As the winter months approach, fall begins to fade away, and fashion begins to change. Fashion is a way of self-expression, imagination, and creativity for many. There aren’t any rules, you can wear whatever you want, whenever you want. We often see how fashion constantly changes, not only through the seasons but over the years as well. You don’t see many people wearing trench coats to keep themselves warm, do you?
Living in Oregon makes it pretty easy to wear anything other than shorts and tank tops throughout the year. Offering many different styles and opportunities to dress with layers, and tie in a flannel, incorporate beanies, or choose from many pants. Teens in Oregon often wear cargo/parachute pants, corduroys, and sweatpants. Which very much fits in with the often-seen Portland skater, or hippie/hipster. As said, “Portland is like Las Vegas, but hipster”. Being from Oregon, you also have to think about raincoats and waterproof attire. Going out in a T-shirt and shorts on a rainy day wouldn’t be too fun. But jeans are common too, whether that be bootcut, straight-legged, ripped, or boyfriend, there are types of jeans for anything out there. Portland is very open to fashion, walking down the streets you may even see someone wearing leggings, or dress pants for a dressier look. As fashion constantly changes, we are going to look into the current state of Portland’s fall/winter fashion.
At the beginning of this school year, the ‘90s, and the Y2K look came back into play.
With shows like Friends, movies like Legally Blonde, actors like Jennifer Aniston, and Halle Berry, overalls, and shirts tucked in, made a comeback. Many teens also followed the trend of oversized clothing, with huge jean shorts, and t-shirts that go to their knees. Now that it’s late fall, and close to winter, jean shorts aren’t as ideal. Fernando Gonzalas said, “Usually around this time I start to see more people wearing flannel shirts and jackets, accompanied with jeans and boots”. This goes to say, that Timberlands come back with boots that have insanely skyrocketed. They originally were popular in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but since 2020, have become increasingly popular. They keep your feet warm, and they’re stylish, what’s better than that? Olivia Murnin said, “In the fall, I like to wear black long sleeves with cropped or uncropped puffer vests, and ripped jeans paired with jewelry”. Accessories/jewelry has become more common, many like to wear both gold & silver, as some would say “mixing their metals”. Emmie Reed said, “In fall I like to layer clothes like a long sleeve under a dress, or a sweater with tights under a skirt. My go-to colors during fall would be oranges, browns, greens, maroon, and any darker color”. During fall, warmth is taken more into account, but not nearly as much as in winter.
As we get closer to the colder months, what’s keeping teens warm? Emmie Reed said, “In winter the layering becomes even more important, I make sure to have a comfortable puffy coat that I can wear most days, and I like to add things like scarfs, fingerless gloves, knitted hand warmer, and fun socks to make my outfits more fun”. Out of the others I asked, 5/6 said that puffer coats are seen often in the winter times and deemed to be popular. Danika Traver said, “I like to wear fuzzy socks and UGGs’. With the Y2K trends coming back, and Jennifer Lopeze’s influence, UGGs have gained increasing popularity within the past few years. Olivia Murnin also said, “Something that keeps me warm and stylish over the winter is a puffer coat of course, and something I only wear in the winter is sweaters and plaid, because any other time it doesn’t match the aesthetic, it might make me call the fashion police. Others included if styled right ear muffs, and leggings are what to wear, and adding a handbag or purse never hurts.
Some who don’t live in the year-long cold weather may think, is it hard to look good and be warm? Well, here are many Oregonians’ opinions and examples of what they do during these chilly times. And how they stay cool without being cold.