Style is a way of expressing oneself through choices in clothing, accessories, and overall appearance. It often reflects a person’s personality, tastes, and sometimes even their values. You could say someone’s style is a reflection of their individuality and how they choose to present themselves to the world. Now, as you’re walking through the halls of South El Monte High School you might notice the very different and unique styles around campus. I had the chance to talk to two students whose style stood out from the rest. Sophomore Steven Espinoza and senior Rebecca Reyes.

Steven Espinoza is a sophomore at South El Monte High School, his style highlights his creativity, confidence, and personal preferences. Steven doesn’t know what to call his style he just wears whatever he’s comfortable with he says, “In some of my outfits I’ll be sagging and I’ll have a triple XL white shirt on so I guess that’s kind of reminiscent to 90’s hip hop in a way.” He likes to plan out his outfits to see what shirt goes well with what pants and he often tries different color combinations to see what looks best. Steven says he hopes to get more jewelry to go with his outfits, things like rings and necklaces are what he’s really into. His general message that he wants his outfits to say is to wear whatever you want. “I used to wear a lot darker and baggier clothes when I was around 4 or 5, then I stopped for a while and got back into this style again,” says Steven, but other than that he’s mostly grown more love for this style again. He doesn’t think there is a bad style but he also isn’t fond of people who wear skinny sweats and a basic tee.

Rebecca is a senior at South El Monte High School. They consider themselves to be a mix of goth and emo. You may see them around school with white face makeup and a head-turning outfit. They describe their style as dark and gloomy. Rebecca says, “A lot of influencers online or some rock punk emo bands and goth bands” inspire their style. Rebecca thinks that fashion says a lot about a person and they want their fashion to say that they are bold and don’t want to conform to the norm, “it’s also a representation of the music I listen to.” Although this is not a style Rebecca has always had, as I got to interview them they explained to me that their style was developed in 2019. They saw styles and music around social media and thought it was cool, so they felt like they wanted to represent themselves. Rebecca does not believe there is a bad style and that everyone should express themselves however they want. “Sure we can judge but at the same time it’s not hurting anybody so do what you want with your clothes and your own life.”