Self-Transformation Through Clothing

SELF-TRANSFORMATION

PHOTOGRAPHED BY RACHEL CHAMBERS ART DIRECTORS TATUM MUNDY & ANDREW BARRON

MODELS THALIA STOFFERS, AMANDA CHANG, SAVANNAH SENEVIRATNE WRITTEN BY CHLOE COLETTI DESIGNER LYNETTE SLAPE & SOPHIE SARGEANT

As we grow over time, our sense of self goes through rapid transformations as we attempt to define who we are and search for what we think best expresses us. Particularly as a teenager and young adult, this constant change and need to define and express ourselves is at the forefront of our thoughts and experience - we worry a lot about following trends, what group we fit into, and how we come off to others. Some will debate if we ever truly come into our best or most true sense of self, but eventually as we grow we find a place where we are comfortable and stop our constant changing and searching and settle into whatever style we think best expresses us. But the journey to that point is long, ever-changing, and deep.

The young adult and teenage years are some of the most transformative years of our lives, and one of the main ways we express our constant feeling of growing up, change, and developing identity is through clothing. We see this with the microtrends so common across younger generations- we are so desperate to express ourselves but the way in which we do changes so rapidly that the industry can barely keep up. Things

explode in popularity, and then we move on to the next when we realize it no longer suits our style or how we want to be perceived, and the concept of what’s trendy is ever-changing. We also see this with personal experience, the changes from middle school to the beginning of high school, to graduation and to college are astronomical, and many of us cycle through so many styles as we try to find what we feel best suits us in the moment. There is nothing wrong with this, and it’s a big part of life and that experience of selfexpression.

It is interesting to examine these trends and shifts though, and make note of how we change both collectively and individually. With the rise of social media and fast fashion, we’ve seen an increasing trend cycle and overproduction of items, as well as resurgences of different eras of fashion. Starting in the mid 2010’s, we had a comeback of 80’s fashion with high waisted jeans, bright prints, bomber jackets, and scrunchies coming back into the picture, and I will be the first to admit I definitely clung onto the trend. Older generations complained about some things coming back, and it was expected that the 80’s would stay in style for awhile, but soon we moved on to the 90’s in the late 2010’s, and now the early 2000’s at the start of the 2020’s. Over the course of about 7 years, we have cycled through three decades of fashion again, and we are continuing to redefine what is trendy and best suits us at this everincreasing pace.

It’s this constant shifting of self and trends that fuel these rapid cycles.These changes in life and style are a big part of the process of self expression and discovery, and clothing is the most prominent way we see these differences in perception of self. Style changes rapidly, and the consistent physical changes in appearance are one of the primary ways we can see these changes in other people. We can’t see in the minds of others and see exactly when they have these changes in self or identity, but we can see their clothes and the subtle changes they make accordingly.

Watching the development of different trends and designs and evolution of personal style is a fun way to see the different expressions of self and the changes in people over time. Clothing is a big part of identity and the changes in style we all experience are great indicators of the personal changes we’ve experienced.