New School students say the pandemic has changed their fashion sense and style. Many students express themselves through their visible clothing, and while some say they feel more pressure behind the camera screen, others have a new found sense of freedom. In this second Zoom edition of Fashion on Fifth, New School students reflect on their pre and post-pandemic style and the pressures and frustrations that Zoom classes have presented.
Clara Amelia Garcia
Clara Amelia Garcia, a third-year student at Lang double majoring in Journalism + Design and Screen Studies described her pre-pandemic style as consistently “all over the place.”
“I dress very girly and groovy,” Garcia said. “Sometimes I dress more feminine, but then sometimes I like to wear more masculine silhouettes. Always whatever is comfortable. I am very about comfort over style.”
Garcia, who lives in Puerto Rico, wore her “go-to” outfit while talking to the New School Free Press: a Forever 21 navy and white striped button-down shirt paired with white socks, pink slippers, and jean shorts from Shein. “It’s really bad,” she said of her clothing choices. “It’s all fast fashion. I feel guilty. This is my go-to because it’s comfortable, and it’s kinda big.”
For Garcia, she said, “I feel like [my style] has changed, I have gotten lazier than when school was in person, and I was in New York. I [tried] to change it up a bit and not be lazy – like I usually [planned] out my outfits on a Sunday. But in Zoom University, I pick out anything 30 minutes before class.”
Garcia added that she would sometimes wear a cute outfit for three hours on Zoom but then take it right off after class. “Sometimes it’s a class that’s like an hour and a half and then I will just wear that outfit tomorrow because I wasn’t sweating and wasn’t going out. I just took it off, it’s fine. I have gotten lazier,” she said.
Playing with clothing and style motivates her not only in class on Zoom but even in her downtime. “At the beginning of the pandemic, I was lazy – or lazier – and now I am trying, not to change my style, but to make an effort because wearing clothing that I like boosts my productivity.” Garcia added that wearing pajamas during class will cause her to sit on her phone, so instead she tries to put on an outfit even if she doesn’t have class that day.
“Even if I am not on Zoom, I feel like I have to get dressed, not even dress up, just put on a different outfit because it motivates me to study.”
Zai Nixon-Reid
Men’s business attire with an added “punk dimension” is how Zai Nixon-Reid (they/he) describes his personal, every-day style. A blazer and button-up, paired with silver chains, statement earrings and chunky belts is their go-to outfit, even just to sit in front of the computer for class.
Nixon-Reid, a third-year film student at Lang finds inspiration in anime characters, the movie ‘Dolemite,’ 1970’s funk style, and looks up to Rihanna and A$AP Rocky as their “fashion parents.” Before the pandemic, he used to work at Search and Destroy, an edgy, vintage, punk-rock apparel store in the Lower East Side.
“Usually I just wear [to Zoom] the same things I wear in-person. Which is like, very extra. I am a Leo rising for context – I can tend to be quiet extra,” Nixon-Reid said, sporting a purple blazer with matching purple-tinted sunglasses. “And I know when I join the links [to Zoom class], sometimes people, I can tell they’re clocking me like, ‘Bro, why did you do the most?’”
But, Zai-Nixon prefers to wear a “full fit” to class, rather than wearing pajamas or sweatpants. They explained that getting dressed helps them feel more present, awake and confident, as well as communicative over Zoom.
Before the pandemic hit, Nixon-Reid had not yet come out to his family or social media, that he identified as a trans-masculine person, using ‘they’ and ‘he’ pronouns. After coming out, he felt a stronger sense of freedom to wear what he wanted and be more authentically himself.
“I think that the more that I’ve come into myself, it’s been easier to just wear what I want. Because even though, to a certain extent, I was already doing that, I still was holding back a lot,” Nixon-Reid said.
Nixon-Reid credits Tik Tok for aiding him in this process of defining his style. When it comes to gender identity, the way in which one expresses or presents themself is largely informed by their level of comfortability within that identity. While on Tik Tok, it is easy to be exposed to a diverse array of people of different gender identities, expressions and sexualities – which was a realm within the app that Nixon-Reid found themself placed by Tik Tok’s algorithm. Nixon-Reid said that he was inspired by the ways other people would defy the gender binary and crush societal norms surrounding clothing and gender.
“Your clothes don’t invalidate who you are.”
Zai Nixon-Reid
“Your identity doesn’t have to control, for lack of a better word, how you ‘present.’ Obviously, if you have to present a certain way for safety and all, that’s real,” he said. “Your clothes don’t invalidate who you are.”
A year after the start of the pandemic, Nixon-Reid’s style leans more towards a masculine energy, but that doesn’t stop them from wearing makeup or raiding their mother and grandmother’s closet for garments from the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s.
Katherine Tillemans
Katherine Tillemans, a third-year Strategic Design and Management student at Parsons used to be incredibly passionate about fashion until the COVID-19 pandemic hit and everything changed for her.
“My style has 100 percent changed since the pandemic,” said Tillemans, who attends Zoom classes from her bedroom. “I don’t go anywhere anymore. I just wear sweatpants all day! I can’t remember the last time I wore jeans.”
Tillemans says that she has gravitated toward the basics since Zoom classes began. “Everything is just more simple these days,” she said. “I don’t really have the energy anymore to dress up. Zoom is super draining and that’s kind of [been] reflected in my outfits. Whatever is easy to throw on for class is what I wear! Leggings and a crewneck sweater have become my current uniform.”
However, Tillemans adds she still wants to seem presentable, not only to her peers and professors, but to herself as well. “In order to focus and feel productive in class, my clothes have to make me feel good,” said Tillemans “even if it is sweatpants or leggings, they are clothes that make me happy and comfortable.”
Tillemans believes that fashion is a great way to express what you’re feeling on the inside, but adds that “Zoom has definitely limited my ability to express myself through fashion and that does make me kind of sad.”
“But I’m hopeful for the future and will continue to find ways to make myself happy through [my] fashion.”
Mahayla Meyer
Mahayla Meyer, an undecided first-year student in the BA/BFA dual degree program at Parsons and Lang says, “My style is really laid back. It’s just whatever I am comfortable in. I am from a small town in [Pennsylvania], so it’s my first time in the big city.” Having just relocated to New York, Meyer said her new life and adventures in the city have already started to change the way she perceives fashion.
Zoom classes have altered Meyer’s style, resulting in some unorthodox outfit combinations. Meyer, who wakes up about 10 minutes prior to the start of class, said “I just keep my pajama pants and whatever slippers I have on, and at the speed of lightning I throw on a really nice sweater or some sort of top that looks really nice and a necklace over it,” Meyer said. “So basically the bare minimum but on the Zoom screen I look very very put together.”
“[Zoom is] the only place you are interacting with people. What they see through your screen is the only thing they see of you. ”
Mahayla Meyer
Meyer says her go-to Zoom outfit includes a turtle neck or nice sweater. “Sometimes a sweater can be worn to bed but you don’t wear a turtleneck to bed, so I put that on.”
In her break time or whenever she leaves the dorm room, she said her roommate always asks, “What are you wearing? Why do you have a beautiful tank on with baggy sweatpants?” It has become an ongoing joke between them Meyer says. “One time I threw a dress on because I liked the top of it and how it looked over sweatpants and she is like, ‘Why?’” She said.
Meyer said that the pandemic has given her more time to develop her fashion sense and she has become considerably more inspired from her exploration in New York and the trends she sees on social media, though she admits that she feels a lot of pressure when it comes to what she wears on Zoom. “That’s the only place you are interacting with people. What they see through your screen is the only thing they see of you. I dress up far more for a Zoom class than I would [for] anything else and I talk more in a Zoom class because that is the only chance I have to see someone.”
In addition to Meyer’s workload and schedule, she is a resident advisor in Kerrey Hall. Meyer says, “Having a job in the dorms where I have some sort of authority position, or am a resource for people, I want to look professional and I also want to look very appropriate.”
Lauren Valenzuela
Pandemic fashion – like sweat suits, lounge wear, and “sporty” clothing – have been staple pieces in Lauren Valenzuela’s wardrobe since before the pandemic started. When getting dressed for Zoom school, comfortability and sticking to the basics is key for Valenzuela.
“I’m most confident when I am comfortable,” said Valenzuela, a third-year Journalism + Design student.
What has changed the most in Valenzuela’s style, has been ditching jeans, embracing the baggy look, and wearing baseball caps. She recently purchased a New York Met’s trucker cap, even though she is not a Mets fan and grew up in San Diego, California. But she is a fan of the team colors: orange and blue. “I got it off Depop. I don’t know anything about the Mets, unfortunately. But I love the colors,” she said.
On days filled with class and work, Valenzuela is usually wearing a monochromatic sweatsuit or sweat pants and a basic white t-shirt. She pulls the look together with jewelry and Nike sneakers, New Balances or Jordans. “I wear sweat suits but try to make it look presentable because I do have to go outside [for work],” she said. “But it’s also comfortable when I come back from working then I have a class and I don’t have time to change… I’m already in comfortable clothes.”
Valenzuela works two jobs, at a trendy apparel store called Avenue C in the Lower East Side and for a creative direction and consulting agency called The Con.Cept. Much of her style inspiration comes from the women she works with, who emanate a sporty-chic, street style vibe. She is also inspired by Missy Elliott’s style in the 1990’s.
Through clothing and style, Valenzuela said that she can best express and “outwardly manifest” herself. “I don’t think I’m a very open person, but I think that fashion allows me to assert myself or my identity in a more obvious way,” she said. “I think it’s everything my whole life revolves around. Like, being inspired and dressing up and looking at other people’s fashion.”
Fashion is “everything” for Valenzuela. “I think it’s embedded in my everyday life and every moment,” she said.