<p>I’ve read all these things about how down-to-earth Rice students are. And how they never flaunt anything. Well, the thing is, I really like Coach purses and various designer items… and I’m afraid of being labeled pretentious… It’s not like I’ll put it in anyone’s face/flaunting it… I just like to possess nice things (which I buy discounted anyway)? Am I overreacting??? Should I even be worried?</p>
<p>You have nothing to worry about. Plenty of people wear nice clothes, no one cares what clothes you wear or accessories you have. Being pretentious would mean that someone has an attitude that they’re better than everyone else and brags about their abilities, money, financial situation, car they drive, etc. No one will shun you if you wear nice clothes, etc., people will like that you are fashion-conscious/ take pride in your appearance.</p>
<p>exactly! You will just look fashionable :).</p>
<p>But the fear you might have to watch out for is if people begin to assume that you have fake bags/clothing…</p>
<p>Well i’m gonna show up in my hail pelted '91 Toyota mini-sized pickup
I’ll try real hard not to brag about it
(It’s really an awesome truck though)</p>
<p>dont talk about how much it costs and how great it is and you fit right in…</p>
<p>Mmm. I have a friend who never misses an opportunity to tell us how her wallet/purse/earrings/necklace/sunglasses/cell phone cost several hundred dollars…it gets pretty annoying fast.</p>
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<p>Hahaha, if anything, I’d probably talk about how CHEAP I got them…</p>
<p>But yeah, thanks, I wouldn’t do that…</p>
<p>Coach is very low on the pretentious scale. Coach is what middle school girls carry. Sorry, but in Houston they bust out the uber designer stuff for high school and college.</p>
<p>amdn, you sound like my kinda guy. Need more dudes with beat up pick ups at Rice.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure there’s nothing pretentious about wearing Coach, Ralph Lauren, or Lacoste, or any other “luxury” brands, as long as you don’t flaunt your wealth around. I usually wear polos and khakis and the most anyone says is that I’m “preppy” in a joking manner.</p>
<p>There’s a difference between looking stylish and being stuck-up or spoiled.</p>
<p>This reminds me of something that actually happened to us. Senior year when DS was applying to colleges, one of his classmates asked him what colleges he was planning to apply to. As soon as he mentioned Rice, the reaction from him is: “The students there are pretentious.” The lesson he learned from this and other similar experience is that you can not please everybody so it is of no use to try to do so.</p>
<p>A trick he sometimes uses: When he is asked where he goes to school, he will use the name of the “residential college” instead of the name of the college, hoping that the name of the residential college would be unknown to the person who asks this question. Wonder whether this act will be considered as “being pretentious” or not if the person who asks this question really knows what is going on 
Actually, I found that he seems to be more attached to his residential college than to his college.</p>
<p>My kids are/were happy to say they go to Rice. It’s not a boast, just a fact. If someone asks, they answer. ;)</p>
<p>Its not a boast… but it feels pretty good to say that :)</p>