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Clothing can be used to express multiple things about a person’s identity, like their gender, culture, or just their mood of the day. Clothing isn’t the only thing in the world of fashion: there’s also jewelry, headwear, and shoes. Fashion can even be used for activism. Fashion is also a type of visual art that can be expressed in numerous creative ways. From the red carpet looks shown in the media to the different outfits created by students at school everyday, fashion is fun and simple art that allows everyone to participate. Styles can be described in multiple different ways. For example, I would describe my style as unknown: it’s like a surprise and it varies everyday depending on how I feel like I want to present to myself and to the world around me. My style also portrays my personality, which is also another thing fashion does for many people. It creates a space that allows people to show a little bit about themselves and gives a mini-introduction of their personality.
For me, I see fashion as the easiest way to clearly express my gender. Gender is not something that is set in stone and can be fluid, which also means it doesn’t stick to one style of clothing. For example, I identify as a transmasc person, which means I feel comfortable presenting as more masculine as a whole. However, it doesn’t mean I have to stick to a style that is usually associated with the word “masculine.” When I was first getting into the idea of being transmasc, I had a mindset that was like, “okay I absolutely have to dress masculine now no matter what.” But, the more I came to terms with my gender, the more comfortable I felt wearing non-traditional masculine fashion. I got more comfortable wearing jewelry and colors that society has indicated feminine. Currently I feel like I have achieved a point of masculine euphoria where I don’t even worry about dressing masc anymore; it just comes to me like breathing. My relationship with femininity has also evolved from being restricted to being welcomed with open arms, which is also apparent in my style with pieces of clothing and various pieces of jewelry. I feel as if I have reached a level of true comfort in my own body and achieved true masculinity to the point where I can dress feminine and still define myself as transmasc easily. My fashion sense has evolved with me. From total sweats to wearing a simple shirt with a sweater vest and trousers to wearing whatever I feel like wearing, I don’t cater to anyone. I don’t dress up to show everyone I’m transmasc anymore, because I’ve come to a point where I only dress for myself and for my gender comfort.
And that’s how I come up with sick fits everyday.
Nonetheless, there’s no one definition of fashion. Kai Wesener, the president of the WHS Fashion Club, views fashion as self expression. “It’s really important because it’s the first thing people see about you and lets you share your personality just through your appearance,” he says. Wesener personally likes to express his music taste through band t-shirts. “People who listen to the same music dress similar most of the time, it’s weird,”he says. A lot of people base their style on their music tastes and it tends to show through various things. For example a lot of Tyler, The Creator fans, including myself, tend to dress with the same vibe Tyler gives off. You’ll find that a lot of Tyler fans have a really good sense of style and aren’t afraid to go outside the box with their outfits day to day, just like Tyler, who incorporates his cool weirdness with his own style. Kai describes his style as “like dark academia common but more trendy like a bit of streetwear” and also recommends watching Frugal Aesthetic on YouTube to those who are beginning to figure out their own style: “he has so much knowledge of fashion it’s crazy.”
Aleesha Sachanandani is a senior at Washington High School. He was born in Hayward but has lived in Fremont for all of his life. This is his second year with the Hatchet and is currently the Arts and Entertainment editor. He loves building Legos, talking about vehicles, doing kung fu, and playing sports. He plans to do whatever his mind and heart agree on together for his future and is excited to explore. He also plans to work towards bettering the world to support various communities. GO HUSKIES RAHHHH