For some, the signal to turn in the other direction is when a cell phone comes out as students walk past. 

When you’re wearing alternative fashion, the goal is to express yourself. Not end up on some random dude’s social media or camera roll.

The comments are usually the same – “Halloween was a month ago” or “it’s not Halloween yet.”

Junior Haly Washburn, who prefers Goth fashion, has heard comments, and seen the stares. Yet he shrugs them off.

“I am not going to let immature people determine what I wear and how I dress,” Washburn said. “I let that happen for way too many years of my life, so if you want to laugh and make fun of me, go ahead. I know these people are struggling with some internal issues, and things they need to work out in themselves. They are projecting on me, and I know that, so I won’t let it get to me.” 

Choosing how to present oneself shouldn’t be an anxiety inducing experience. But more often than not, it is.

“In freshman year, I distinctly remember having trash thrown at me, and then being pointed at and laughed at for the way I was dressing,” sophomore Hollow Skeen said.

But it’s not uncommon for students who dress differently, or whose makeup and hair is unique, to see pictures of themselves on other people’s stories or social media accounts, tearing apart the way they look.

Teenagers already have plenty of insecurities. It takes mental strength to reveal one’s true colors in a society that often shuts differences and uniqueness out. 

“I face way more judgment outside of school,” Washburn said. “The staring doesn’t bother me, but when I go into a store dressed up, I’ll have people my age follow me around the store and laugh at me with their friends. Even at school events, the same thing will happen.”

Although schools preach diversity, teenagers will find any and every reason to hate someone for the way they look. 

Not just for the way they dress, but for their weight, their height, their skin color, how feminine or masculine they present themselves, the bones that are under your skin. Things you can’t change will be picked apart by the people around you. 

Even if you try desperately to blend in with the rest, something about you will never be perfect enough. 

“I was walking back to class from the bathroom, and this guy came to me and said  ‘you’re not fooling anyone with your Halloween hooker get-up. I can still tell by your man shoulders you’re trans,’” junior Natalie Werth said.

This mis-treatment though, does not stop those from using their fashion to express themselves.

“I would rather dress the way I do than dress the way everyone else is,” sophomore Chloe Walter said.

Skeen agreed.

“It is absolutely still worth dressing this way, despite being bullied,” they said. “I am serving every single day. I feel happier, and I feel confident in the way I dress and express myself.”