Last year, many students struggled to find ways to express themselves as they experienced the repetitive, exhausting process of attending school via Zoom. Sitting at a desk and staring at a screen for hours at a time had a colossal impact on students’ mental well-being. As a result, a significant number of students found themselves giving up on style completely. But recently, with in-person school finally back in session, things have taken a turn for the better. After months of isolation, students are eager to show off the evolved styles and aesthetics they’ve been exploring.
“Social media definitely has a huge contribution when it comes to fashion trends,” said senior Guban. “A lot of people get influenced by the stuff they see on social media, especially styles and aesthetics that their peers view as trendy.”
TikTok is a popular social media platform among students, particularly for fashion inspiration. One of the app’s most popular features is the “For You” page, a curated feed of videos generated based on an individual’s personal interests, passions and, when it comes to fashion, aesthetics.
“On TikTok I’ve seen cottage-core and e-boy styles because that’s mostly what my style is,” Guban said. “[My “For You” page] definitely caters to the aesthetic I like.”
In addition to TikTok, many students find fashion inspiration on other social media outlets, such as Pinterest, a platform on which users can create their own boards to organize and discover new outfit ideas.
“I love Pinterest,” said sophomore Gaby Wang. “It’s like a great big digital whiteboard. It’s very versatile since you can put anything you want on there. When you show interest in a specific topic, Pinterest will really take a hold of that and generate very similar content, so you can find other stuff you like.”
“[Fashion] is a landscape for inspiration and also connection”
Using social media isn’t the only way students explore their styles. In recent years, thrifting and taking advantage of hand-me-down clothes have become increasingly popular among teens.
“A lot of my clothes are hand-me-downs from my aunts and uncles and they’re primarily clothes from the 80s and the 90s,” said junior Zachary Zane. “Sometimes I get to use that older fashion, and I enjoy putting on a different sort of look.”
However, teen fashion trends are not without faults. A major criticism of many online trends is that they perpetuate exclusivity and double standards.
“I think a lot of trends and aesthetics are marketed towards slim people, which is quite exclusive,” said Wang. “There’s the whole ‘model off duty’ look that people like to pursue which is great, [like] laid-back street style [and] … oversized clothes. I think that when really thin people do that, they’re praised for looking cool and looking gangster, but then when bigger people do it, people criticize them for … looking sloppy, which is just a really disgusting double standard.”
Fashion on campus has brought the Aragon student body together over these first few months of in-person school.
“I know from my experience you can just brighten someone’s day by complimenting them on their outfit,” Zane said. “[People] can bond over their clothing, whether that’s going shopping together, … helping each other with their outfits or bringing new inspiration to their outfits. [Fashion] is a landscape for inspiration and also connection.”
All in all, Aragon’s return to in-person school has allowed fashion to flourish on campus. The diversity and individuality expressed through students’ clothing has brought the community closer together than ever before, which is critical as Aragon continues to adjust to life back on campus.
