​​In today’s age the word “fashion” can mean several different things depending on the person. Fashion usually consists of a popular trend, especially in styles of dress. But is trendy really fashionable? The word trendy in my mind usually refers to expensive and sometimes outrageous looking clothes. The norm in fashion can change almost everyday but the thing that remains the same is the designer or a name brand. It feels as if a new piece of weird clothing breaks out everyday and the only reason people wear that item is because of the price. 

Take Yeezy foams for example. They’re an over $200 shoe that has a bunch of holes in them. I don’t think paying for 25 percent of a shoe is a smart investment, but then again some people do. Is it because of the price or because it’s “trendy?” 

Or some people may really enjoy the way the shoe looks, which is fine. But what I don’t understand is when someone tries to dress outside of the current trend of clothing or norm, it’s a reason to make fun of them or respond negatively to them dressing differently. 

The type of “dressing differently” I’m referring to is alternative styles like grunge, gothic, emo, scene, edgy, etc. I’ve noticed, even in my own experience, when you try to dress in these certain styles you get way more judgement than you’d probably would wearing name brand like Nike or Balenciaga. In most of these “alt styles” there isn’t a lot of name brand associated with it- usually thrift or just regular, used clothes- but still has the aesthetic attached. You would think dressing in the way you want to express yourself shouldn’t be anything to make fun of someone about, but it still happens often. Getting laughed at by people walking past is the main issue or people recording without permission to crack jokes (at least just speaking from my experience). I think it says a whole lot about people who wear the same things everyday; you aren’t original or special since the person right next to you is wearing practically the same thing.

“I consider my style to be different from usual trends, because I don’t just wear the same thing everyone else wears,” Danae Carey, junior, said. “I dress the way I do because I like to be different. I get my clothes from thrift stores, because I don’t want to be the same as everyone else.” 

When it comes to trendy clothing and its expense others perceive it as neither here nor there. For Carey, you can put on a really nice outfit without it being expensive and vice versa: you can put on a nice fit while it also being expensive, so it really depends on the person. 

Some pros to dressing alternative are just looking really cool and different compared to the current trends. But the downside- the cons- is that people are very judgemental. 

“Some people say I dress like a boy or say that I’m emo for jokes, but that’s not how I would describe myself or my style,” Carey said.

Not all judgement affects us though. It can be annoying, but we don’t always need to take other people’s judgement into consideration. Why should I care about how you feel about the way I like to dress? 

“To me there aren’t really any cons because even if people do comment on the way I dress, it’s not like I care,” Mondis Doyle, junior, said. “Most people like the way I dress so the judgement I get I could care less about.” (His inspiration for his style is Luka Sabbat, a African American actor that has a very distinct way of dressing.)

Regardless of the stigmas people might have about the alt dressing community, we have no shame in the way we dress, and we shouldn’t have to change for the amusement of others. I feel everyone should be able to dress in the way they feel is best for them- not just what’s “trendy” at the moment. The unnecessary judgement and comments don’t make you look any cooler than anyone else.