Fall trends draw from old favorites, individuality
New styles include sport influence, '80s vibe
September 20, 2016
Sophomore Caroline Garland selects her clothes every morning carefully, knowing each day her outfit acts as an extension of her personality and an expression of her lifestyle.
“Some students don’t really care about fashion, but a lot should, because fashion is an important part of expressing yourself,” Garland said. “If you don’t have a fashionable part of yourself then you won’t get to explore part of the way your day will go.”
With fashion, you can express yourself without having to say anything to anyone.
— Aiden Henry, sophomore
Garland said she enjoys fashion because she can personalize outfits based on her surroundings and draw inspiration from others.
“My favorite part of fashion is going around and seeing what everyone else is wearing because that kind of influences what I am going to wear quite a bit,” Garland said.
Emily Erusha-Hilleque, designer director in jewelry, shoes, accessories, sleepwear and hosiery for Target Corporation, said she believes the current trends in fashion depend on individuality.
“You can look to social media and blogs and magazines and pop culture to gain inspiration but then the cool part is that everybody puts it together in their own individual way,” Erusha-Hilleque said. “It’s less about jumping on what everyone else is wearing and more about personalizing your own style.”
Sophomore Aiden Henry said he enjoys fashion because he can express himself symbolically.
“With fashion you can express yourself without have to say anything to anyone,” Henry said. “I like being able to think of new ways to show who I am as a person.”
Erusha-Hilleque said many popular trends pull their inspiration from previous periods of fashion.“One of the things that’s cool that’s happening with the bomber jacket and the graphic tees is that you can get a lot of that stuff vintage,” Erusha-Hilleque said. “You can get a lot of it at goodwill, because if you think about all of those “Members Only” jackets those were all super popular in the 70’s and 80’s.”
According to Erusha-Hilleque, students don’t need to look far in order to find cost- effective fashion items.
“Hit the vintage stores. Hit the thrift stores,” Erusha-Hilleque said. “This whole idea of creating something new from something old feels really cool and is extremely cost effective.”
Junior Max Turner said he thinks fashion helps people separate themselves from others.
“Without fashion, you wouldn’t be able to tell how people think (or) what people like,” Turner said.
Erusha-Hilleque said uplifting messages are beginning to become a bigger factor in everyday fashion.
“In the graphic tee world, there’s all of this positive affirmation,” Erusha-Hilleque said. “(There’s) a kind of messaging that is happening both in men and women’s and you’re starting to see it not only on t-shirts but you’re starting to see it on the back of jackets and the straps of handbags.”
Junior Osman Sheikh said he believes fashion plays a necessary role in society because of how people views others.
“You have to be high fashion because it kinda gives you a social status,” Sheikh said. “People judge you on the way you look, it’s the way of life.”
Erusha-Hilleque said athletic fashion carries a large influence on general fashion for both men and women.
“I’d say (a big trend) just in general fashion is athletic footwear,” Erusha-Hilleque said. “So it’s not just the traditional Nike anymore — it’s all of the new styles from Adidas,
but every designer out there, men’s and women’s, has their own version of some kind of fashion athletic.”
Erusha-Hilleque said athletic fashion not only shows up in footwear, but also highlights general fashion.
“There’s a general influence of the movement and the high level of sport influence on everything,” Erusha-Hilleque said. “So it’s not like I’m dressed in a sports outfit, there’s just the sport details which make things feel really new.”
Junior Tanaya Fanning said she enjoys staying fashionable because it helps her maintain high self-esteem.
“I look toward a lot of celebrities and basically everybody I see,” Fanning said. “When I feel like I look good, I feel better about myself.”