As the students of West Boca flow into the rhythm of the new school year, many worry about what to wear. While some students may just throw on a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, many put effort into what they wear. When looking around our campus, you’ll find many students enjoy wearing unique clothing styles as a means of finding themselves, especially within the new school year. 

What was once seen as alternative fashion that could cause a person to feel outcasted or labeled as an “outcast,” has become more popular as the years have progressed. For all intents and purposes, West Boca has been quite “copy and paste” in regards to clothing styles at our school, usually entailing sweatpants or a hoodie no matter the gender. Yet, the start of this year has seemed to introduce more individuality in clothing styles amongst West Boca students. It almost seems as if the students have made a non verbal agreement that they want to wear what they want. There seems to be no verbal judgment of clothing choices among the students, which is such a positive improvement within our school environment. While this sounds fabulous, this phenomenon begs the question, what has created this surge of individuality in clothing styles amongst West Boca students?

When cracking down on the answer, West Boca students were interviewed on their throughs. “I think it [clothing] is used as a way for us to express ourselves…I think that it is also the spread of celebrity and artists and what they wear in fashion that inspires teens to express themselves through their clothing…” says West Boca junior, Rachel Wesson. This idea definitely has been true in regards to the amount of focus the internet has on celebrities—especially music artists—through apps like Tik tok and Instagram which allow the user to feature music in posts made. The internet in general has increased the impact celebrity culture has in the U.S, especially in an affluent town like Boca Raton.

The summer is also a time for many to scroll through their phones. So as West Boca students are getting through the first couple of weeks of school, they are buying new clothing inspired by the fashion they see on social media and through their favorite celebrities. There has been more talk on how celebrity culture has been at its peak due to social media. In fact, one Vogue article mentioned the rise of very baggy jeans thanks to celebrities being seen wearing them such as Hailey Beiber and Rhianna. These photo shoots—shown on Instagram—are put into an algorithm which more than likely ends up being seen by teens all over the world, especially by the students of West Boca. With help of online output, the fine line between fashion influencer and celebrity has thinned as more teens use the influence of easy online access to fashion related inspiration as a means of picking out what the students of West Boca are going to wear for their next day of school. Still, no matter what clothing style someone may have, high school is a time period where an individual can discover themselves and their style as a means to express themselves, for themselves.