Trend ‘sweat’-ter : Students discuss recent fashion trends
January 28, 2022
Whether it’s hairstyles or flannels, jewelry or sweats, fashion trends are often impacted by circumstances. Seniors Daniel Farrow, Taylor Chronert, Nicholas Scoggins and Karissa Gonzales talk about their views on fashion trends in Vandegrift High School, and how they have changed since COVID year.
“I feel like post COVID is when crop tops and more explicit clothes came in,” Gonzales said. “I feel like quarantine was kinda like the baggy side of fashion, and then right when everyone came back in person, that’s when the explicit clothes started trending more. And lately people have been mixing the two styles together, which I personally like.”
Along with a mixture of baggy and explicit clothing, other timeless styles made a comeback with the return of in-person learning. One of the more common outfits have been layering a flannel over a crop top and pairing it with baggy pants.
“The flannels sort of came back too,” Chronert said. “And it just goes with absolutely everything. Even if you don’t have a specific outfit plan it just matches everything.”
Experiments with jewelry have started to accompany clothing styles. Many people have begun to wear chains and rings, which many now consider a necessity for any outfit.
“I love jewelry, I really do,” Farrow said. “I think that specifically, chains are trending for guys. I wear a chain, and a lot of other people I know do as well. I have a chain that’s got my baseball number and four other ones. I just kind of rotate them out or wear them based on the event or whatever.”
Messier hairstyles have also taken off in popularity. Although Gonzales thinks these new looks are cute, she also defines the difference between style and being presentable towards others.
“The messy buns are extremely cute when it’s well done,” Gonzales said. “If you’re in a complete rush, you can make it look good in a way that’s acceptable, but I don’t like how some girls have their hair up too high or too messy and [it] doesn’t look nice. If you could do a messy bun in a presentable manner, I think that’s completely fine and it can look casual and nice.”
Common pairings with casual hairstyles are sweatshirts, hoodies, and college merch. Particularly at Vandegrift, college merch has been a way to demonstrate school spirit among high school seniors.
“I like seeing people wear college merch for colleges because I think the style is cool,” Farrow said. “I think it’s stylish. However, as long as they’re not faking that they go there or something like that, I don’t care because it looks cool.”
A constant when it comes to views on fashion trends is a negative view on false pretenses. Whether it’s a college that a student does not go to, or a sport that someone doesn’t care about, Gonzales stresses her views on how some clothing is only appropriate in certain settings.
“Something I cannot stand are nonathletic people who wear those athletic short shorts,” Gonzales said. “I know wearing those exposing shorts may make you feel confident, but they’re just not appropriate and you should respect your body please. I feel like there’s a certain point where you are just trying to grab attention, and with today’s generation, that’s all we’re trying to do, which is understandable for what some of us have gone through but not to the point where we need to be exposing ourselves.”
The argument on whether it’s being comfortable in your own body or being inappropriate and inconsiderate has been a constant in society. While it is important to recognize a person’s choice, these choices are setting examples for younger generations.
“This generation sees people that they look up to dress a certain way, and that influences their choices,” Scoggins said. “This gives people confidence in fashion choices that aren’t necessarily appropriate for their age. Social media like Instagram or TikTok has a huge influence on people’s fashion choices, and that’s a really scary thing.”
Social media has a huge influence on fashion choices, and many change their taste according to trends. However, according to Chronert, the importance should be dressing to make yourself happy.
“I think for me personally, now that I’ve started caring more about my fashion choices, what I wear has changed,” Chronert said. “I started dressing to make myself happy and I have realized I should not worry about what’s gonna impress other people, because in the end, it’s just you and what you’re comfortable wearing. It’s not about other people.”
