importance of style, because "it's the first thing you notice about [someone]." He added that he dresses himself to express how he feels, and to show what's important to him. Back in Los Angeles, his style is highly influenced by the DJ scene as he explained his style as some mixture between DJ and skater. For warm weather, he likes to wear screen tank tops like the one shown. For shoes, always Vans a popular go-to in the West. His hot, two-tone Vans represent just one of his many pairs that he wears regularly.French explained that in Long Beach people generally do not talk about what they wear."[People] are very expressive in the way they dress, but it's just something we kind of do," he said. At Dartmouth, French is double majoring in African and African American Studies and Theater. He is also a member of the Brovertones a cappella group and the Black Underground Theater Association. He added that even though he's not in Soul Scribes, he loves watching them. French often goes to open mic nights and enjoys the poetic hip hop music. On campus, he said he tries to tone himself down, but still wants to stick out."I never like to blend in with the crowd," he said, although he doesn't think that it is a bad thing.French has confidence in what he wears and never shies away from putting something on because it looks weird. Even though he looks back on some of the things he's worn and questions those decisions, he said he believes fashion is more about how a person feels while wearing their clothes rather than the clothes themselves.
"I try to look like me because I feel like I am different, a lot of people on campus are different but one of the ways I express myself being different is by my fashion conscience," French said. And we agree, Ryan French is a unique character and a breath of fresh air. Go on wit'cha bad self Mr. French!As for the rest of you, we'll be on the lookout. You never know, you could be next. If you see fashionable people on campus that you think deserve to be applauded, blitz DMStyle. We would love your help keeping Dartmouth fashionable.