Here at Washington High School, fashion is more than just clothes. It’s a way for students to express themselves, show creativity, and keep up with the latest trends. With apps like Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok becoming a huge part of students’ daily lives, trends that back in the day took a long time to catch on can become popular in a matter of seconds. From viral aesthetics to trendy outfits, social media has maintained a grip on the attention of students.
Many students claim their main source of fashion inspiration stems from what they see on their feed or from simply noticing someone at school wearing something they’d like to incorporate into their own personal style. Things like “get ready with me” videos, outfit videos, and things as simple as influencer posts affect people everywhere, causing trends to move quickly. “Most of my fashion, or actually a majority of my fashion comes from Pinterest,” says senior Rosalyn Turner. “I’ll sometimes make little collages of outfits that I want to assimilate as closely as possible. If I like a trend I’ll stick with it. If it moves on I’ll continue to incorporate it into my style.”
Beyond influencing students’ fashion choices, social media can also affect students’ confidence when it comes to expressing themselves. Seeing such perfectly curated lives online can take a toll on people’s sense of self-worth. “It has made me overly conscious about what I want to post and how people will perceive me at times,” says freshman Khamila Martinez. “Since I’m always on the internet trying to look for more things to shop for or to find things that are interesting, social media has always been a big part of finding my style.”
Despite the pressure, many students believe social media is a space that encourages creativity and where they feel comfortable expressing themselves. Apps like Pinterest encourage people to create vision boards, piece outfits together, search for new aesthetics, and hop on new trends, helping students get inspiration for almost anything. “Growing up with the internet, so many people do different things, so it encourages me to do my own thing as well and adds to my creativity,” says junior Lilianna Ayala-Lara. “You can either get pressured by the media to fit into standards or trends or you could be motivated to do the complete opposite and be yourself like I’ve chosen to do.”
In the end, social media has shaped fashion at Washington and continues to help influence individuality, creativity, and trends, even if it at times comes with the need to be perfect or be like everyone else you see online. In the future, it appears that social media will continue to play a significant role in shaping how fashion is spread, worn, and understood throughout the school community.