Style Is Making a Comeback
photo by Catalina Sanchez
Zahn Middleton – Streetwear
Jan 18, 2022
Wandering the halls of Stafford High School in March, 2019 a visitor to Stafford High School would have been inundated with baddie, hypebeast, and monochrome. Fast forward to our post-pandemic, in-person experience, and the same visitor is now greeted with individually interpreted styles such as: cottage core, dark academia, vsco and Y2K.
Someone with a Y2K aesthetic gives off the style Britney Spears and Paris Hilton sported in the 2000 — velour tracksuits, low rise, wide-leg denim and gemstones. Cottage core channels nature and floral patterns. While dark academia represents old-time libraries and dark colors with older-style paintings. VSCO is a beach type aesthetic with lots of shells and surfing.
Teens started scrolling through TikTok and saw people showing their style through clothing hauls, broadcasting their Outfit of the Day (OOTD) and getting inspiration from the social media platform. Where a person comes from, or where they have lived at some point of their life, may be the reason people dress the way they do
“This style was for me like my other styles, they were not me, they were a mini version of my mom and I hated it but now I dress like this and I love it,” junior Tracy Kuffor said.
People have started being more open minded with what they wear, which resurrected fashion trends from the 1970s and the 2000s. In particular, low rise jeans, plaid skirts, bedazzled crop tops, dramatic eyeliner, Converse and bell-bottom jeans.
Another possible influence on the booming throwback style is boredom. During quarantine, teens had time to experiment with different looks — even if they didn’t have anywhere to go.
“I didn’t really follow one thing, I just kinda took pieces from everything and just made it my own. I don’t really like to dress up like other people, I like to have my own vibe with my own stuff” senior Zahn Middelton said.
Social media has altered fashion. Trends from earlier years have come back. Fashion is going to continue to alter throughout the years and trends from right now may leave or continue to be peoples’ go-to styles, thanks to social media. When the first flip phone came out, people were wearing baggy jeans and shirts.
We have seen trends go from high rise to low rise, plain to plaid and silver to gold. “Fashion you can buy, but style you possess. The key to style is learning who you are, which takes years. There’s no how-to road map to style. It’s about self expression and, above all, attitude,” said fashion icon and business woman, Iris Apfel.
