Nothing beats looking through old photos you have from middle and high school when you had no idea what you were doing with your life or all the great memories you would form down the road, but nothing beats looking at the clothes we used to wear. The worst part, how great we all thought we looked good in those Hollister polos and reeking of Axe body spray. I know I personally wouldn't wear jeans in middle school unless they had those frayed holes right around the knees, I was so cool I just had to impress everyone with those flare jeans. Girls had their Dooney and Bourke bags and had to get the most sequins on their homecoming dresses, it blows your mind now but at the time you thought it was everything and that was all that mattered at the time. Of course people had their own phases but I'm mainly reflecting on what I went through and those around me. You have to wonder what statement you were trying to make with the clothes you wore. We know now a person can make a statement when they walk in a room just by wearing the right outfit and it can make or break a work interview, a date, or even a first impression. Before someone meets you they see what you are wearing and at our age that can say plenty about a person. We didn't have much say about what we wore in middle school, but we knew the statement we were trying to make when we walked down those halls because of the stigma that came with those clothes.
Let's not skip ahead too far now though because we can't forget the glorious phase of high school. For me personally that was when I discovered Panic! At The Disco, Taking Back Sunday, Paramore and all those "emo" bands and with those bands came black t-shirts and eyeliner. I was always timid about the eyeliner because I wasn't your typical rebellious emo kid. I wanted to follow the rules, I respected my parents, made good grades, I was more on the thrill of making that statement of I don't care and I don't follow the rules. These are the choices we make when we decide what to put on in the morning each day. My thought process of trying to change my image was exciting to me, you truly got to take control of yourself and be brave. I won't lie, I mainly hung around the popular kids at school and it felt weird for me to come in a band t-shirt or a scarf (I never wore eyeliner to school) because that was a new, strange thing that was occurring. I still had my American Eagle t-shirts and jeans, it's not like I could shop for myself, but it's crazy to think that what you wore could even put you in a friend group. I wasn't your typical emo kid but I dressed like one, should I not hang out with my group of friends because of that? I was able to make new friends all because of the shirt I decided to put on my back and that still blows my mind. When I became a junior and senior I learned how to coincide all of these fashion choices I make; what if I wore a nice pair of jeans with a band t-shirt or a scarf over an American Eagle t-shirt? What point would this prove? Trying to make your own style as a kid growing up is just as imperative as most things we go through so why not take the chance? Especially now, your 20's are to make mistakes so make them all now because when it clothes people won't be as forgiving in our 30's.
We all stand by the fact that it shouldn't matter what you're wearing, what label you can afford or how tight fitting your jeans are but the fact of the matter is that it does matter to a certain extent to everyone. I'm not saying we should, it's just a way of life. That's the freedom behind it though, we know this stigma we have to judge someone by what they wear but that only encourages people to choose what they want because it feels like it fits their lifestyle and who they are as a person. I'm still the kind of person that can pick an outfit by what friends I hang out with, where we are going, what are we doing and I find that exciting because now that you are in college or just graduated you have the power to decide what to wear and what you are going to buy, so use that power. At this point in our lives we shouldn't care what people think, you can be a guy and wear eyeliner or a girl who likes to wear guys clothes because it's your life and just because people may judge us for what we have on, why should we care? Now that you have taken time out of your day to read this post you can continue by looking at your old photos and laugh at the clothes you decided to wear and think about the statements you were trying to make and the statements we are still trying to make today.
Here to say it,
postgradgay
She's Not Me // Jenny Lewis
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