Student-run Instagram account keeps every Tuesday ‘tuff’

Every Tuesday, William Walker III posts an Instagram carousel of outfits that he and his friends see throughout the day, from colorful jerseys to pleated skirts. 

He does this on the Instagram account, Tuff Fit Tuesday, where every Tuesday is, according to their Instagram bio, a day of self-expression. 

Tuff Fit Tuesday comes from a tradition between Walker and his friends that started in the fall of 2022, during Walker’s senior year of high school back in Minnesota.

“The slang we would use was, ‘Oh, your outfit’s tuff’ or something like that,” Walker said. “And then it just happened to be Tuesday, and we were like, ‘Oh, Tuff Fit Tuesday!’”

Walker ran with this idea, posting his own outfit on his personal social media every Tuesday. The idea became increasingly popular, and by the summer of 2023 he had made a new Instagram account focused on these types of posts.  

Once Walker came to UNC, he kept posting and sharing cool and curated outfits every Tuesday and saw a continuously growing following. Soon enough, Walker’s project became a campus phenomenon. 

The account even gained nationwide influence, with the help of Walker’s high school friends at universities in cities across the United States. Rather than just UNC students, the account features photos of outfits from different cities, all listed in the page’s story highlights.

From a young age, Walker said, he was always dressing for the occasion. To him, fashion was and still is a form of individuality, and different styles are important to the ever-changing fashion scene. 

“Self-expression is a big thing, especially in the present day,” Walker said. “Just not conforming to your surroundings and just [being] yourself.”

A question people commonly ask Tuff Fit Tuesday is, what makes an outfit ‘tuff’? What defines which outfits get picked for a post, and which don’t? 

According to Walker, it is up to personal interpretation.

“I think fashion is subjective; I think that’s kind of what makes you, you,” he said.

Charles McCain, a UNC sophomore and friend of Walker’s, said that at times they even receive hate for their system of choosing outfits for Tuesday’s posts.

Despite this, they focus on sharing the most eccentric and dynamic looks they can find in the Pit, outside Lenoir Dining Hall, by the Student Union and all over campus.

“It’s a way of spreading positivity through fashion,” McCain said.

Josiah Surdo, another sophomore and friend of Walker's, had a similar perspective.

“We definitely try to spread the different types of fits and the different cultures onto the page,” Surdo said. “Because what I find tuff might not be tuff to someone else.”

This variety is shown all over the account, as every post displays the broad spectrum of outfits on UNC’s campus.

“It ranges anything from streetwear, vintage clothing — literally anything is possible,” McCain said.

A common thread in all these photos and styles is the trademark shrug. Almost every captured fashionista has their hands up to their shoulders.

Walker said the shrug came from the first time Tuff Fit Tuesday posted and was inspired by the Snapchat Bitmoji. Once Walker did the pose himself, it caught on with the people he photographed.

This not only set Tuff Fit Tuesday apart from other fashion accounts, he said, but it also gave the account another layer of authenticity and community.

“The account grew naturally, same with the pose,” Walker said. “So that’s the approach I like to take with it — just keep everything authentic and remain true to who you are.”

Walker hopes to continue to snapshot the clothing scene of UNC and beyond, keeping next Tuesday, and every Tuesday after that, tuff.

Tuff Fit Tuesday can be found on Instagram at @tufffittuesday.

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