Students discuss style inspirations

By Gus McSheehy, Reporter

In a new age of expression, students are encouraged to convey their originality and selves, often shown through their sense of style. Clothing styles demonstrate our personalities and quirks to the world. There’s many different and unique styles circulating around the school So, where do students take their fashion inspiration from?

People in popular media—whether real or fictional—tend to be common fashion influences. Many take inspiration from their favorite characters from shows or movies they watch. It’s easy to identify with a character based on their fashion sense.

“I draw a lot of inspiration from people’s specific fashion inspiration from movies,” junior Chloe Kampmeier said. “Especially 90s movies like ‘10 Things I Hate About You.’”

Fashion trends from the 90s have had a huge resurgence lately due to pop culture, social media, trend cycles, and nostalgia. In fashion trends, there’s an unofficial 30-year rule where trends recycle themselves, so it’s no surprise the                                                                      90s have come back.

“I would say one of my inspirations is ‘Gilmore Girls.’ I really like their little 90s outfits,” senior Ava Stephenson said.

A common outlet for these clothes are available at thrift stores. Thrift stores tend to have a large supply of clothes from past generations.

“I wear something like 90s and Y2K stuff, mostly because I thrift, so it’s like what I’m able to get,” Kampmeier said.

Another big inspiration for students is the thrift store itself. Thrifting has become a staple outlet for clothes among students over the past few years due to accessibility, affordability, and sustainability.

The variety of different clothes there, spanning across all styles, makes it easy to take inspiration from something found in these stores.

“You see stuff that you wouldn’t always pick out in a normal store and that challenges and shapes my style,” Stephenson said.

Another common influence is other people online. Today, there are thousands of digital accounts spanning across all social media platforms dedicated to fashion and style.

“I also follow a lot of fashion people on instagram, and I love taking vague inspiration from pieces or combinations I see them wearing,” senior Lorelei Fitterer said. “@simply.siena and @laraadkins are my favorites.”

There’s also entire apps with the simple purpose to provide inspiration. Pinterest is most commonly used, where multiple accounts post images into a feed designed just for people’s personal tastes, but Instagram is also very popular.

“I just go on Pinterest and look at the little outfits,” sophomore Astroe Mullins said.

Styles can also be influenced by peers, but this could be either positive or negative. On the positive side, a friend’s fashion sense can inspire someone’s own sense of style.

“Often I’ll see something one of my friends is wearing that I really like, and I make a mental note to look for similar things online or in thrift stores… I think the people around me have a positive impact on what I wear, like it’s mostly me taking inspiration from what I see my friends wearing,” Fitterer said.

But our peers can negatively affect individual style as well. Peer pressure can dampen style and nullify self expression.

“There’s definitely some sort of pressure at this age to dress how everybody expects you too or how other people want you too… I was pressured to not look like a poser and to dress normal everyday,” Mullins said.

Even when communities are becoming more welcoming to new styles and expressions, it can still be hard to find a sense of style that feels true to ourselves. Personal expression can be hard, and there has always been some pressure to “fit in.” Students still feel some of this stress. Despite this, there is still a wealth of styles to be found around the school, and originality and uniqueness can be found around every corner.