Dressing for school can go either two ways: sweatpants and sweatshirts or dressing in the latest trendy shirt and pants. In 2018, most in styles have already been seen before: like checkered Vans and boyfriend jeans. The teens of this year no longer stick to the latest style, but steal the trends of decades before.

Walking through VHS I peak my head into each classroom, already knowing what kind of clothing I’ll find. The first classroom I walk into half the class is wearing checkered slip on Vans. From their creation in 1977, and their cameo performance in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, checkered Vans have never been an unpopular shoe. Vans were most popular during the skateboard craze in the 90’s, but slowly lost their popularity in competition with other shoe brands. Now in 2018, me along with many other student at VHS, wear Vans almost every day.

However, there is an obvious division between VHS students. Those who wear Converse would never wear Vans, you are either one or the other.  Like Vans, Converse Chuck Taylor’s have been a staple for many years. These narrow canvas shoes made their appearance in the 20’s, but were at their all time popularity in the 80’s. No matter the gender, everyone was wearing those shoes, and they still are. When half of the class is wearing Vans, the other half of the class is wearing Converse.

Retro slacks have also become popular for teen girls, more specifically striped and checkered ones. These pants date all the way back to the 50’s when women started to entertain the idea of more feminine slacks. The 40’s was filled with the excitement of women wearing pants, and the 50’s was the year that the pants became stylish. These types of pants are commonly known as cigarette pants, fitted slacks that cut off around the ankle. In 2018, girls are wearing these pants with a cute pattern or design adorning them, and maybe a sweater or tight shirt with it.

Now, to either finish the look or to create a look, denim is a go-to for these high schools students. Anything that can possibly be made into denim is now a look. A skirt? Of course. A jacket? A staple to  the fit. A dress, overalls, jumpsuit? It’s a look. Nobody thought the day would come, but it came, and denim on denim is back. The 1930’s was when denim was introduced as a fashion trend, thanks to Hollywood stars, but it was not until the 90’s when it became a staple of the grunge era. Jeans might have never left, but slowly every other denim style is returning and finding its way into closets of millions of high school teens.

In my opinion though, scrunchies may be the most important trend to return. I secure my shorter than normal hair into my hot pink scrunchy and notice 20 other scrunchies in one class. Along with these fun hair ties, hairstyles have evolved as well. Long hair for guys and short hair for girls is more popular than ever. With all of these styles and trends, It is as if VHS has gone back in time and raided our parent’s teen-aged closets.