At George Washington Carver Center, we are locally known for our student body. There is no other school in the area with such a vast array of individuality among each and every student and with that, comes a different fashion sense of each person. It is this uniqueness that is what I believe makes each person at carver special.
Some don’t care as much about fashion, especially at school. Most dress up for pure comfortability, things like pajama pants, sweatshirts, and hoodies are popular choices for more simple outfits that don’t require much effort. And that’s fair of course, but other students dress up and to look good. Through my time at Carver Center, I’ve seen people with exceptionally appealing clothing. I’ve seen “fits” with cohesion, effort, detail, and personality, and from these I believe, above all else, fashion at Carver relies on individuality rather than such things as brands or recognition. A Student at Carver says in an interview that she thinks a lot of people buy clothes for their brands. Shopping this way goes against the concept of fashion in her opinion, quoting “Like you can tell a lot about someone from the way they dress. And you can see their personality from that.”
Her words illustrate a picture of fashion that I think has been forgotten for some time. Fashion is not about what brands someone has or how expensive their clothing is. The idea of recognition and “hypebeast” fashion (The fashion subgenre of trendy brands and pieces popularized by rap and streetwear culture) has been a longstanding one as long as contemporary fashion has existed, especially in 2016 with the hypebeast era takeover. I feel the idea of brands as venerated things to be gawked at and revered has really been solidified since then. Contrary to my first interviewee, I don’t think brands are completely corrosive. They provide a valuable concept and layer of depth, but they can absolutely be taken too far, as any aspect of fashion can be.
My first interviewee even admits her own personal interest in brands, but she finds that others who don’t fully understand the culture of the brand, dilute the brand’s impact. This is something that my second interviewee, a man who also takes influences from the skateboarding fashion scene (albeit not nearly as much), also touched on. He was more focused on the development of Nike in the fashion scene and how much influence it has over people’s sense of style. “I think people see stuff like Jordan that’s hype and wear it just because of that y’know, like not even cuz’ it looks good.”, (It’s worth noting that he was wearing Vans), “Instead of finding shoes that they like, that fit them and their style. I don’t like to be judgemental or anything like I’m not gonna drag someone for it but at the same time like, you shouldn’t just wear something because it’s popular.” It seems many at ‘Carver find things like fast fashion and “trendy” fashion waves distasteful or, more so, disingenuous.
In total, at carver I think fashion is highly subjective, but has commonalities between all who are interested in the genre. And, especially at Carver, the unquestionable individuality that is brought to each person’s style, seems to be valued the most by all who are interested in fashion and apparel.
