What’s Hot This Summer?

Your fashion essentials for the summer of 2023.

By KEIRRA McGOLDRICK, OPINION EDITOR

Unless you’ve been living un der a rock for the past couple of decades, you know there are two specific seasons that hold prime fashion potential: summer and fall. As sum mer swiftly approaches, it means it’s time to start picturing and putting together outfits. Topics such as color, style, aesthet ics and much more are all important factors in deter mining what to wear this coming season.

First and definitely (in my opinion) most im portant, is color. Bright and vibrant, as usual, this time of year, will undoubtedly be ide al to stay on trend this summer. Purples, pinks and blues are not a thing of the past and will be seen at every turn. Not only are bright and fun colors back and better than ever, but so are more neutral colors for a

Neutral colors also go with what’s known as the “clean girl” look, which consists of soft and glowy makeup, slicked-back hair, dainty jewelry and simplistic clothing. This aesthetic gained popularity in the summer of 2022 but is certainly not going away any time soon; if anything, it’s growing.

As many of us have seen in recent months, it’s time to say goodbye to high rise as we welcome low rise back into our lives. I

Soaking Up the Sun With These Songs

The perfect songs for the summer.

By ALLIE BARTON, SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR

With summer approaching, it’s time to get our sunblock out and get ready to go to the beach. We also need music to listen to while communing there and getting our tans. This playlist includes 26 different feel-good songs that give off the perfect beachy, oceanic vibes.

“Changes In Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” by Jimmy Buffett and Alan Jackson: Growing up, my dad would always play Jimmy Buffett on the way to the beach and this song, in particular, is just one the whole car would sing.

“Soak Up The Sun” by Sheryl Crow: My sister and I would always blast this particular Sheryl Crow song while jamming out to music during the eight-week break.

“Where’d All the Time Go?” by Dr. Dog: This song has always given me “on the way to the beach” vibes. It also reminds me of the Netflix show, “Outer Banks,” when they played it in season two.

feel that low-rise pants are a bit of a touchy subject in many social circles, but paired with the right outfit, you can’t go wrong with them, which is why they are perfect for this summer.

With the welcome of low-rise, we also embrace the appearance of sheer and cutouts. A fun sheer top with a simple tank top underneath can make for the perfect combination to look cute and stay cool this coming season. Cutout pieces serve the same function. Along with being multifunctional, cutouts also add a little extra pizzazz.

Fashion has always been an amazing way for people to express their individuality in a beautiful and unique way. Summer and all of its wonderful opportunities make it a perfect time to find ways to express yourself and grow, especially before the new school year comes along.

“Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard” is a Masterpiece

By MALIA RODRIGUEZ, STAFF WRITER

“Prom Pact” Is Packed Full of Surprises

“Prom Pact” is extremely cheesy, but in a good way.

By CHARLOTTE STONE, PRINT MANAGING EDITOR

“Prom Pact” definitely surprised me. I won’t lie, I went into this movie with very low expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised. Although it was very cheesy, it was cheesy in a heartwarming romcom way. I mean let’s be honest, is a rom-com even a rom-com if it’s not at least a little bit corny?

“Prom Pact” is the newest teenage rom-com to hit Disney Plus. This movie stars familiar Disney Channel stars, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, who plays Mandy Yang, and Milo Manheim, who plays Ben Plunkett. Yang and Plunkett are second-semester seniors who have made it through high school by avoiding high school culture at all costs. Yang is clearly over high school and thinks that she is above it all while Plunkett is longing to get more involved.

Yang and Plunkett are pulled out of their normal routine of waffles and movies when Yang is waitlisted from her dream school, Harvard. In the midst of a scheme to get Yang into Harvard, she and Plunkett are pushed into new situations and forced to embrace the high school experience.

All in all, it was a really cute movie. I was expecting the main love story between Yang and the popular jock Graham Lansing (Blake Draper) to make me nauseous, but by the end of the film, I was dying to see them get together.

Although I really enjoyed “Prom Pact, there were definitely many cringe-worthy moments. For example, obviously, the movie is about prom, so there were many very public and very embarrassing promposals that made me severely cringe. However, it’s all part of the movie’s appeal. And not all of the promposals were bad. One of my favorite moments of the movie was when Lansing asked Yang to prom. With it being prom season, this is the perfect movie to watch if you’re in the mood for a cute romcom. Just make sure that you are prepared to cringe a little.

In a small office space at the Patel Conservatory, Maddy Ruyle (‘23) and her co-director Francesca Werner (‘23) ran rehearsal for their performance of “The Children’s Hour.” She kept her script in front of her on a stand, following along with the lines her actors spoke. She wrote a few notes—”little things, picky things” as Ruyle describes it—in the margins of the script to give once the scene was finished.

However, this run-through of the scene wasn’t as smooth as it could be. During this rehearsal, two of the lead actresses, Robinson’s Ingalls Witte (‘23) and Sickles High School’s Abby Turlington (‘26), couldn’t be in attendance.

“Conflicts come up all the time, whether be someone can’t get a ride or... some of the lead actors were sick. Obviously, this can set us back as we have [a] schedule set to run certain scenes each week, and with people missing; we think on our feet and adapt to work on other scenes...” Ruyle said.

So, to improvise, Ruyle worked on characterization with the actors for the majority of the time. She decided to make it fun, playing different games with the actors to pull out their characters’ personalities. The actors circled the room, walking around as if they were their characters. Then, Ruyle asked them about how their day went in three different ways (all crucial to the plot).

“[Ruyle and Werner] are... the coolest directors I’ve ever worked with. They’re not too strict but also not too laid back. We’ve only had a few rehearsals and we’ve already blocked the whole show and ran through everything. It’s going to be great,” actor, and Blake High School junior, Alex Rodriguez said.

For Ruyle, directing this play is a crucial part of achieving the certification from the conservatory.