Glancing through the gallery view of a Zoom call, one can see a variety of outfits in each square. Some students choose to dress as if they are going into school, others just roll out of bed, and a few even coordinate their outfits with their background.  

Wearing outfits that would be seen during in-person school can give students a similar feel of the learning environment. Junior Taylor Linser dresses if she is going into the building and takes the same amount of time to get ready.

“It helps me concentrate and makes me feel like I could still be in school,” Linser said. “I think I’ve worn outfits like this to school for how many years, and I don’t want to change it up.”

Motivation for having a good appearance during virtual instruction can also stem from someone’s confidence being rooted in their fashion. Sophomore Cory Wilcher uses style as a form of expression and a creative outlet. 

“I really love fashion, and I just don’t feel like myself without a really nice outfit on,” Wilcher said.  “It helps me talk to people because I just feel more like myself.”

For students like sophomore Logan Arive, dressing up for class while at home can seem pointless, and not having to put together a presentable outfit every day is an appealing idea to him. In Arive’s opinion, making up a full outfit is a lot of work, especially when classmates aren’t even going to see his full shirt. 

“I’d rather just be comfortable and look alright than be uncomfortable and look nice,” Arive said. 

This year, freshman Molly Walsh planned on wearing exciting new outfits to school, but due to school being virtual, she just wore a sweatshirt and shorts for her first day.  

“I was looking forward to wearing different outfits to school, but I like not having a lot of pressure on what I wear,” Walsh said. 

While students such as Linser prefer to dress up and others like Arive prefer to dress down, sophomore Lindley Scott prefers to match her outfit to a new Zoom background every day. 

“My typical zoom outfit likes to coordinate with a chosen background that I choose every day,” Scott said.  “And I think it keeps up the appearance that Zoom and staying home isn’t as bad and dreary as everybody thinks it is.”

The recent school board meeting on Aug 26 announced that students are going back to school on a hybrid schedule starting Sept 17. The website https://repeller.com/back-to-school-outfits/ has many outfit inspirations for the first day.