By Emilee Caldera
As the halls of Braddock are currently flooded in high top vans and peeped Nike socks, have you ever wondered what shoes walked these halls before yours?
Our school has had its fair share of evolution throughout fashion history but have some things stayed the same? We interviewed past Braddock Alumni from 1998, 2008, and of course, our class of 2018 to find out.
Many high schoolers like to dress on trend with current styles, but are the same basic items being paired with seasonal favorites? From galaxy print in 2014, to the studs in 2015, and the ugly trends from 2016 that we are still trying to forget; how can we decide what fashion trends will be labeled as classic or tacky?
The 90’s were unforgettable fashion years, with their grunge-chic that all the choker lovers rocked to the iconic two-piece sets worn by Cher and Dion in the classic nineties movie Clueless. We took to some of our alumni bulldog roots to get the skinny on what styles were actually fly. Alex Garcia, Braddock class of 1998 says, “The majority of kid’s style was classic 90’s mixed with a hint of Miami and we all know what that means. The ideal outfit being a nice pair of JNCOs, a polo shirt, and a HIGH pair of platforms.” He then went on to say “but if all went wrong, we could always fall back on those converse.” Although the nineties were twenty years ago, it’s safe to say that most high schoolers are now taking inspiration from the impactful era. As Suzette Rodriguez, class of 2018, goes onto say “the nineties as a fashion era, in my opinion, was one of the most iconic because you can take any piece and it will add a nice flair to an outfit while still creating a certain level of comfort and achieving an effortless but really cool look.”
What we do know about the 2000’s are the unrealistic standards that Sharpay Evans set in 2008. As Rebecca Astorga, former BTV girl from the class of 2008, says “what was fashionable at Braddock when I went there was if you were wearing the latest from stores like Hollister or Abercrombie and Fitch. So you had a preppy look to you, for example, polo shirts paired with lightly flared jeans and cropped sweaters always added a nice flare to any outfit. But there was always that touch of cool, like if you were wearing Chucks. So there was always an edge; you had a preppy look to you from your head to your ankles with a nice cool pair of Chucks. And EVERYBODY, no matter who you were, wore chucks.” As many can agree, the 2000’s have not impacted people’s style as much as other time periods. “I’ve never taken much influence from the 2000’s style. Not because it’s bad per say, but because it has never personally affected me. But I see it affect many other kids because it does have many similarities to the nineties, but more evolved. People became more into brand name things and they came up in the rap game where a lot of kids get their style from.” says Jorge Palmer, class of 2018.
Many of our current Bulldogs will argue that we have the cutest style opposed to previous years, but not everybody agrees. We took to some current students to see how they felt. The words “very basic” seemingly popped into senior Suzette Rodriguez’s head when asked how the majority of kids dress “The same pair of Sperry’s that the boys never seem to forget, with a nice pair of jean shorts and polo shirts. It’s like they have the same outfit in twenty different colors.”
Fashion will always be a constant cycle, whether it’s the runways of New York or the hallways of our very own school. As senior Jorge Palmer likes to put it “I think through fashion there’s always some sort of reboot” and that is exactly what has continuously happened here at our school. One thing’s for sure, our halls have seen fashion trends evolve through the decades, and we can only hope our current styles leave an imprint.
The Watchdog 