February is a month that can restrict style due to the cold. More layers are needed, which can cover up or emphasize a piece you want to wear. This month, three CHS students talked about how they dressed and what inspires their fashion.
Van der Velde’s style has evolved a lot since they started high school. They used to wear leggings and a shirt everyday, but don’t feel that fits them anymore. Now they describe their style as a little silly and goofy, but sometimes just things thrown on.
“I love wearing things that are from my family members,” van der Velde said. “It makes me feel closer to them and it also makes them feel good when they see me wearing it.”
Their style has evolved a lot since they started high school. They used to wear leggings and a shirt every day, but don’t feel like that fits them anymore. Now they describe it as a little silly and goofy, but sometimes they just throw things on.
With this outfit, they wanted to show the most accurate representation of where they are style-wise. They feel their style changes a lot and wanted this to show what their style is.
Van der Velde takes inspiration from celebrities, specifically 90s rappers.
“I see people, especially celebrities, then I want to dress like that, so I kind of try out that style,” van der Velde said. “I see how I like it and kind of mix different things. The first one [influence] that comes to mind is Jacob Collier. He's a singer and he wears a lot of flowy pants and baggy stuff. So that was my kind of style for a while.”
Van der Velde uses fashion to introduce herself to others.
“I think I like that I can express myself,” they said. “People can get a glimpse of who I am from what I dress like. I like to wear graphic tees that are kind of funny. And I think that might show people my humor a little bit. I hope it does. So I like that part of it.”
Jasmine Lowenstein, a senior, also wore hand-me-downs in her outfit, this time from her mother. She held her spork for the annual Spork Game, teal on one side and pink on the other. Her skirt and shirt are from her mother.
“She passed it down to my sister and then my sister left it in our house when they graduated high school, so I just steal it all the time now,” Lowenstein said, smiling.
She wears Tims she got in seventh grade, which she thought were knockoffs at first because they were so discounted. Her ring is from the Getup Vintage, a vintage store in downtown Ann Arbor. Her necklace has Hamsas on it and was made by her sister’s friend and given to Lowenstein for her birthday.
“It feels like me: flowy but has a tiny bit of edge to it,” Lowenstein said. “It represents my simplistic style that also has a bit of color and a bit of edge.”
To pick out the outfit, she was scrolling through her camera roll and found a picture of her wearing it, which inspired her to wear it again. She doesn't have a favorite part to her outfit, she likes the way it all looks together.
Lowenstein thinks you can tell a lot about a person by what they wear.
“It's a form of expression without having to say anything or say who you are, which I really like.” Lowenstein said.
Like van der Velde, Lowenstein used to only wear leggings until freshman year of high school. Now she mostly wears skirts and dresses and jeans.
“As I’ve gotten more confident, I feel like my fashion has gotten more out-there,” Lowenstein said.
She gets inspiration from people she sees on the street and family members. She also gets clothing from her family: grandparents, parents, sister. She likes to get hand-me- downs, and go thrifting to find stuff that people have already used.
“It's nice to know that they're pre-worn and pre-loved,” Lowenstein said. “My grandpa died a few years ago and I have a lot of his pants and it's fun because whenever I'm wearing them I'm like “oh, pops!”"
Along with emotional value, Lowenstein thinks about impact. She thinks fast fashion, especially with capitalism, has become such a big aspect of climate change and contributes to the abuse of workers.
“I try to avoid it even though it's kind of hard because we're surrounded by it.”
Overall, Lowenstein finds fashion to be a positive part of her life.
“It makes me feel happy because I just wear whatever I want. I don't really think about how people will view me in the outfit. Which is nice,” Lowenstein said. “I just like stuff that makes me feel good. And I know when I was younger, I used to be insecure about that, or if I had something on too revealing. I would get scared that people would judge me for it. But now I kind of just wear whatever I want and have fun with it.”
Sophomore Grey Phillips began experimenting with style even earlier. Up until sixth grade, Phillips wore comedy shirts before trying out V-neck shirts. He didn't like that either, but finding a middle ground landed him in his style today.
For this outfit, Phillips wore a brown sweater, black Dickies pants, and a black Dickies coat. He added string bracelets and a white tee. His favorite part of the outfit is the fuzzy socks, inside his Converse.
Phillips gets fashion inspiration from his brother.
“He could wear the ugliest thing in the world though. I'd probably think it's cool.” Phillips said. “I think that it's the way you hold yourself.”
He tends to go towards darker-colored clothes. Not on purpose, but right now his wardrobe is very dark and he hasn’t bought lighter colors in a while.
Thanks to trying new things and taking ideas from his brother, Phillips now feels comfortable wearing what he wants.
“I think that people don't really care, especially at Community,” Phillips said.“We are pretty open and you can probably wear a onesie.”
Getting older and going into different environments is a big part of finding new ways to express yourself. Some people prefer colder weather for outfits, as it allows new opportunities. Fashion is a way for people to show similarities and differences in how they dress and who they are.