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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, August 17, 2003

Ever-changing fashion options abound for teens

By Sara Lin
Advertiser Staff Writer

Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
These days, it's all about the bling-bling.

Name-brand purses, vintage Ts, and pants with lots of pockets have become the craze again as high schoolers gear up for the new school year.

In their quests to appear different, yet trendy, many teens find themselves struggling to keep up with fashion that changes like the wind. Last year girls were wearing pink terry cloth, this year it's mini-skirts. Parents want to buy the basics, kids go for what's trendy.

But fashion comes at a price. The higher the better.

"People go to certain stores for respect. You see someone with their Burberry or Coach and you think, 'Wow, she can afford it,'" said Stevie-Lynn Kim, 18, of Makiki.

In other cases, fashion marks a wearers' sympathies. Say, surfing, or skateboarding. Before Jordan Chun,13, starts his freshman year at Waialua High and Intermediate School, he browsed stores at Ala Moana Center for new T-shirts and a backpack branded with a surfer label such as Hurley, Billabong and Quiksilver. He's wearing a faded Hurley T-shirt and a Volcom hat.

"It's what everybody wears," Chun said, adding: "I try to get better clothes."

Better? "More expensive."

Driving the desire to be trendy is the high school drama that comes with finding a group and trying to fit in.

"First impressions last," said Shaine Pearl, 14. "If they don't know you, they judge you on how you dress." Pearl will start ninth grade this month in Los Angeles.

According to some teens, the quickest path to "cool" is personality and being comfortable in your own clothes. Looking good — dressing trendy like models seen in Seventeen or Lucky Magazine — is a bonus.

"It's natural for any girl to want to dress up," said Blossom Caballero, 17, of 'Aiea. "I enjoy it, but it's not everything. Just to look good makes you feel good."

But trying too hard to be on top of the trend leaves the real possibility of being caught wearing last year's peasant top when vintage mini-Ts are the in-fashion.

Everything has to match, from your hair to your shoes — socks, too, if they show.

"If you see someone who looks a little out of fashion, you might stop and say, 'What were they thinking when they put that on this morning?' You don't want people saying that about you," said Caitlin King, 17, of 'Aiea. "It's really bad, but people do that."

"Everybody's so about this name-brand stuff," said Jesse Baricar, 19, of Makiki. "It doesn't matter what you wear, it's how you present yourself." The part-time Guess salesman wears jeans from Armani Exchange and a Diesel T-shirt. He flashes his new watch — part of the leather industrial look Guess just got in.

"I try to get things that other people won't buy," he said.

Some teens outright scorn the concept of "what's in" in fashion.

"It's everywhere you look; it's irritating," said Brent Haynes, 15, of 'Aiea.

Sporting a Billabong beanie and black nail polish, Haynes said he considers himself an '80s/Punk fan. "If you're just buying something to be cool, then that's kind of wrong, morally. But if it's for you, because you really want it or actually like it, that's OK."

It's tough to buck a trend, though. Even the so-called anti-trends — goth, for example — sooner or later turn into trends.

Wearing a Dickie's mesh trucker hat, baggy pants, and a black necktie over her navy blue Boy Scouts button down, Candice Sombrero stands out. She's comfortable and her look is individual, but it still takes cues from trendy sources. The trucker hat, for example — Ashton Kutcher has been spotted wearing them. And the tie — didn't Avril Lavigne do that?

"Everybody looks the same, and it's boring," said Sombrero, 15, of Hawai'i Kai. "I'm not into the tube tops and spaghetti straps. ... Girls do that just to impress guys. Just be yourself and be creative. Don't worry about what people think about you."

"It's like this: you see it and you just want it. But once you have it, you get sick of it," said Mark Dulatre, 23. "It's a process. When you're young you want to try everything."

Since becoming a nursing assistant at The Queen's Medical Center, Dulatre has lost his obsession with what's new and trendy. He's removed his lip and eyebrow rings. He shops at Savers and vintage stores for cheap T-shirts.

He pointed to the small cross and the word "LOVE" tattooed on the inside of his left middle finger.

"I wish I never got these tattoos," he said. "It's childish now."

Cassie Chun, a senior at University of Hawai'i, used to buy all the girl surfer brands, especially Roxy clothing. But once she got out of high school, her attitude changed.

With a better idea of what being "cool" really means, and a monthly car payment for her Honda CRV, Chun shops at Ross now.

"I found out I can get all that stuff cheaper," she said.

Here's a list of ins and outs for back-to-school fashions, grooming and accessories. And our in/out list of bands/tunes/soundtracks for your life.

• • •

WHAT'S IN:

FASHION

  • Mini skirts
  • Rocker chic
  • Vintage
  • T-shirts
  • pockets
  • Chain belts
  • Moist lips
  • Vintage '20s and '60s designs
  • Hair with movement
  • Big, dark sunglasses
  • Orange

MUSIC

  • Dashboard Confessional, "A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar"
  • Chingy, "Jackpot"
  • Dido, "Life for Rent" (out Sept. 9)
  • Beyonce "Dangerously in Love"
  • Coldplay, "A Rush of Blood to the Head"
  • The Neptunes, "The Neptunes Present: Clones"
  • "Bad Boys II" soundtrack
  • Good Charlotte, "The Young and the Hopeless"
  • Staind, "14 Shades of Grey"
  • John Mayer, "Heavier Things" (out Sept. 9)

WHAT'S OUT:

FASHION

  • Long, full skirts
  • Wild West looks
  • Cropped tops
  • Fringe
  • Rhinestone buckle belts
  • Matte lips
  • Vintage '70s designs
  • Helmet head
  • Tinted rimless sunglasses
  • Gray

MUSIC

  • Jimmy Eat World, "Jimmy Eat World"
  • Nelly, "Nellyville"
  • Norah Jones, "Come Away with Me"
  • Ashanti, "Chapter II"
  • Radiohead, "Hail to the Thief"
  • Swizz Beatz, "Swizz Beatz Presents G.H.E.T.T.O Stories"
  • "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" soundtrack
  • Sum 41 "Does This Look Infected?"
  • Linkin Park "Meteora"
  • Jack Johnson "On and On"

— Paula Rath and Derek Paiva, Advertiser staff writers