Throughout the one and a half year at VRGD, I’ve witnessed a lot when it comes to fashion. A lot of different people have a lot of different styles. Personally, I find it really interesting to observe how other people express themselves through their choice of clothing. Something I often wonder is if the majority of the students at our school is actually aware that their styles send a message? I believe that many of us are not aware of the fact that it does. Furthermore, this is precisely what I’ll be discussing: how we identify ourselves through the choice of clothing.
Firstly, let’s turn the clock back one and a half year to the moment when I was about to enter VRGD. At that point, I knew that what I wore would send a message, to someone, without intentionally mean it. Depending on what mood or what ”stage” I was at in my life at that point, I’d somehow sent that message. However the beginning of my first year, I knew that everyone didn’t know me, that people will ask themselves ”who’s that?”, And that the only way to answer that was by identifying myself with what I wore. Mistake me if I’m wrong, I don’t mean the brands you wear nor the trends you follow, I mean just your style. Before getting to know a person, you’ll base your opinion on other things, such as their style or what you’ve heard about the person. I remember thinking my first year of high school ”I’m gonna wear my favorite clothes,” by the fact that it does reflect my personality. Although I’m not sure if it did…
This takes me to last year when I went to the US. I remember my first day at Brewer High School. It was weird, it was different and it was out of my personal style. The first day I walked into the school I wore bootcut jeans. A piece of clothing that’s very common at our school. However, when I walked through the corridors, people stared at me. At first, I didn’t understand what it was. Then when I sat in my first class a girl told me; “Girl I like your choice of jeans, where are you from?”, I responded “Thanks! I’m from Sweden”, with a questioning smile. I didn’t understand why they were so special. It was just a simple pair of bootcut jeans. But when days passed I understood why that girl complimented my choice of jeans. There were no other people in the entire high school that wore bootcut jeans. I “stood out”. I didn’t take this as a compliment though, so I started to change my style, and it became Americanized. To be honest, it wasn’t because I related to the American sense of style, it was by the reason that I wanted to “fit in” and not stand out. Weird, right?
Nevertheless, now that I’m home and I’ve gotten half a year older, I feel a lot more myself when it comes to my style. I enjoy the clothes I wear. It’s not because I want to send a message, it’s the fact that I want to be myself, through my clothing. Today when I look back at the clothes I bought in the US, I realize that I never wear them here in Sweden because I actually don’t identify myself with them. They were a part of that specific year and that particular life that I lived on the other side of the Atlantic.
All in all, do we really want to send a message through or choice of clothing? And do we identify ourselves with them? I can only answer for myself, and that’s yes. I do identify myself through my personal style and clothing choice. It’s the fact that it represents who I am and how I feel. Especially for the ones that don’t know me. They get a little bit of me without even knowing me. That’s pretty cool in my opinion.
