OPINION OPINION It’s time to abandon the Central and hoodie Why I always wear a Central and hoodie

By Belle Shatzkes

Entertainment Editor

You walk into school and notice a bunch of girls wearing weirdly colored skirts. Then you remember: it’s crazy skirt day for the senior girls. As you scan in, you overhear someone say, “Wow, that’s a really crazy skirt.” You turn and see a girl wearing a houndstooth patterned skirt in nice shades of lavender and light blue with a beautiful complimentary white crewneck. You gaze down at your own black Central and think to yourself, That is a crazy skirt. And then you go on with your day, almost forgetting the interaction.

But guess who didn’t forget?

Me.

I overheard a girl tell that story when I was a freshman. At the time, I wasn’t as bold with my clothing choices and wore pretty mainstream skirts and shirts. Not Centrals and hoodies, but close enough.

Do you know how pretty lilac and sky blue are together? With the houndstooth pattern, it’s basically periwinkle. That skirt must have been beautiful. Paired with a white crewneck? That’s gorgeous. But the fashion in our school is nothing along those lines.

I know what you’re going to say about Centrals and oversized hoodies: it’s comfy, it’s practical, it makes me feel confident— it’s the style!

Is it all that comfy when you’re trying to walk up stairs? No, it’s restricting. Is it practical when you pick your skirt up so that you can move your legs? Ms. Hidary wouldn’t say so. Do you feel confident when your hoodie is sticking to your back on a hot day or when you’re freezing only wearing one layer in Mrs. Gins’s room? Believe me, I know the struggle. Is it really even the style? Sure it is. But it’s been the style for years.

The female student body is adhering to a trend that is unflattering, unreasonable, and simply not creative, all in the name of conforming to “social norms.” “Social norms,” we have forgotten that WE determine!! Clothes say a lot about personality, but wearing an oversized hoodie and a black, ankle-length skirt (identical to the rest of the school) doesn’t say much about you. It looks like 350 girls walked off of an assembly line.

An anonymous teacher said that the way you dress also affects your mood. She said that wearing hoodies makes you feel like you’re at home, which in turn makes you more inclined to sleep in school. Different clothes offer different mindsets. An elementary schooler in the choir said that the blazers they wear during performances provide her with so much confidence— much more than she ever got wearing her regular uniform.

Girls, leave Flatbush and see what the rest of the world wears to school. Comfy rears its head maybe once a week. Practical is available with colored skirts, too! Confidence can come through in many different outfits. And if you speak to any Jewish high school student from any oth-

By Talya Shamoelian Contributing Writer

Waking up at 6:30 in the morning is torture enough. Why would I wake up earlier just to match my skirt to my sweater? When I get out of bed in the morning, after snoozing the alarm multiple times, I can barely keep my eyes open. I roll out of bed and grab a plain black skirt and the closest sweater I can reach. I don’t even have to think twice if it matches, because everything matches black!!

Picking out a skirt and a shirt takes way too much time and preparation. You can’t wear a cream shirt with an eggshell white skirt—it just doesn’t work. You’d have to spend valuable time preparing an outfit, just to get salad dressing or pizza sauce on it a couple of hours later. Instead of wasting my time matching my clothes, I could study for tests, take a nap, or, I don’t know, have a social life!!

The black skirt is easy because we rewear the same skirt and just switch the hoodie. Obviously we rewear hoodies, too, but that’s fine because no one’s going er community, they will gasp in horror to hear that you wear tight skirts down to the ankle voluntarily.

Check out other options. Maybe buy a flary skirt with a nice plaid pattern and nix the hoodie in favor of a tee. Perhaps you’ll wear a shorter red skirt that just passes your knees and goes well with a