Vandy’s most fashionable freshmen: Carson Thomas

For this week’s edition of Vandy’s most fashionable freshmen, I met up with one of the coolest girls on campus.

Carson Thomas is a Nashville native, a women’s and gender studies student, and a badass feminist. I convinced her to schlep all the way to Fido in Hillsboro Village for an interview and photoshoot. Even though the temperature outside was less than suitable for romping around and taking photos, she was an excellent sport.

Very little kicking and screaming was involved.

The first time I met Carson, way before I’d even conceived of the Fashionable Freshmen series, I’d made a mental note for myself: “Remember this girl. She’s awesome.” She immediately struck me as one of those girls who couldn’t care less about how she’s “supposed” to look. To me, her style and aura both dripped with the kind of confidence you can’t find at the bottom of a tube of mascara.

I tried my best to capture as much of her essence in the photos and quotes below, but you really have to meet this girl in person to truly know what I’m talking about.

Have you ever been made fun of for what you wear?

No.

What do your friends think of your outfits?

*Trying not to laugh* I don’t think any of them have grounds to make fun of me because they all dress ridiculously, too.

When you’re getting dressed in the morning, what is your ultimate goal for putting together an outfit for the day?

Well, if you’re asking about the morning, in terms of going to classes, my goal is to be 100% clothed and not forget any essential things like pants. Or a shirt.

For going out, I guess my goal is to feel like I look good and not attract too many weirdos.

What message are you trying to send the world with what you wear? Anything deeply profound?

I guess this feminist pin is a little bit of a statement. I also wore a tank top on purpose to show off my lovely… *lifts up arms*

Her armpits are unshaved – she’s been growing out the hair for about a year. 

Yeah, I’ve been working on it for, I’m trying to think, it’s been like a year since I’ve shaved? All my friends stopped shaving and then I was the last one to get on the bandwagon. We thought we were really cool. It was high school.

So why have you kept up with it? Do you think it’s something we should all be doing?

I just think it’s kind of cool. That and once you get out of the habit, it’s actually hard to start back up again. Although, I do shave the back of my head…

The undercut?

Yeah, the undercut. *Lifts up hair to reveal a shorter section of hair under the normal length*

UGH, YOU’RE SO COOL. I tried shaving the side of my head in like 8th grade. I didn’t show my mom for a week, and when I finally did, she started sobbing. I literally brought my mom to tears.

I pierced my own ear when I was in 8th grade. My mom really hated it. I used a safety pin. I did burn it first so it was like slightly clean…

*Grinning* I was just trying to express my anger at my parents, I think. The angst level in the 8th grade was high.

What’s one piece of clothing or accessory you couldn’t possibly leave your dorm without?

Well, I guess, I literally can’t go anywhere without my tattoo.

Awesome. Let’s talk about your tattoo.

It’s right here *pats upper thigh* I was going to try and find an outfit that would show it, but that would’ve required me wearing some serious booty shorts.

But yeah, the tattoo is of two fingers crossed. It has no meaning. If that’s going to be your follow up question, it has no meaning at all.

What is your favorite girl’s fashion trend right now?

I’m really big into pretty much anything Rihanna wears. Practically everything she wears becomes a trend, so if that’s an answer, then that can count.

Are there any guy’s fashion trends you try to emulate in your wardrobe?

At the beginning of this year, I was trying really hard to be androgynous and dress like a man and that just didn’t work. I missed girl clothes.

But, I guess if I were trying to emulate men’s fashion…*Thinking for a moment* I really like baseball caps.

At which point in the interview, Chris, the photographer, interrupts to go “Yay!” while waving his hat around his head.

This is my favorite. What is the biggest fashion mistake a girl can make? 

Honestly, this is going to be like not a ridiculous answer, and this is going to sound weird coming from someone who literally just came here to have pictures taken of what I’m wearing, but the biggest mistake you can make is trying too hard. When I was younger, I used to spend so much money and time on clothes, and none of it mattered. It was dumb.

Yeah, that and like anything with like flip flops and socks are probably the biggest two to be worried about.

So you mentioned Rihanna, but who are some of your other fashion icons?

Ooh, I really like the clothes that Grimes wears. She’s really cool. Beyonce has nice clothes. Rihanna is my forever though, so I can’t turn my back on her.

I clearly couldn’t even wait until this part of the interview to bring her up in the conversation.

What is one piece of advice you would give to someone walking down the street who just looks like a disaster? If you had the opportunity to help them, what would you say?

Just stop with the fur-lined parkas. They’re so ubiquitous on Vanderbilt’s campus that I just can’t deal with them anymore.

Or the Hunter rain boots?

The Hunter rain boots. They’re a lot. If one person were wearing them it’d be fine, but like why does everyone… I don’t know. It’s just a lot.

Let’s get in your two cents about feminism. How do you like to project your view of feminism through what you wear?

What you wear says a lot about how you want to present yourself in the world. You can really be a feminist and wear anything.

I don’t usually see my clothes as having very much to do with feminism. I guess if I had to say something about it, it would just be to wear what you like and the rest of it will follow after. That’s not the greatest answer I’ve ever given.

No, you’re right, just like don’t worry about trying to stick to any rule book.

I mean, I also just think that there’s this tendency to think that like you have to be a certain thing to be a feminist and I just don’t think that’s true. Feminists come in all shapes, sizes, colors, races, classes, everything.

So like, just love yo’self.

Photo credit: Christopher Bell