Quad Style: Khanh Tran
Hi, my name is Khanh, a second year from Hanoi, Vietnam. I love watching stand up comedy, exploring different cuisines, finding new music, and also eating sweet potatoes.
How would you describe your personal style?
My personal style has definitely evolved over the past few years and it’s still evolving. These days, I try to push myself out of my comfort zone and wear more colors and prints that I wouldn’t wear before. For everyday wear, I typically go for pretty simple outfits, some variation of a top and pant combo, but I do like incorporating pants with fun designs into my outfits sometimes.
Where do you find style inspiration?
One of my biggest inspirations is my mom, who’s a big fan of fashion herself. She makes bold fashion choices and is always unapologetically herself. I also just find inspiration from people around me, or people right here on UChicago’s campus. Sometimes I see people walk by and I’m just like “Man, that’s so cool, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!”
For this outfit, I’m wearing ribbed black top stolen from my mom’s closet, tube top and teddy jacket from Babaton, pants from H&M, and Gucci Ace sneakers.
Where do you like to shop?
Absolutely everywhere! I always try to look at very different stores and brands to diversify my closet a little bit. I find that it really helps prevent me from being bored of own my style.
Do you have any fashion regrets?
Yes! I used to avoid styling similar colors together like pink or red, or navy and cobalt in the same outfit. I would only style contrasting colors like a red shirt with black pants. But I’ve realized that the subtle nuances the come from styling these similar shades together can make an outfit look really cool.
“Fashion is quite subjective. We don’t need to dress like one another to be considered ‘fashionable.’”
What is your relationship to fashion? Has it changed over time?
My high school had a dress code, so at that time I really mainly restricted my fashion to very basic style and color, and did not venture out that much. Being in college, and seeing everyone be so confident with their own fashion choices has really enabled me to explore and feel more comfortable about my own [sense of style].
Why is fashion important to you?
Fashion is so much fun. I really enjoy the process of thinking about colors, design, material, and sometimes comfort when it comes to putting an outfit together. It’s also very interesting to look at everyone’s fashion choices. There’s always something unique and different, even if the unique thing is as minor as the choice of earrings or shoes. It says a lot about a person. I think it’s just a great mode for self-expression!
For my other outfit, I’m wearing these really fun leopard print pants from Zara, white top from Forever21, thrifted Denim Jacket that I also cropped myself, beige bucket hat, and CDG Play Converse.
How has growing up in Vietnam influenced your fashion choices?
It’s great to see a wide array of styles in Vietnam. There’s a lot of influences coming from Korea, Japan, and the U.S. Seeing many different styles coming together has taught me a lot about the endless possibilities and diversity of fashion. It also allows me to appreciate differences in fashion choices. Fashion is quite subjective. We don’t need to dress like one another to be considered “fashionable.”
“Seeing many different styles coming together has taught me a lot about the endless possibilities and diversity of fashion.”
Photos courtesy of Andrew Chang
