Written by: Eunie Choi
Artwork by: Cherry Kim
It’s easy to succumb to the current fashion trends and buy the shirt your favorite social media influencer was wearing in their latest post or the necklace all the cool kids at school have. Particularly in an age of fast fashion, in which clothing is cheap and also easily disposable, following trends seems to be the easiest method of developing a “style” that will help you become socially accepted, while also giving you leeway to throw away clothes when you don’t like them and buy new ones.
However, not only is fast fashion damaging for the environment and an extremely toxic industry, but personal style is also incredibly important to developing identity and confidence (Le). Relying solely on current trends and peers to shape your fashion sense into something you don’t even truly like will undermine your sense of self. Through clothing, we are able to non-verbally communicate a part of our personalities, and wearing the clothes that everyone else wears instead of what we truly want will diminish our individualities and idiosyncrasies. Our clothing affects our behaviors and our confidence, and wearing what you want can help you feel more assured in yourself (“Self-Expression Through Fashion”).
Of course, one of the biggest reasons why people are afraid to wear what they truly want is because of social pressures and trends. Perhaps what you truly want to wear is seen by other people as out of style, obsolete or strange, and you fear ostracization or mockery because of your clothing. Particularly for teens, “fitting in” is one of the most prominent concerns a teenager may face, and conforming through clothing is one of the easiest ways not to have to worry about this. However, as society begins to accept a more diverse range of people, clothing also becomes an increasingly diverse medium through which identity and expression is shown.
Of course, trends and fads will not cease to exist, and perhaps your own individual style will evolve with those social trends as well. Personally, I used to wear skinny jeans all the time and thought I would never stop wearing them, but then the trend shifted to straight-legged wider jeans, and I started liking and wearing those more. It wasn’t that I felt pressured to wear these wider jeans—my personal sense of style and the clothing I favored just happened to shift in this way simultaneously. Thus, wearing what you want doesn’t always have to be a defiance of the current trends and a loud statement that you are not complying to fads. It can simply be following your heart and wearing what you are comfortable and confident in. Clothing can play a huge role in shaping your identity, and you never have to be ashamed or afraid of who you are. Wear what makes you feel the most like you, and I think you might find that your friends don’t really care as much about what you wear as you thought.
Works Cited
“Self-Expression Through Fashion.” Four Seasons Health Care, 16 Sep. 2021, https://www.fshc.co.uk/our-news/life-in-our-care-homes/self-expression-through-fashion/
Le, Ngan. “The Impact of Fast Fashion on the Environment.” Princeton Student Climate Initiative, 20 Jul. 2020, https://psci.princeton.edu/tips/2020/7/20/the-impact-of-fast-fashion-on-the-environment.
Comments