The past couple days of sunshine have marked the beginning of a transition from cuddling in front of the fireplace on Valentine’s Day to feeling the buzz on a beach towel on 4/20. Brown students, aware of the mood swings during this shift from winter to spring, welcomed the 50-degree weather with open arms (and open beer cans) last weekend. The campus will no longer be speckled with salt-marked pea coats and Ugg boots well past their expiration date. It’s time to move life outside to the quad with your shades, guitar and floral print shirt.

Having transferred from a university with a Greek scene that compensated for the population of cows in the county, I almost dropped my plate of questionable Ratty penne when I spotted a fedora floating in the sea of students. After completing a set of stress relief breathing exercises at the table, I heard the uplifting sound of flip-flops behind me. I turned around only to be shocked again. The sandals producing music reminiscent of boardwalks and sizzling summer asphalt were neither “Navajo” Jack Rogers nor leather Rainbows (prep staples for warm weather). Such sandals breed in CT and migrate to the Hamptons in the summer months.

Even when I run into the endangered popped collar on campus, the owner sports it with a kick of chic and not out of obligation. At my previous school, I felt like a criminal wearing heels and a dress to class. Sorority girls stared me down, and their pledges learned to follow. For them, my love for dressing up was not the issue. The problem was in the clothes. Sweatpants were acceptable, but, for some reason, expressing yourself through your outfit was not. I found myself toning my look “down” with the occasional string of pearls and headband, but alas, Blair Waldorf was not the friendliest of style icons.

At Brown, students seem to fall into four categories of style: hipster, environmentalist, jock and miscellaneous. The trendy crowd can be found mingling in front of the Rock with clouds of smoke emerging from their circle, like some sacrificial tribal rite. They rattle on about the new collection of footwear at Opening Ceremony and show their support for plaid and Ray-Bans on a daily basis. If they need a quick bite at Joe’s, they tend to block out the Miley Cyrus with their neon-colored headphones from Urban Outfitters. They are usually too hip, however, to be thinking about food, especially anything related to the infamous “Spicy With.”

If you see a student carrying a mug to class, you have come across a tree hugger who washes her hair, body, and clothes with Dr. Bronner’s Magic “All-One!” soap. She will never wear anything but recycled fibers, and of course, wearing fur or a bra is never an option. When I visited an environmentalist friend and took a quick glance at his closet, I was faced with piles of crinkled treasures from the Salvation Army, a pair of worn out Toms (save a child in need by buying a pair) and the sweet perfume of cannabis sativa. No wonder they can wear open-toed sandals in the snow.

If you are looking for some bromance, head over to one of the further corners of the Ratty to find a fine assortment of muscular bodies overflowing with protein shakes of all kinds. Here we have the land of Timberland hiking boots, Patagonia fleeces, intense flow and athletic ponytail braids. They travel in packs, donning hats and NCAA t-shirts. They would never get caught in public with the aforementioned hipster headphones.

Students who fall into the miscellaneous group range from that guy you see every so often in the pink full-length cape to the men who don’t step outside without a buttoned-up, superbly cut Italian suit and a cloud of cologne — also known as 10:30AM Investments I class. Whether you are minimalist, hippie, or don’t give a damn about fashion, make sure to enjoy the freedom of style on campus. It’s been a refreshing few months without cable-knits and Tory Burch flats.