As Shalhevet students, do we care about how we look? We all want to feel comfortable, but have we blurred the line between comfy-and-cute and lazy-and-baggy?
When it’s time to get dressed in the morning, it would seem that that most girls are choosing their outfit without much thought.
“I get dressed based on how much sleep I get the night before,” said senior Leona Fallas. “Like if I’m sleep deprived, I wear a sweatshirt and the shoes lying on the floor. If I’m rested, I put in effort.”
“If I’m really tired, then I wear my PJ bottoms,” said sophomore Maya Ben Shushan. “But if I’m just tired then I don’t wear my PJ bottoms. It’s that simple.”
Last month, The Boiling Point set out to see whether students dressed in the morning according to their mood. In a poll that asked how they decided, nine out of 65 girls said their mood was the key.
But 22 said, “It’s random.” Eight more said they wore “the first thing I see in my closet,” or words to that effect.
Asked to explain, most said it depended on the amount of sleep they got the night before. Only two girls said they chose their outfits according to the weather.
“Today was a really good day because I had eight hours of sleep, so I tried to dress semi-cute,” said junior Rose Bern.
As it happens, eight hours of sleep is a rare occurrence for many high school students. It is true looking put together does take effort, but does our lack of sleep have to make us even more indifferent to our appearance?
There were a few other issues too – “Like for example if one day I’m feeling fat, I won’t wear such loud colors or tight clothes, but I’ll stick to black and baggier clothes,” said senior Deanna Grunfeld.
And some people manage to fight the fatigue.
“Even if I’m at home I don’t ever like looking horrible because it makes me feel bad when I look bad,” said junior Rachel Friedman.
But it is pretty evident that sleep affects the way most people dress at Shalhevet. Everyone has their days when putting effort into an outfit seems like climbing Mt. Everest, but there are tricks to help decrease these days.
Try putting together your outfit the day before. Find easy clothes that you actually like and don’t fall back on the same white Hanes tees.
Try hanging your clothes up in your closet, so it’s easier to see your options and you don’t have to unfold your whole wardrobe. Pick out a color palette that appeals to you and layer on solid pieces. If you pick colors that appeal to you, it may even help brighten your mood and act as a caffeine kick.
It all comes down to a simple mantra. If you look good, you feel good. Our days at school can feel less long and tiresome if we feel good about ourselves.
The effort may seem ridiculous when you’re laying your clothes out on a chair in your pajamas at midnight. But the payoff is a happy attitude. What more can you ask for?
