Copy and Paste
Do you ever walk into school, on the street, or go outside and see everyone wearing the same thing? It’s like copying and pasting. It almost looks uniform: Sambas or Vans, camo pants, work boots, and more. Maybe you are one of those people, but you’re too scared to do anything different because nowadays, as soon as your outfit has something that is not mainstream or popular, you are called weird.
What is personal style?
Personal style is, well, a personal style. It is when what you wear reflects you as a person. It’s just a piece of clothing that reflects your culture or a piece of jewelry that speaks to you, something that makes your style unique, like each human. In more recent years, personal style has been lacking.
Mia Muilenburg, a WMS 8th grader tells us what personal style means to her; “I think it’s how you express yourself, I think it doesn’t have to be something specific because it’s personal so it’s just like whatever you feel like dressing.”
How does TikTok affect personal style?
If you don’t know what TikTok is, it means you’re living right next to Patrick the Star. TikTok is THE most popular form of social media with 1.58 Billion monthly users. TikTok, to say the least, is a very powerful platform. TikTok makes and breaks trends, especially fashion ones. Some major fashion companies take inspiration from TikTok to sell their clothes and make sure they as they say are always with the trends’ again made by TikTok. Now, how does TikTok affect personal style?
Francesca Belacoura, a WMS 8th grader, tells us how she thinks TikTok can affect personal style; “MICRO-TRENDS! TikTok begins trends then immediately ends them”
What is a micro trend?
Micro-trend is one of the things TikTok is known for. One morning you will wake up and all you see on your FYP which means For your page,(definition for the ones above 25) is a certain aesthetic that everyone is dressing up as. These are often pushed by popular influencers and fast fashion brands. When you see people hop on these trends you as well are going to want to join them, which leads to everyone joining the micro-trend and that’s how no one has personal style because the mind is easily influenced. When you see so many people do it you will feel left out if you do not do it either.
One of the most recent micro-trends that got huge was ‘Coquette Core’ which contained bows, pink/pastel, lace, frills, and anything seen as hyper-feminine.
Why is it hard to have a personal style at this age/middle school?
Having a personal style is very difficult at this age. Middle school is the awkward stage where we find ourselves and try new things, but nowadays there is no room for us to see ourselves when being ourselves gets us made fun of. This is where when you wear something that TikTok has not said is cool you’re called ‘weird’ or they say ‘Why are you trying so hard?’ even though all you did was wear a skirt instead of leggings like everyone else. Another reason is how easily infused we are, and not even just social media but our peers. You will never be able to find your personal style if you cannot experiment.
Why do we need personal style back?
Rachel Zoe, an American Fashion designer stated, “Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak.” This resonates a lot with me. I think it’s cool when someone can enter a room, and you can immediately tell who they are and what they like. I want to be able to enter a room and people can say ‘Yeah she loves gold’ or ‘She’s a big fan of jewelry’, and with those things they point out they can approach me and we can bond over the topic of jewelry and become friends.
Can we do anything to bring it back?
The only way to bring it back is to experiment, and let yourself out of the shell. Stop being too scared to wear multiple things at the same time, maybe things that people say do not go together. The key word is EXPERIMENTATION. Always try things and one day you will find something you like and stick to it. Even if you do not find one, you can multiply. As Lindsay Lohan once said in Mean Girls, “The limit does not exist.”
