As we all know, fashion is one of the many ways a person can express themselves. Whether you dress up, dress down, go all out, keep it on the down low, fashion is one of the most personal forms of expression. There are many different aesthetics and subcultures one can commit to. A few examples are alternative, dark and light academia, cottagecore, y2k, and a bunch more.

You may see people in the halls dressed nice, or more dressed up than everyone else. Some students may not dress up for school, but in their own freetime they may cosplay a character from a book, game, show or movie that they like. Other students only dress up for special occasions or when they feel like it.

One student that dresses up nearly every day is Eli Newsom (11). Eli tends to dress in a fantasy or gothic style, and they dress up because “I like it! It helps with my self-confidence and feeling comfortable in my own skin.”

Another student that tends to dress up every day is Abby Neely (12). Abby dresses in an alternative style, and they dress up because “it’s fun! I love my look, and it makes me happy to dress how I want every day. I don’t dress to impress; I just dress up because I love it.”

One example of someone that dresses up occasionally is Matthew Pimmel (12). Matthew tends to dress in more of a hippie style, and only dresses for special occasions. “Anytime I dress up it’s either for school events like spirit week or it’s for my yearly tradition of dressing in a nice suit on the last day of school.”

Lily Shelton (10) is another student that tends to dress on occasion. Lily doesn’t really have a continuous theme, but friends say it’s usually cottagecore-esque. “I usually enjoy dressing up because it gives me something to look forward to each day, and it makes me feel more confident!”

There are also students that don’t tend to dress up in any particular way. Grace Sanders (12) tends to dress in a hippie or comfortable style, and she dresses up because “it makes me feel different or special.”

Madison Tanner (12) also doesn’t tend to dress up. “I wear what’s convenient, which means I dress like a middle school boy most of the time.” Madison doesn’t tend to dress up because they don’t own many clothes.

Don’t worry; I didn’t forget about you cosplayers. While cosplayers are mostly known to dress up for Comic Cons, they can cosplay in their own time for other reasons, like social media or just for fun.

Now this isn’t all there is for fashionably expressing yourself, there’s obviously so much out there I didn’t cover, and that’s okay! Do what makes you feel good, whether that’s dressing fancy or throwing on whatever is clean and calling it a day, fashion has no limits (unless it’s something harmful to a group of people, then you may want to steer clear of it. Don’t be afraid to do your research to make sure you aren’t accidentally offending someone).