As a public school, students can wear whatever they want to school, dress code permitting. This allows students to choose from a wide variety of stores and styles, being free to pick out their own outfit for each school day. Though this is true, many students seem to wear similar items. Brands like Lululemon, Aerie and White Fox would be considered popular brands, well liked for their comfy yet cute clothing. Many students can be found wearing sweatshirts and hoodies with sweatpants or leggings, even with similar accessories. From head to toe, claw clips to Nike socks, students are even found using the same items to compliment a look. Clothing and accessories aside, even the shoes students wear don’t seem to offer much diversity. Ugg boots and slippers is something that junior Danny Grant claimed to have seen everywhere.
“I like the Ugg trend,” Grant said. “They are very comfortable to walk around in at school so I can see why it became so popular.”
Though these trends are roaming the halls now, they are not completely original. Teachers have noticed styles being brought back to popularity, items like wide leg and flare pants that were “in” before this generation of students.
“I wore a lot of these things when I was in college and now they’re back so it’s really fun,” Sarah Marik, family and consumer science teacher, said. “I love everything because I’ve worn it before.”
Select teachers enjoy being trendy too, so some will take clothing styles students wear and put a spin on them.
“I was talking with my students about how the trends that are current are seen even with people who are older and my age, including teachers,” Marik said. “It’s a little more modest and different but similar trends.”
Some students feel obligated to “fit in,” thus picking and buying clothes that they’ve seen people considered to be “trendy” wear before them. Inspiration these days can come from TikTok trends such as “coquette,” a girly style including bows and the color pink, or from celebrities that have advertised expensive brands to a younger audience. Though these tactics seem appealing to the average teenager, some students thrive when stepping outside the box.
“It always makes me feel better when I have a unique outfit that I’m wearing to school,” Emma Cabage, senior said. “It makes me feel more confident.”
Obviously not everyone is the same, so there are people who oppose the norm. Grant considers himself to dress differently than other male students at school, most wearing the same brands of sweats day to day. He makes purposeful style choices that may differ from the majority, aiming for dressy but casual.
“Something about my style that is very unique to me is that I wear ripped jeans a lot and normally people don’t wear jeans to school,” Grant said. “I wear ripped jeans with every outfit I wear and I like wearing neutral colors too, colors that are not too bold, which I think is unique to me as well.”
Cabage has been recognized by her peers to be more stylish than most, even and especially with having a style specific to her. Items she commonly noticed other students wearing are straight jeans, matching sweat sets, thick gold jewelry, vests and graphic hoodies, all of which she has worn as well. She enjoys taking these trends and mixing them up a little by wearing contrasting colors or wearing straight jeans with a fun, not as commonly found top. Cabage also adds personal touches to her outfits such as making her own jewelry and adding bandanas to what she wears to her job.
“I think it’s super important to have your own style and obviously we all fall victim to it,” Cabage said. “It’s something that can be super personal to you.”
A person’s style is a way to express who they are and what they’re interested in, allowing them to be set apart from others in their community. This can be daunting to some, but Cabage believes it’s important to present yourself and what you care about, one way being through the clothes you wear.
“Sometimes it can be intimidating to be different then other people and to wear an outfit that is outside of your comfort zone,” Cabage said. “I think after you do that it boosts your confidence and it can be fun.”
