Clique Fashion

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     I've struggled a lot trying to find my own style, whether it be hair, clothing, accessories, or just the way I carry myself. When given a prompt in class about the different cliques seen around school, and having seen the class respond with jock, nerd, popular, and so on, I wondered if your clique truly defines your style.

     To be a part of a clique is to be in "a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common, who spend time together and do not readily allow others to join them." This definition doesn't state anything about fashion, instead, it's more about the interests that the clique shares. So why do we classify a clique based on appearance? Certainly not every guy who wears shorts and a hoodie in the dead of winter is a "jock", and neither are all the girls with branded clothing the "popular girls".

     I've been a part of multiple friend groups and cliques, but those groups never had a specified style. My previous cliques have had multiple different styles that never really matched: a girl who always wore skirts or dresses and was never seen in a hoodie, the athlete of the group always in school wear, the girl who wore nothing but sweats, or the girl who wore all black and dark makeup. This group was certainly a clique, based on the definition of a clique, but if you saw us all separately, the stereotypical clique fashion would make us look like we could never get along.  

    So is a clique determined by their fashion? Can we classify a type of fashion that goes along with a clique even if it doesn't apply to all of its members? 


    

Comments

  1. Sydney AJanuary 30, 2022 at 12:12 PM

    I really like how you include your own experiences relating to the connection between cliques and style, Shambavi. In addition, it's really interesting how you deconstruct the definition of "clique" to support the idea that stereotypes about cliques, like how friends all dress the same, are untrue. People are three-dimensional, so labeling them as a "jock" or "nerd" doesn't reflect all parts of them.

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  2. EvaJanuary 30, 2022 at 6:59 PM

    I definitely relate to what you're saying. You've put it to words excellently. Lots of friend groups I've been in haven't really shared the same fashion tastes, either. Perhaps it's easier for outsiders to put labels onto cliques like the "popular girls" because they can't see past their appearances--they're on the outside, after all. But when it comes to real life, though, these theatrical interpretations of friend groups don't always live up to what they've been projected as. Great take!

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