What are the fashion trends as students return to school? | Life

Trying to keep up with the latest fashion trends can feel like a race you can’t win — as soon as you’ve caught up, the styles change and you’ve fallen behind once again.

Fortunately for the pocketbooks of parents of students returning to school in September, some of today’s young people are frugal and find second-hand shopping cool.

“The upcoming generation are quite savvy. So, thrift shopping, Value Village, Goodwill, become part of their weekend activities, trying to find the find, finding vintage Champion or Adidas, all those things that people over the years discard,” said David Dixon, a professor at Seneca’s School of Fashion.

“They’re also very sustainable. They’ve grown up with those words: sustainable, upcycling, recycling, Grandpa-chic.”

He said young people will go into their parents or grandparents’ closets and find unique pieces to make them their own.

When it comes to fashion trends, they tend to go in two ways. First, there are the investment pieces. These will be more expensive items from such brands as Lacoste, Polo or Ralph Lauren whose styles don’t change frequently.

And then there are the test pieces; these are the fast-fashion items at a much lower cost that are constantly changing.

Fast-fashion is on a decline with today’s young crowd, Dixon said, as they’re more interested in understanding where and how their clothing is made, while the old-money, preppy style, comprised of the brands mentioned above, is on the rise.

Dixon said many parents will shell out money to buy one or two shirts from such brands, and then their kids will pair those statement pieces with less expensive items, such as khakis from a brand like Old Navy, and then round out their wardrobe with second-hand purchases.

Today’s fashion trends

So, what are the kids wearing these days?

Dixon sees a lot of young people wearing Crocks with socks or Adidas sandals with socks.

When it comes to jeans, they never go out of style, but the styles change. People will remember Britney Spears made the low-rise jeans popular, but their popularity is out, expensive designer jeans are also out, skinny jeans are on the way out, as the trend today is to go for baggy jeans.

Dixon sees many young people wearing oversized jeans, either wide and long or wide and short (almost like shorts that are too long) and often paired with loafers with a chunky base.

The preppy look is back with a street-urban influence, so you’ll see varsity school sweaters, Oxford shirts, pleated skirts and cardigans. Roots jumped on this style and brought back its Beaver Canoe collection, which features varsity and vintage looking clothing, and people shouldn’t be surprised if they see a kid in Grade 8 wearing a Harvard University sweater.

Jewelry and accessories are important, and you’ll see people with multiple rings, bracelets and necklaces across the genders, and there’s more fluidity between what is considered masculine or feminine. Things like nail polish and nail art are also being used across the genders and won’t be uncommon as early as in Grade 7 or 8.

The kids are also thinking about comfort, especially as they get to older grades or later in college or university, when their workloads increase.

“Comfort is a huge trend,” Dixon said.

“Even though they’re put together, they want to appear as if they didn’t try too hard but thought went into every detail of that outfit.”

And then there are shoes.

Shoe brand names are important, so they will be another statement piece that costs more money. Shoes are usually the first items that kids think about when they start being interested in fashion, and this begins around grades 6 to 8, Dixon said. Classic brands like Vans and Converse remain popular and he’s seeing Reebok making a comeback with the younger crowd.

Fashion influences

Previous generations would look to their musical idols or MTV for fashion influence whereas today’s young people take their cues from influencers on social media and at an earlier age. Dixon doesn’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, but it’s something parents should be aware of.

“Especially with young groups, I think parents or guardians should be aware of what they’re watching and listening to and making sure they understand what that identity means,” Dixon said.

Young people are always trying to find their own individuality and will put their own spin on a fashion, but it does tend to follow similar patterns to what their peers are wearing.

“I think peer pressure, in terms of dressing, will never go away. Even though they’re finding out their own individuality, they still want to feel like they’re part of something,” Dixon said.

If parents want to see what kids are wearing, he suggests taking a mall walk.