As people become more self-conscious about their appearance as high school progresses, it’s safe to say that most high school students would not let their parents dress them up for school. But that’s exactly what I asked my parents to do for a week.
Initially, I thought I had made a big mistake. I’m extremely picky with clothing, so I was not ready to give that responsibility to my parents, who might not be as in touch with the latest trends.
Before high school, I was fine with my parents choosing my daily outfits. In fact, I enjoyed getting out of bed and slipping into clothes my mom would neatly fold and leave on my dresser. But looking back, I cringe at the daily clothing my parents made me wear: stiff button-up shirts, tight cotton vests and even fully color-coordinated Nike outfits with neon accents all over.
Traumatized by the thought of having to wear similar outfits to high school, I nervously asked my mom to pick out outfits for me before school. She replied, “You’re old enough, can’t you find your own clothes yourself?” But she helped me pick outfits every morning for a couple of days.
To my surprise, my mom was aware of my pickiness when it came to clothing. Each day, she took different pieces of clothing out of the drawers and laid them out on my bed, mixing and matching until she was satisfied.
Most of the clothes my mom ended up picking were shirts and jackets I had not worn for months because I never really liked them. She picked out thick and heavy jackets, insisting that I should wear them because it would be cold. Reluctantly, I agreed and went to school with a fresh and slightly different outfit.
At first, nobody really seemed to notice the difference in my style. The large jackets were actually comfortable, and the clothes that my mom had picked out suited the cold weather. Though I usually disregard the weather while picking outfits, my mom’s comfortable approach to fashion was one that I could get used to.
Occasionally I would get questions like, “is that a new jacket?” or “cool new shirt,” but little did others know that it was actually clothes I kept but never wore since the beginning of eighth grade.
But especially to my closest friends, the change in outfits was a radical one. They were able to point out exactly what was new and different, and even questioned why I was wearing clothes that were out of my habitual norm.
After about a week, I stopped minding how my clothes looked and became accustomed to the soft warmth of the jackets my mom had picked out for me. It was refreshing after wearing tight skinny slacks and thin hoodies for the past couple years.
Especially with the cold upcoming weather, I might consider asking my parents to pick out my clothing for just a couple more days. Even though I found it entertaining for my parents to choose my outfits for me, I wouldn’t say that I’m ready to sacrifice comfort for appearance.
