Growing up in this city where girls wear the same type of clothes to every event is draining and quite ridiculous to watch. White or black cropped shirts with blue jeans for house parties, dresses with dirty Converse for homecoming, satin unflavored dresses for senior prom and most controversial of all, white short dresses for graduation.
The crazy part about it is that some girls get looked down upon or get brought up in group chats about what they wore and how they dress., I’ve been in a few. Wearing a white dress because you want to, vs wearing it because you like it on you, are very far apart from each other. Just because others are doing it doesn’t mean you have a soul obligation to.
We live in a very verbal and physically expressive generation, where girls wear suits to formal events, boys apply make-up for a softer look and we have pronouns to address our sexuality. I find it silly that we are limiting our clothing choices. I think the standard of wearing white is funny. Some think this is just something that has or is “required” to be done or what looks the best, and that is not the case.
The excessive amount of chatter from girls about their white dresses and what size 0 stores they’re shopping from can cause a lot of anxiety for a student who doesn’t feel confident or even comfortable enough to wear white. Graduation is to not only celebrate your academic accomplishments but the person you have become, not if your hair is perfectly curled or if you can walk in heels or not. For many students, their style choice is a representation of themselves, which takes a long time to adapt to their sense of style.
Personally, I am wearing a white dress because I feel beautiful and comfortable, but it’s different when people start feeling pressured to wear something that they would prefer not to want to. If you are wearing white that is your choice, but talking about it to the point where others start to feel like that’s their only choice is not acceptable. I’m excited to see the different clothing choices that students make this year. Typically white is known as a formal color, but anything would look good on anybody.
