Loose jeans, colorful Beats headphones and titled Obey snapbacks comprise the edgy and fresh style of Robert Rush ’14.
“If I had to define my style, I’d say that my style is swag with class,” said Rush.
On a typical day, Rush wears a snapback hat, a fitted polo shirt, a jacket from his large collection of outerwear, chino pants or slim-straight jeans and a pair of high-top sneakers. Rush also occasionally chooses to wear a large wooden-bead necklace to add a kick to his carefully planned outfit.
“How I dress typically depends on the weather and, of course, my mood. On a sunny day where I’m in a good mood, I’d probably wear cargo shorts with my bottle cap belt and a pair of Air Jordans, either my Retro 13s or my Olympic 7s. My favorite shirt to wear with this outfit is a shirt from Profound Aesthetics,” said Rush.
Rush became aware of his penchant for fashion when he and his friends ran into Kanye West in downtown New York City two years ago. After the encounter, Rush realized that he not only shared musical taste with West, but also fashion sense.
“When I ran into [West,] he was wearing this nice black trench coat with a grey scarf with ripples at the bottom wrapped once around his neck once. He wore skinny black leather jeans with black glossy combat boots. At that moment, I looked at my own outfit and noticed that I was wearing a similar scarf to his and, though my jeans were blue, they were the same cut. On my feet, I had boots on too, even though they were hiking boots by Asolo. That was the first time I became conscious of what I was wearing and realized that I have a similar style to Kanye,” said Rush.
Ever since this unexpected meeting, Rush has looked up to West, as well as rappers such as Pharrell and Wiz Khalifa for fashion inspiration.
“Truthfully, [West] is the only person that I know who can
wear skinny leather pants with combat boots and still look dope,” said Rush.
Although Rush often emulates West’s style, he does not forget to infuse his own personality into his outfits. To accomplish this, Rush often chooses to mix and match.
“I think Rush does a really good job of making a totally different and new style out of preexisting ones. He mixes a little bit of the urban street style and the standard prep style. It really brings out his fashion sense,” said Caroline Chen ’14.
Rush occasionally trades in his street style fashion for a more formal look by wearing a white button-up and a grey knit cardigan, topped off with a bright red bowtie and a pair of retro glasses, along with a foxtail hanging from the side of his chino slacks.“I think [Rush’s] style is out of this world. He can rock Nantucket Reds like nobody’s business. According to one of Jay Z’s songs, ‘You can pay for school, but you can’t buy class.’ And I think [Rush] has the class,” said David Gutierrez ’15. Many of his clothing items are purchased on online shopping websites. Rush manages to find a selection of brands that are not widely popular but that compliment his wardrobe perfectly, such as Billionaire Boys Club and Apliiq.
“Find a style that matches your personality. Don’t follow the trend of what you see at Andover. I feel as if some people think they have to change their clothing choice to fit in with the fashion vernacular of Andover. Personally, I prefer to go against the grain,” said Rush.
Photo by
Mimi Leggett
