From Hydroflasks to Airpods to scrunchies and Gucci belts, status is vital to the average high school student. Thousands of high schoolers across the country spend money on name brand and high priced items.

Fitting in is a piece of the puzzle of high school that means more than most might think. People live for that feeling of acceptance, especially teens.

High School is hard on kids. There’s so much pressure that we face not only academically but materialistically as well. As you go down the hall of a high school you can almost immediately see the trends that are popular with the crowd.

Celebrities and influencers, including Youtubers , have a large role in establishing these trends. In perspective, when teens watch or look at the pictures of rappers, singers, and actors they want to be just like them. The problem with wanting to mirror these famous influencers is that it’s not affordable for the average viewer. 

Some of these brands are Louis Vuitton, Louboutin, Gucci, Balenciaga, and Off White. Items from these designer brands range anywhere from the mid-hundreds to the high thousands of dollars. 

Off-White is a great example, created by Virgil Abloh. His brand is based on Chicago streetwear and here in Indiana you don’t really think of streetwear, making this brand unique to people who normally don’t see streetwear.

Yet again this is a brand worn by big celebrities like Rihanna, A$AP Rocky and Travis Scott, influencing kids once again. Their big sellers are shoes, especially Nike collabs.

On Nike’s website a pair of Nike x Off-White AF1’s were a cheap $160. The trick about buying these is you had to enter a raffle to see if you were chosen to receive them. Once the raffle was over and winners were announced, people flocked to eBay and Stockx, selling the shoes for a whopping $4,000. 

The sad thing is people will pay for these shoes at any price as long as it says Nike or Off-White.

Hydroflasks are a huge seller among teens, especially girls. The popular water bottle is a high quality item and is around $50. Having the bottle to keep your water cold and actually for the reason to have a nice bottle is different from people buying them for the trend.

That’s another issue with these brands and teens. Whether its a swoosh, or a Louis Vuitton symbol, people will buy it because of the names deemed trendy in the high school hallways. 

Kids tend to wear name brands frequently in school to “flex.” It’s basically just showing off and whether it’s valid or not, this can influence how students are seen in school. 

People are so wrapped up in thinking that you need certain things or you need to act a certain way to be normal, but not every group is like this. You will always have your “rich kid” or “popular” kid group of course, and then you will have your other groups that do not follow trends and wear the latest fashions.

Not caring what people think is something teens struggle with as well.

No matter what you do in high school, if it isn’t within the trends, you’ll get judged for it, but not all students let this stop them from being who they are. 

Senior Cassie Middelton is someone who doesn’t fall with the trends. “They don’t last and I don’t care what people think,” she said. 

Confidence is key to these teens. Falling victim to the trends is not a bad thing at all–we can all admit we may have bought or done something because it was “ in” at the time.

But teens aren’t the only ones following trends and trends won’t make or break you either. They come with both positive and negative effects. 

Negative effects of trends are getting hurt or outcasted while the benefits of trends could be the complete opposite, allowing one to find a group of people to fit in with. 

The “weird” kids are the ones that tend to not follow trends, but are these kids even “weird?” What if they’re just normal people like you and they’d rather just not waste their money on what’s “in.”

That desire to fit in is so prevalent and for some, it sticks around into adulthood. It can hurt a person for not being accepted, making them feel ignored and even falling into a depression on a larger scale. 

Trends can harm people not necessarily physically, but mentally. Teens can get the idea that you have to have what everyone else has and you need to do what everyone else is doing. This idea will stick into the teens head to long for this standard and acceptance into society.

Some kids may try hard to be in this crowd, because what you wear unfortunately determines your worth.

You may be wearing the newest Nikes and Airpods and be immediately accepted, while on the other hand you could be wearing Sketchers and a hoodie and be turned down.

The dots don’t connect and there is no real reason to be targeted for dressing differently. Thinking that 17-year-olds make these “rules” is funny.

High school fads die quickly. Trends don’t stick around. Stressing about not having the newest shoes or the coolest hair is the least of our concerns. We stress already enough about the academic concerns of highschool let alone the materialistic concerns.

High school should be a time when memories are made and friendships are kept. Being in the loop is okay, but forcing yourself into trends isn’t. 

Look around and ask yourself…are the trends worth it?