[Photo/The New York Times]

Trends are on Julie Soffen's radar for sure, as attested by her creamy, quilted chain bag and the faux Burberry scarf that was looped luxuriantly around her neck. Ms. Soffen, 21, who was visiting a friend at Princeton University last week, had put rigorous thought into her turnout, which she may alternate on other days with, she said, "Ralph Lauren head to toe."

"Some of us," she added, "like to make an effort when we dress."

Some of her contemporaries, slouching around campus that day in floppy shirts, tattered jeans or track pants incongruously paired with pricey accessories, had clearly not gotten that brief. Ms. Soffen tossed an acidic glance in their direction. "They think that if they rock it with a $3,000 purse, that makes it work," she said. "But it doesn't."

Chelsea Cawood, 22, a senior at the University of Oklahoma, logs on to the Web when she plans to shop, expertly combing sites like ShopNastyGal.com, as well as the Urban Outfitters online store. Her online sprees have whetted an appetite for mismatched patterns and textures, leopard prints, oversize knits, fake fur vests and platform heels. All told, they contribute to an aesthetic mash-up that Ms. Cawood defines as "a little boho and downtown L.A., mixed with a bit of Eurotrash."

Her influences are by no means confined to the Web. Like many of her peers across the country, she takes her style cues from movies, recent and vintage, favoring '80s hits like "Pretty in Pink" and "Almost Famous."

Tamara Belopopsky, 21, a senior at the State University of New York at Purchase, finds Fellini films more inspiring. "La Dolce Vita," which she has seen more than once, prompted her to seek out horn-rimmed glasses like those worn on screen by Marcello Mastroianni. She shops at discount outlets like T. J. Maxx and in a string of local consignment shops, rarely laying out more than $200 to $300 on her wardrobe during the school year. Her intention is to pull off a look she defines as "a bit androgynous and completely individual" — in short, one she will not see mirrored on her friends.

Does she compete with those friends to score style points? Not so much, Ms. Belopopsky said. But her friend Jamie Pasquarella, 20, a senior at SUNY, who was clad in a camel-tone cape bought at Macy's, a Vera Wang shirt and Michael Kors boots, was less certain. "People here get angry if someone is trying to cop their style," she said.

The reason, she indicated, ought to be obvious. "Around here we are trying to define ourselves by the way we look."