Olivia Baker In the case that you are not on social media, over the past three weeks, fashion has been a focal point in the cities of New York, London and Milan— street style has become, in a sense, a competition on Instagram for those willing to participate, coverage of the diverse runways were captured and broadcasted on Snapchat, and celebrities emerge from their private lives to fill the front rows of shows, generating buzz from popular tabloids. Though designers tend to maintain the notorious ambiences of their garments, the classy elegance of Chanel, and the glamor of Zac Posen, perhaps our culture prevails as the main influence of what’s “in fashion” and what is passé—and this is no exception for the Latin School of Chicago. After the modification in the dress code, many observed a change in how Latin students dressed, while others, like Junior Campbell Rierson, have noticed otherwise. “Teachers have still tried to code female students who were dressing within the new code after the rules were changed” said Campbell. “And the culture certainly hasn’t changed, so students are restricted by it still.” Nevertheless, trends have evolved, from last year’s layering techniques to 2016’s fur, and future orange obsession, as Campbell predicts. However, despite this, Campbell argues that because fashion shifts seem to bypass the community at Latin, she “would like to see us spice it up a little.” That is, “the point of style is that it’s unique and we’ve lost some of that here,” said Rierson. Presumably, she is only referring to female students here: our stereotypical leggings and knee-high boots. But Campbell claims that there is also a generalization of male students. “The amount of salmon we have to face on a daily basis is offensive,” said Campbell. As mentioned earlier, fashion is influenced by culture and society. Fashion is a choice—self-expression revolves around identity, thus an outfit is worn to make an individual feel like him or herself, not to elicit opinions from others. As Campbell perfectly defines it, “fashion is wearing what you look and feel good in and owning it. Confidence and individuality are everything.” In addition to Campbell, The FORUM spoke to a few students on what fashion means to them, how academics affect self-expression, and the pressures society places on students regarding fashion and identity: “Fashion is how I can express myself through what I wear. It shows other people who I am in addition to myself. High School fashion is very different than real-world fashion. High School consists of Patagonia’s, lulu leggings and north face backpacks. Where as real world is anything from Zara to Topshop to Madewell. I just think it is a fun way to make my day better.” — Ella Katz “Fashion is a way that we can express ourselves to the outside world. Fashion is not only pieces of clothing, but fashion contains gender roles, culture, and views of the society that piece was made in. Some difficulties in fashion are money–the nicest and coolest clothes are usually more expensive and pricier, while the more standard clothes are less expensive. To make a statement with your clothes it cost much more than it should. Fashion should be a way to express yourself, not a way for you to demonstrate how much money you have. I believe that the fashion world if extremely gender bias, with the designers being mostly female and there are little men in the fashion world. I think that there are some negative stereotypes with fashion and people automatically associate shopping with being feminine. Fashion is high school is much harder because we feel the need to conform and be like other in our grade to fit in, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but it might suppress people’s urge to want to explore different types of clothes because they feel constrained by society’s regulations.” — Nikolas Chambers “Fashion to me is another way of expressing yourself because everyone’s style is unique to them. I just think that in whatever you wear, you should always feel comfortable in no matter where you are and as long has feel confident and love what your wearing, then to other people will too. The hardest part of fashion to me is just finding something a little bit different to wear every day.” – Maya Seymour “For some people, fashion is simply defined as the clothing they adorn themselves in everyday. For others, fashion is a tactic they use to feel accepted in society. To me, fashion is a way of telling others about my identity. Although sometimes my choice of clothing must be altered depending on where I am going, there will always be places for me to dress to show who I am. For example, at school, I am not always in the mood to wear anything too exotic, but when going to dinner with my friends, I wear whatever I feel portrays my identity. In the long run, I feel that fashion has taught me a lot about our world. It has illustrated that it is important for everyone to have the chance to articulate who they are. Fashion also has showed me that, although there are always going to be certain places that make people feel restricted from fully expressing themselves, there are parts of the outside world that are open to diversity and rarity.” – Anna Wolf “Fashion is one of the most simplistic ways to show our creativity and our inner selves. Clothing is a daily necessity and the style of clothing that we choose to wear has the power to showcase our personalities. It’s interesting how a school environment shapes the way you view fashion. Being new this year, and coming from a school with a strict uniform, I never had to worry about my daily attire. As I have now transitioned to high school my style has evolved to fit popular clothing styles seen around Latin. ” – Mary Ellen Mack ]]>