It’s the weekend and Grant senior Janelle Arnold sifts through her closet of oversized coats, chunky sweaters and little black dresses. She lays various articles of clothing on her bed, piecing outfits together for the following week.
A fur coat. A pair of silver platform shoes. A custom-made, abstract-butterfly-patterned crop top and high waisted pant set.
For Arnold, who describes her style as “girly with an edge,” and many other students at Grant, fashion is about much more than putting outfits together. It’s about finding confidence and making a statement. And it’s an outlet for self-expression.
“They kind of show in some ways like who I am,” Arnold says. “People definitely judge you based off of what you look like…You may think that they don’t, but I think they definitely say something. Like you chose to put that on and like you chose to dress like that and show that as your appearance.”
Senior Angelo Accus, who considers his style rare and abstract, concurs. “I feel like fashion is how you put everything you see of the world onto yourself and what you see, how you interpret it, how you learn it, how you apply it and how you teach it to others.”
When Graydon Gooding started at Grant last year, he wore slacks and dress shirts to school. The look stuck and he’s still doing it as a sophomore this year. It helps, he says, with his confidence.
“I used to be like the kind of guy who was in class and didn’t like getting noticed,” he says. “Sure, I answered questions every once in a while, but I just kind of kept to myself. Once I started wearing dress clothes, I became more open and people started talking to me more…I kind of became less introverted.”
Junior Izzie Valle has had a similar experience. When she was younger, she says: “I was afraid people were going to think I was weird if I wore like weird things, so I kind of stuck to what was popular. But then…I kind of realized I didn’t have to dress for anyone. It was like, I wear what I want to wear and I don’t really have to look a certain way for people to think I’m cool.”
Portland State University sociologist Matthew Carlson agrees that fashion is an integral part of growing up. “Adolescence, in general, is a time of sort of trying on different roles, trying on different personas,” he says. “A big part of the self-development process has to do with…trying different things and…fashion is a part of that.”
But while fashion has its benefits, Carlson notes that many setbacks can accompany it. “I think that…the expansion of exposure to media for young people has created an increased pressure to look a certain way,” he says. “I think it creates too much pressure on young people to focus on fashion rather than focusing on a lot of other things. In an environment where fashion is promoted as very important, I think it can end up skewing the priorities more towards the superficial.”
Valle says in the past, advertisements and social media have hurt her outlook on her appearance. “I don’t really look like a lot of people because I’m just generally bigger than a lot of people, so I feel like the media has kind of been like: Look this way, don’t look as fat or whatever. I’m like, ‘I don’t care. I’m my own person.’”
Arnold sees the role of social media differently. She says it has helped her clothing choices. She follows various celebrities and designers on Tumblr and Instagram to gain inspiration, and says, “I don’t feel super pressured…to like conform to a certain standard.”
Accus says he has also fought the pressure to conform. “I like wearing the color pink. I feel like I dress in ways that a lot of boys wouldn’t be comfortable dressing in,” he says. “It just makes me feel good to wear bright colors. It feels good to be different.” ◊
Janelle Arnold
On her Coat: “There was one time and I was wearing it and I went into work…and one of the managers, Nikki, she looked at me and she was like “Oh my gosh you look like Chewbacca!” And then she just like started making the little Chewbacca noises.”
On her shoes: “When I’m wearing my platform shoes and just listening to music with my headphones on, I’m just kind of in my own little world and just strutting around to the beat of the song and just imagining that I’m walking down a runway.”
Angelo Accus
On his shirt: “I just like how it has really bright colors that can catch someone’s eye and it’s really abstract. Not a lot of people have a shirt with that bright of a color… I feel like that shirt represents pink on a guy very well.”
On his pants: “When I look at them I can see a lot more than like other people would. Like I can see what they can go with. I see combinations, you know. I see what I can do with them. I see the potential.”
On his shoes: “It makes me feel really good just like considering that’s my favorite color. It actually kind of enlightens me. It just makes me feel like me. I don’t feel different. I feel like myself. I feel like I’m where I want to be when I wear those shoes.”
Britta Baer-Simon
On her shirt: “This shirt I got out of my mom’s closet because she never wears it and I needed a new shirt.”
On her skirt: “A school was closing down so they were selling all the costumes in their costume room and for really, really cheap as well, so she (friend) got this for me and gave it to me. It’s like too big so I have to belt it but I really love it…we almost suspect that it’s like a pioneer kind of era petticoat thing.”
On her shoes: “I got them for Christmas two years ago, when I lived in London, from the Doc Marten store. They’re like the most useful Christmas present I’ve ever gotten. I wear them all the time. I have scars from breaking them in.”
Izzie Valle
On her makeup: “I decided since I had a lot of soft colors in here I’d do like a bright lipstick so it kind of has balance and I like making my eyes look really bright. I don’t know, I feel like I’m not much of a dark person. I like being bright and happy so I thought I might as well reflect that.”
On her skirt: “It’s just like one of those pieces where I saw it and knew that I could not leave the store without it. I don’t know why I was attracted to it but I wear it with a lot of my outfits… Whenever I wear this I always have a really good day.”
On her shoes: “I feel really powerful in them, somehow, kind of like I can take on the world and I don’t know, they’re really versatile and I can wear them all the time because they’re pretty much invincible.”
Graydon Gooding
On his tie: “It’s called a trinity knot. Basically what it is is instead of having a normal knot it’s basically three triangles folded in on itself and it’s just kind of flashy rather than normal…I like that it’s patterned rather than just a single, plain color. It stands out when I wear dark clothes.”
On his suit: “When I wear it I feel like I’m ready to take on challenges…It kind of boosts my confidence. It makes me more self-secure. I’m not at all an insecure person but I feel like wearing the suit makes me feel like I can take on the world and feel ready to do things.”
On his dress shoes: “They’re not made to wear every day and the problem is I have P.E. and wearing dress shoes has not worked in P.E.”
