The ideology of how we dress can seem most pressing to our minds. Many students  opt for sweatpants and a hoodie most days for school, but what about on social media?

Social media’s style is forever changing and people love showcasing their new outfits. This is only emphasized on TikTok, where it feels like there are new trending accessories, shirts, or pants every day. It is only a matter of time before mainstream stores pick up on it and start manufacturing these products for the common consumer. Stores like Shein and Romwe rely on these trends, they specialize in making affordable versions of trending articles with questionable quality. 

The appeal of TikTok and other popular social media platforms is the ever-changing formula. TikTok takes into consideration all the videos you like, videos you share, how much time you spend watching videos, and more, developing a “For You Page” with the gathered statistics. Because of the made-for-you style formula, people see what they want to see on TikTok, and a large portion of the younger demographic is drawn  to fashion. However, because there are constantly new people with new ideas, the trends are ever changing. 

“TikTok has changed my style a lot. I’ll be scrolling through TikTok and I’ll see a person that I follow wearing something cool, after that I’ll see more and more of it on my For You page,” freshman Maeve Shoji said.

Shein, Romwe, Forever 21, and so many more stores are labeled as “Trendy” and “affordable,” but the exact environmental impacts are unknown. Some of these cheap trending items have large negative effects. Aside from using a couple of eco-friendly materials here and there, there is no evidence that these brands are taking any meaningful action to reduce its substantial impact on the environment. (Wolfe, How ethical is Shein? 2021)

“I don’t know a lot about it other than some of the impacts,” E Ryan Miller, IB environmental science teacher, said.  “You know, my environmental science class, we were looking at an article today, you know, how you can sometimes get those cotton tote bags from a store [where] you buy things? There’s so much impact from those cotton bags on the environment, because of the water that’s required to grow cotton.” 

Another reason that the TikTok trending page changes so frequently is because a lot of people use the app. APS students  have recently come back to school after spending a year and a half virtual, during which time a lot of people downloaded it.

 “I downloaded TikTok last year in September…TikTok was hard to resist over that time period… I felt like I had nothing to do,” Clara Cabalu, freshman, said. 

Many kids feel pressured to download social media and in turn follow these trends. You can feel like an outsider if you do not have the latest style. However, there are ways to stay on trend while being aware of your footprint.

 “I love this trend that I’ve seen a lot of students go thrifting and find clothes that you could think of, or even make your own [clothes]. Like, if you can take advantage of materials that exist already, you’re doing the environment one heck of a beneficial thing. So anytime you can thrift, anytime you can reuse materials or recycle materials in any capacity, [that] is better because you’re looking at all the environmental impacts that are part of creating new products.” Said Mr.Miller.