Everything changes when high school hits: Friends, interests, beliefs, and most critically, the closet. 

‘Rebranding yourself’ is often expected when experiencing adjustment or change; it’s not outside of human nature to want to impress the people around you.

Freshmen experience this more than ever; you’re back at the bottom of the food chain, and stigmas about annoying habits, styles, or quirks cloud people’s judgment. 

With the first step into high school halls, underclassmen experience hundreds of feelings, common ones being: “What do they think about me?” “Will they like me?” “Do I look cool?”

As freshmen, the work is pre-cut, and in a search for redemption to walk with confidence and have a sense of identity, many teens look to fashion. 

After being asked about what she takes into account when dressing, Emma Shimmon, a freshman, responds, 

“When dressing each morning, I usually use TikTok or Pinterest for curating my style. One of my biggest inspirations is my older sister, who is a senior this year. I usually will go into her closet (without asking) and browse through her clothes.” 

Shimmon, like a lot of underclassmen, looks to the older students’ style to get a better idea of how they think “older, more mature kids” may dress. 

When additionally asked about what trends she notices within the freshman grade, Shimmon responded, 

“I notice a lot of my grade dress is pretty basic; a lot of the same clothes are just being recycled by different people.” Shimmon alludes to the fact that 9th grade is a year of new style, where most start from a blank slate.

Some of the trends amongst the 9th grade involve fewer textures and more basics, using the first year of high school as a bone structure for what their style will eventually morph into. 

But where to shop for these basics? As a new student, how can you just know where to look? Well, Lillie Turco, a current freshman, has an answer to that question: 

“I usually go shopping at places like Brandy Melville, Urban Outfitters, or Lululemon, because I really like how each looks, but it is also easy to go to these stores since they’re all in Bridgeport, and I don’t have to be driven anywhere else.” 

These stores are all easily accessible for freshmen who lack a license, but still want a large variety of options. 

The 9th grade typically looks for a particular style of clothing, the convenience of buying it, and how conventional wearing it to school will be. But should comfort even be a factor, or is it just about the looks? 

When further questioned about the change from middle to high school, Turco responds, “I think it’s a way different environment at Wilsonville than it was at my last school. I also think the pressure to dress and appear a certain way is amplified because everyone around you is older.” 

She then adds, “I definitely think the social pressures of high school affect how I dress; it played the biggest part in the change of my wardrobe between 8th to 9th grade.”

High school is where kids get to develop into older versions of themselves, but remain young at heart. Freshman year places the bones together of who you will become someday.

The freshman class is growing and changing along with their style. They’re figuring out how they want to dress, erasing the paper of the past, and starting clean. Although multiple factors play a part in this change, the influence of the peers around them is the most evident. 

And while it may feel like all eyes are watching, the truth is that everyone is trying to figure things out at the same time. Freshman year isn’t just about fitting in — it’s about discovering what makes you feel confident, comfortable, and genuinely yourself. 

High school may be considered a battleground of the popular styles and “cute fits,” but it’s also one of the most beautiful displays of real-life Pinterest, and rather than insignificant “likes,” we get to practice actual compliments.

Once teens can realize that it isn’t about fitting into the clothes or shoes, but more so, about fitting into their own bodies and having a sense of security in that, they will understand that it won’t matter what outfits they wear, but the smiles they project instead. 

Trends will come and go, but the most important part of this transformation is learning to wear your personality with pride. In a place where everyone is redefining who they are, the bravest thing you can do is grow into the version of you that feels right — one outfit at a time.