All the ‘Cool Kids’ are Doing it?

By Margot Latici, Career Development Coordinator CLE Denver

Do you think you are immune from peer pressure? I certainly was not. How else would you explain saving up your allowance for weeks on end to buy a ridiculously puffy Starter jacket (those of you born in the 80’s will know), The Smashing Pumpkins double album or trying to convince my parents to let me get yet another ear piercing at Claire’s. Whether it was music, clothes, name brands or other personal expressions of style, I definitely fell victim to trends and what the so called ‘cool kids’ were doing, but I wanted to see if that was the case for others. With a little help from my advisee Alex Fleener, we set out to interview CLE staff, CLE Students and the manager of Uniqlo clothing to find out what the ‘cool kids’ are doing these days. We wanted to see if most people follow trends, succumbing to peer pressure, what those trends were/are, and if CLE students had their own unique trends and peer pressure parameters.

Before we set out to interview we established that we would be asking a set of questions about peer pressure as it relates to following trends such as fashion, music, pop culture, brand names, hairstyles and other personal expressions of style such as tattoos and piercings. Our question set included:

• Are you currently following a trend?
• Have you ever felt peer pressure to follow a trend?
• What is the worst trend you ever followed?

CLE Staff:

According to CLE Staff member, Sara Davis, the fashion trend she can’t seem to escape is the Colorado outdoor clothing scene. Just think plaid is the new black. Lucky for Sara, she is originally a New Englander so all of her childhood LL Bean flannels came in handy out here in Colorado. In middle school and high school Sara definitely felt peer pressure to do as the cool kids do and wear a lot of Adidas. We’re talking shoes, pants, sweatshirts, looking back on it she could have been mistaken for a soccer referee, but hey, it was in! Now Sara said she does not feel that same pressure and is more inspired by trends on Instagram or Pinterest and tries to recreate a version of her own. WORST TREND: the Starter Jacket.

Hear from Sara:

Outside CLE Source:

When Alex interviewed her manager, Rolena Richardson at Uniqlo we knew we might have a trend setter, not follower, on our hands. For those of you who don’t know, Uniqlo is a Japanese clothing store known for producing casual, yet fashionable wear for men, women and kiddos. Rolena’s job is to pay attention to fashion trends, as trends indicate what is popular and important to people at a given time. You will most likely find her dressed in a trendy outfit from Uniqlo, but that’s her job. Rolena did mention one trend she has not been able to escape is that of reality TV. Anything that is Real Housewives (Florida, Atlanta, New York, you name it) makes her happy! As popular ratings indicate, the trend of reality TV makes a lot of other people happy too. As a kid, Rolena was one of those rare people who evaded the middle school peer pressure hype; she just kind of did her own thing. She even weathered a bad bowl cut, which was a low maintenance hairstyle trend her mother wanted to try on her. Now, being in the fashion industry, Rolena values trends because fashion connects people. In most modern societies you have to wear clothing to be accepted in a public space and fashion can allow you to feel connected.

Hear from Rolena:

CLE Students:

Here is where the interviews stopped “trending.” Alex and I interviewed four CLE Students, Cameron Neumann, Emily Wilson, Ryan Nunn and Alice Pfeiffenberger. For the most part across the board, these students did NOT succumb to the pressures of their peers. Okay, Ryan did go through a small phase in middle school where she wanted everything to be Juicy Couture, but for the most part, Cameron, Emily and Alice all said “no, not really.”

Trends for our CLE students more boiled down to what they like as individuals. For example, Cameron identifies himself as a binge watching fan of the show, Series of Unfortunate Events. He wears crazy socks, lacrosse shorts and Hawaiian shirts. Emily Wilson is a Trekker (a dedicated fan of any iteration of Star Trek, not just the Next Generation) and she likes to dress modestly and in comfortable sportswear. Alice is in to all things magical, Hairy Potter, spells, wands and wizards and Ms. Ryan Nunn, just likes to dress cute. She does not have to wear a particular name brand, but rather looks up to what her mom likes and she likes to personalize her earrings. She never wears the same pair twice to CLE! The interviews were impressive to hear. CLE students watch what they want to watch, wear what they want to wear and don’t get too caught up in what other people are doing or what they think!

Hear from Ryan: