It is easy to judge high fashion as something that only belongs in so-called fashion capitals such as New York or Paris. But sophomore Carolyn Yuen thinks differently.

“When I find good pieces I get really excited. It’s kind of like a hobby to me,” she said. “It (fashion) makes me feel more peppy. I just coast through my day if I’m not wearing something that’s getting me out there.”

For Yuen, how she dresses every day is dependent on her mood. But nice clothes make her feel more confident.

“I generally dress better when it’s sunny outside,” she said. “That’s just the fact of my life. I work downtown, and if I’m dressed better than most days then I take a walk downtown. I walk more. I kind of get my look out more. I take a couple more rounds around the block.”

Sophomore Janice Wong feels the same way about the way she dresses.

“If I’m feeling happy, I’ll wear lots of colors,” she said. “And if I’m not feeling so great — to be honest, sometimes I don’t really care what I put on — I’ll walk around in sweats and stuff, [but] I like to try to avoid people. I know it sounds really introverted, but sometimes I prefer when people see me when I look my best.”

Both students agree that in the professional world, it is important to look good, and designer clothing is a way to achieve that. But this trend has not caught on with the majority of people in Seattle.

“We’re in the Northwest, so I think a lot of people dress for comfort,” Yuen said. “Yes, fashion can be comfortable, but I think high-fashion pieces, most of the time, are more comfortable — unless you’re wearing something really weird, but no one does that unless they’re on the runway. I feel it’s not just that people want to dress for applicable comfort.”

Yuen also said that she believes students in the Northwest don’t think about fashion but care about their comfort instead.

Wearing knee-high boots with dark denim jeans and a black sweater over a lavender dress shirt with a bow, Wong described her look as “equestrian.” Designers inspire the way she is dressed.

“I’m really influenced by Chanel, Ralph Lauren — both are just timeless and classic and never go out of style,” Wong said.

Yuen prefers designer clothes to generally popular clothing because they make her feel more individual.

“You feel like they make it for you,” she said. “There’s things like the fabric that is more suitable to your body, and I feel like they put more thought into the pieces so that it’s not just cranked out like factory work. It’s really designed with an individual in mind.”

Neither Yuen nor Wong dresses to show off material wealth. They do it for themselves, they said.

“If you feel good wearing it, then you feel better generally throughout the day,” Yuen said. “Maybe you carry yourself differently. I would prefer something that is nice in quality over something that has ‘Dolce & Gabbana’ all over it.”

Wong said that clothes represent the individual.

“For the most part I think people buy them because they really like them for what they are,” she said.

Yuen said she would like to see people have more fun with their clothes and take more risks.