The Fashion of Youth / Chloe Shaar

The Fashion WORDS Chloe Shaarof Youth

It’s Tuesday morning and I’m forcing myself to get ready for the day. If all that I can look forward to is wearing something cute and going to class, I might as well give it all I’ve got. It’s a little chilly outside, but still skirt appropriate, I’m definitely going to need some tights and earmuffs to keep me semi-warm. I add my new, favorite thrifted blouse with a tank underneath. I’m feeling playful today and decide to wear my hair in space buns and add a few rings and colorful clips in my hair to spice it up. To top it all off are my platform slides, pink scarf, and coat. I would describe my fashion as refined streetwear. I like to play with youthful colors—I’m a big fan of pink and green. I feel myself dressing slightly more mature as I get older, but I’m constantly trying to find cutsie accessories to add to the outfit like sunglasses, butterfly clips, and beaded bracelets. Fashion is a reflection of our moods and feelings, and being in your early 20s is all about exploring yourself and the new world in front of you.

American kids of the early 2000s wore crochet tops with midi skirts or cargo pants, while our parents tried to mask the world around us. But when you’re a kid, fashion is completely unbinding. You can live out your imagination as a reality—if you want to dress up as royalty one day, so be it. Expressions of color, and the freedom

of subverting life’s constrictions on selfidentity makes the process of developing style as a kid truly unlimited.

Different stages we pass through in our life showcase our different fashion choices. So far, the 2020s have blessed us with a fascinating era in the world of fashion. This is the first time clothes can represent one’s child-like self even in a provocative outfit. Urban chic, playful fem, preppy, adrongygonous, solely streetwear, goth fairy, everyone is able to fit into a different category or no category at all. Yesterday’s temporary tattoos are today’s face gems and body glitter. Today fashion continues to be a limitless space of expression, there is no real trend anyone is following, because every fashion style is self serving and up for interpretation.

2022 marks an aesthetic shift in both mainstream and high fashion. Gucci’s recent collaboration with Adidas demonstrates how the luxury fashion world has taken a more comfortable and approachable look. While high fashion continues to be a gorgeous art form, and while I’d love a Prada mini bag, it’s not necessarily the standard or considered “cool.” A new understanding of high fashion, curated by young people, has made the fashion world rebrand itself as people tend to lean more towards thrifting and second-hand clothing. Gen Z and other young people are taking inspiration from the people we looked up to when we were young and mixing those trends with what we envisioned our cooler, older selves looking like. Vintage is cool, and not to mention, not everyone can afford to constantly finance keeping up with the latest trends versus staying true to what they actually like.

The fashion of partying has also taken a role into our everyday dress, being one person by day and another by night. Going-out tops are coveted and somehow when the sun goes down, fishnets become accessible to everyone. The goingout look, in general, plays with highlighting the body, and celebrating you in your truest form. Sometimes getting ready to look your best, or finding that last piece for the perfect themed house party, can be the best part of the night. Whatever you’re stepping out in you feel your absolute best and

Sometimes getting ready to look your best can be the best part of the night.”

are able to recreate that feeling of royalty you first felt all those years ago. That’s the beautiful thing about fashion.

Whether you’re more of a Maddy or Cassie, everyone has that one unique thing about them that’s interchangeable from the rest of the world. Embrace your fashion identity and how your inner child rings through that. Now is the time to try that weird outfit you thought of in your head, or explore a completely different personal aesthetic.