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Some days, when students swarm outside in between classes, the Einhorn Family Walk is more than a busy crowd of students — it’s a runway. A photographer captures the best outfits of the day to be featured on the Instagram account @sufits_.

“I think it’s really amazing because I think it recognizes people on a more creative and personal level,” freshman Max Dickman, a lucky featured student said. “Sometimes when we’re in school, we don’t get that recognition, so I think it’s a really beautiful thing to compile people with different sorts of styles, different tastes.”

Syracuse Fits is an Instagram account dedicated to highlighting Syracuse University’s most stylish students. Sophomore Duane Tilghman created @touringtheworldfits in high school and wanted to reinvent it on campus. He started filming videos with “fit checks” during his first year at SU until he joined forces with Jamari McNabb to take photos on the promenade.

Tilghman, a student majoring in Health and Exercise Pre-Physical Therapy, has always been interested in fashion. Before starting Syracuse Fits, Tilghman used to take submissions of anyone’s outfits to post on the same account, which had 500 followers.

When he got to SU, he thought the followers were going to waste. Tilghman originally decided to transition to “fit checks,” or videos where SU students showed off their outfits.

“I felt like when I came here, a lot of people do dress really nicely, it’s just not documented,” Tilghman said. “There’s a lot of people that literally try every day — you can see it.”

McNabb came to Tilghman suggesting they take the account in a new direction, mirroring the @watchingnewyork Instagram account where the photographer stands at the end of a city block and captures candids.

“I would have done it with my account. I wanted to try the idea out in Syracuse. So I already knew that (Tilghman) had the account for fashion,” McNabb said. “I just hit him up and asked ‘What do you think about this?’ and he was down, so it was like an experiment.”

So, McNabb and Tilghman started posting photos of SU students on Einhorn. Tilghman had gotten the account to 1,000 followers by himself, but once they adopted McNabb’s suggestion last fall, the account grew to over 3,500 followers. Now, almost everyone on campus knows about the account, Tilghman said.

When McNabb is motivated to take photos, he texts Tilghman, who will post on their Instagram story that McNabb will be on the promenade at certain times during the day. McNabb took photos on Jan. 31 from 12 to 2 p.m. for the first time in 2024.

The platform has allowed SU Fits to help support other events on campus. A friend of Tilghman’s asked if he could post about a clothing pop-up at the Blackstone LaunchPad. Tilghman posted on Instagram to support his friend. Afterward, Tilghman found out that about 10 people showed up because of SU Fits.

For students, the account creates a community where they can be showcased, Dickman said. Dickman regularly talks to his friends about clothes, and now, he’s been on SU Fits twice. Students often find out they’ve been featured when they get a bunch of notifications from their friends.

“It was very overwhelming. I found out actually because someone in one of my clubs sent a picture of it in our group chat,” junior Kennedy Smith said. “And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s me,’ … and I’ve been trying to get on the Instagram page for a minute.”

Smith had been featured in their “earth tones” series where they requested everyone wear their best green and brown outfit the night before. Smith dressed up specifically to be featured like many students who have found themselves on the Instagram page. Dickman usually wears nice outfits but dresses up a little more when he knows an SU Fits camera will be on the promenade, he said.

“It was a coincidence,” junior Ashton Sanford said about being featured on the account. “But there are some days where I try and put on something nice because I know they’re gonna be out.”

Both Tilghman and McNabb are surprised that there are people making decisions around the SU Fits account. The whole reason this is happening is because the two decided to have a conversation and take the account to the next level, Tilghman said.

However, Tilghman doesn’t want to take too much credit for the account, because it’s supposed to showcase the community. He’s happy that people have an opportunity to show their passion.

“The goal is to just make good content while I’m here, just be behind the scenes of it all,” Tilghman said. “I don’t really want to be like the main face of it.”

Published on January 31, 2024 at 10:35 pm

Contact Rosina: rlboehm@syr.edu