The many facets of Aragon fashion

Aragon has excellent standardized test scores, high AP exams pass rates, and dedicated students. However, when it comes to style, many believe that Aragon is inconsistent and often mediocre.

Junior Dani Cutts believes that Aragon is “not really” a fashionable school. She explains that Aragon “is more focused on academics rather than fashion. Because of that, we see a lot of sweat pants and big sweat-shirts.”

“Some people don’t care about fashion because they feel like there are more important things to focus on in high school, like grades and college applications,” says senior Natalie Palter.

While academics have a large impact on the way students dress, so can extracurricular activities.

Senior Nina Prentiss, alongside the rest of the Improv team, wears team shirts during shows. She enjoys doing so since “it’s fun to try and make the simple T-shirts look fashionable with accessories.”

Other groups besides the Improv team represent themselves through clothing. Students involved in the musical dress in their finest for opening night, the water-polo team wears team shirts on game days, and last year the robotics team members dyed their hair.

However, students not only demonstrate club-pride through their clothing, but displaying school spirit is becoming increasingly popular.

“I am loving the fact that on Fridays I see a lot of students wearing red & black–that’s the way it should be people,” says freshman English teacher Melissa Perino. “We need to represent AHS and not be afraid of showing who we are. San Mateo High School has the best school spirit on Fridays and I think we need to show them that the Dons can represent.”

Unfortunately, many feel as though social rules and the feeling of conformity prohibit students from dressing as they wish.

“Conformity plays an aspect [in how people dress], but I don’t notice it in high school as much as I did in middle school,” says Prentiss. “People are still worried about sticking out, but they also want to be known as their own person.”

Perino shares the same idea relating conformity and fashion.

“I’m sure that many students feel like they must conform to a particular ‘style identity’,’’ she says. “But the students who, in my mind, are the most ‘fashion-forward’ are the ones who do not conform.”

Gender roles also tend to play a role in the way people feel comfortable dressing. For Prentiss, defying them had an unfortunate impact on her self-image.

“There is a definite need to appear feminine for a lot of girls. I definitely got a negative reaction a few years ago when I cut my hair really short,” says Prentiss. “I became self-conscious because I didn’t think I was portraying myself as feminine enough.”

Prentiss also believes that bravery plays a “big role” in fashion. She explains how she “know[s] the exact feeling of wearing something a little more fashion-daring and being unsure of how it will be received at school, whether I’ll make a splash for the wrong reasons,” just like many others.

So be it bold, spirited, or uninterested, fashion is something that the student population is confronted with every day. For most, a simple T-shirt and jeans will suffice, and for others, expressing themselves through style is a pivotal part of their day.

As Palter says, “I think [taking risks in] fashion is a personal choice. But for me, when I dress fashionably, I tend to have better days. It makes me feel more confident.”