Malina Webb

Ipswich High School

Ipswich, Massachusetts  

USA

Virtual High School

www.govhs.org

April 8, 2008 

The Meaning of Jeans

            Freedom of expression is shown through the different clothes that people chose to wear. Clothing and fashion has come a long way from our predecessors. I doubt anyone wears clothes for warmth or practicality nowadays; it's all about style! In Ipswich, especially at my high school, good fashion is based on the brand of your pants, and the price. I do not openly agree with this trend, but sometimes, even a rebel has a soft spot for cute jeans.

            My friends are the smart students on the sidelines. Some of them have a surprisingly high classroom aptitude. Many of them, you would doubt they had any classroom ability at all, due to their lack of common sense or personal lives. Their clothes may reflect this attitude, and lead to your judgment. Fashion can be misleading. Most of my friends dress ‘earthy,’ which, I suppose is synonymous with ‘hippie.’ Ipswich is big on the Birkenstock sandals with the wool socks, (it does get cold). The other popular shoe is Converse, which I wear because my dad passed on this tradition. My appearance is not overwhelming, I prefer the terms, ‘casual’ and ‘funky.’

            My fashion is expressed through the cleanest pair of jeans, a nice shirt (dictated by my day’s activities) and a zip-up hoodie, or sweater. To a certain extent, many of my jeans are brand names, but I wear them in a casual sense, as if that tiny tag did not matter. Jeans are a staple of my wardrobe, and in a way, a staple of my personality. Jeans are casual, friendly, like me. My daily jeans mean in part, that I was lazy in the morning, and took an easy, safe choice. They also express my statement that I am everyday, casual and classic, a person anyone can talk to. If my jeans ever had a meaning, they would say just that.  I enjoy shopping, for jeans and everything else like most girls, but I am a sale shopper, and love getting that great deal! I am secretly a middle-aged mom, in one size smaller jeans. I have been to the Gap, at the clearance rack, butting elbows with yoga moms and grandmothers around Christmas. I can admit, I have squealed once or twice over a ten-dollar sale. And, I have looked, extensively, on racks labeled ‘final clearance,’ or ‘five dollars of lower, guaranteed.’ The gimmicks draw me in, but the clothing's personality takes out my wallet and makes me pay the price.

            At the end of my clothes’ lives, they reach a point where they have options. Most clothes that are either too small, too big, too last year, or just too much, are bagged, boxed and shipped to other places. Recently, a large bag of clothes went to Ukraine, from a clothing drive at my school.  It is nice to give things away, clear space, and feel good about something you might not normally. Clothes can be recycled, and reincarnated into their next  life. Giving things to charities makes me feel better when, afterwards my mother takes me to Macy's or the Gap, with her credit card. As I am on a budget, it is nice to have Mom pay. Clothes should not be expensive nowadays, but they are, and this is a fact I have to live with. I am willing to pay a higher price for a piece of clothing that I adore.

Clothing, which makes up one’s fashion, is a lot more in life than a person’s outer layer of fabric and sheen. A bird’s feathers may be recognized for providing warmth, but most feathers function as other things too. A bird like the peacock, uses their feathers for a second function, an important ritual, mating. Fashion lives the double life, like the peacock’s feathers. Our clothes adorn our bodies for protection as well as embellish the inner-workings of one’s soul and mind.  I love to express myself, and fashion can provide that outlet. Appreciate and love your clothes, and in return they will cherish you and express your personality without words, but with color.