I’m going to argue that the best argument for fashion trends in high school is a stylistic one. First off, I’d like to point out that stylistic trends are usually started in junior high. Most of these stylistic decisions are influenced by peer pressure and the like, but they last all through college. Therefore, you’re really arguing against my premise that fashion trends in high school are really a figment of our imagination. Secondly, let me give you some examples of real stylistic trends:
A very common trend in high school is for girls to wear their hair longer than their hair is in their ears (in fact, it’s so common that I actually have a couple of girls in my classroom who wear their hair long down to their shoulders). The counter-argument to this is that girls usually wear their hair down to their shoulders in their pre-teen years, and then cut it back when they go to college. The argument for this is that girls do that so that they can get a better job when they get older. The argument for the opposite is that it doesn’t make any sense for them to cut their hair short now, when it’s going to grow back sooner or later anyway. So whichever argument you choose to believe, I am confident that you’ll still agree that fashion trends in high school were just that – trends.
Another common trend is for boys to wear more sporty-type clothes, like khakis and baseball caps, than girls. Again, the counter-argument to this is that boys are more exposed to more transitional elements in the media, so they are used to seeing what they’re supposed to look like when they grow up. Finally, boys usually like to wear frills on their jackets and shoes. Again, the counter-argument to this is that frills can be distracting and don’t add any visual transitional elements. This, too, is a typical transition word.