At San Luis Obispo High School, our fashion changes dramatically from freshman year to senior year. Students tend to try to dress like peers and follow the changing trends. The trends of today allow the 1980s and 1990s to enter our fashion. Luckily our family members’ closets are the cheapest and easiest access to the clothes we’re obsessed with now. With our parents having lived through the 1980s and 1990s, they could have some old pieces of clothing from that era. Expressions talked to students about hand-me-down clothes.

Expressions: What’s the clothing piece that you received from an older family member?

Junior Claire Headrick: I have a flannel of my dad’s that I wear and a sweatshirt from my mom’s college club that I still wear.

Freshman Ryan Schisler: I got a lot of surf tees from my dad that he got thrifted back in the day that he wore as a teenager and college kid.

Senior Clea Wendt: My great aunt Beatrice Martin was a hat designer in New York City. My mom and I have been collecting her hats for as long as I can remember. We have almost twenty vintage hats hung throughout our house from her, either handed down or found online.   

Expressions: How did you feel when you were given the clothing?

Headrick: I actually found them in my mom’s closet, and I was pretty excited because I thought it was really cool.

Schisler: I can’t describe it, I get a lot of his old good clothes and when I do, I just get really excited.

Wendt: It made me happy to know that I could be stylish and comfortable in something that has been around for a long time and carries a lot of memories.

Expressions: Why do you hold it close to your heart?

Headrick: I think it’s cool how, with my mom, she wore that sweatshirt to school when she was young and she kept it all these years, and now I’m able to wear it to my school.

Schisler: I guess the fact that they were what my dad wore back in the day. He grew up in the 1960s and he’s a big inspiration for me.

Wendt: It’s really incredible to bond with my mom over our collection, while also carrying with us the memory of a family member through material items. I also have a great love for uniquely dressing myself, so it’s amazing to be able to trace that love through my family history.