RAB Proposal Paragraph- Anastasia Ortiz

My research question is: How has the Corona Virus pandemic motivate people to express themselves freely though their clothing and unique styles? This topic interests me because I, myself experienced a change in my wardrobe during it. For me specifically, pre-pandemic I only wore the clothes that helped me fit in with the normal high school New York style. That style would usually consist of jeans,T-shirts, or hoodies from popular sport name brands. The rule of needing name brands also applied to what shoes or more specifically sneakers you wore, because God forbid if you wear any other type of shoe. These brands usually consisted of Jordans, Nike, Adidas, Puma, etc. If you were to wear an unpopular brand or one that was associated with “white people” such as sketchers, or any other type of shoe other than sneakers or slides, you will never hear the end of it until you switch it up. But because of social media and some friends I already had some knowledge on the different style changes most have adapted into being “normal” styles, or in better terms everyone learned to mind their business. It’s now not as frowned upon or judged when you decide to leave your home in what makes you happy. Personally because of this change I can wear my combat boots again which I got bullied out of in eighth grade because they called them “your caucasian boots”, which like I stated earlier they were associated to being “only something white people would wear.”I also feel more comfortable wearing what I really wanted to wear which is a girly/emoish type of style with a dash of church girl. Before i would usually get body shamed but now with the new acceptance of all styles I don’t feel as ridiculed by everyones eyes. Some points I plan on exploring are How other individuals came about there preferred fashion style, did they always want to dress this way, and what held them back, did they also feel like they had to fit into society’s mold?

Picard, Lia. “For Some, the Pandemic Has Helped Them Find Their Style.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Jan. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/19/style/pandemic-work-from-home-style.html.