Jennifer Portillo
Hello KIPPsters! I will be talking about the world of fashion in our tiny world here at KIPP. Let’s clear up the big elephant in the room shall we, that the school doesn’t have a free dress policy. Many wish that this could change, but luckily the uniform policy has became more lenient and have more options in what to wear! So yes there is an upside to having uniform for school. Let’s hear it from one of the seniors, Ayareli Alvarez. How do you like to style your uniform for school? “I can style my sweaters and my shoes. So sometimes I wear cardigans or nice sweaters that go with the color we are allowed to wear with some boots”. Now even though we have to wear uniform, you can always change it to make it look like you are not while still following school rules. Ayareli says, “you can actually look good despite the fact you are in your uniform. There are many other accessories available as well, such as hats when it’s sunny, sunglasses, pins, headbands, (etc). As you can see in the picture, she loves to mix and match her favorite sweaters and stylish boots. You can do the same! If you have a pair of shoes you like, show the off and pair it with your favorite windbreaker, or sweater. In other public schools, even though they don’t wear uniform, they would have to stress about buying new clothing every week. So why stress and instead go with uniform that you can add your own personal touch to. It’s definitely a way to express your creativity and personality.
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By Gavin Esparza Here at KSJC, we have a fairly diverse range of students. This diversity contributes to many different fashion styles at our school. Some very trendy, others not so much. This week I take up the role of school “Fashion Police”, along with the title I also have the opportunity and privilege to critique certain students with unique fashion sense. This also includes describing what you might see specific students wearing on a daily basis, and rating their choices of clothes out of five stars. Idalia Lopez - Rating: * * * * * Definitely one of the most trendy and fashionable girls at KSJC, you can spot this senior on campus wearing things you don't see too often on campus. This consists of scarves, dresses, skirts, high boots, and more. She’s constantly pushing the borders of our strict uniform to the point where it appears almost as free dress. You don't usually see her wearing the same outfit twice, this is partially due to the fact that she dresses for the season. Because of her very experimentation, and constant variation of outfits, she receives five out of five stars. Rebecca Lopez - Rating: * * * Rebecca is the symbol of uniform done right. She rarely pushes any boundaries of the normal KSJC look, but when she does it comes out great usually showing off her ethnic background. Occasionally she does a traditional Mexican style of hair called “trenzas”. She also likes to wear big hoop earrings giving her an added “Chola” look. Because of the way she incorporates her heritage into her bland uniform, she gets three stars. Juan Chavez - Rating - * * * Upon first seeing Juan, you easily get the impression that Maroon is his favorite color. The only part of him that is never maroon is his black or khaki joggers. The rest of his outfit consists of maroon hoodies, vans, beanies and hats. On Friday, he likes to wear faded blue jeans from hollister. Because of his lack of color choice other than maroon he only gets a 3 star rating. Jose Ramos - Rating: * * One of the least fashionable students at KSJC, if you’ve seen one of his outfits you’ve seen them all. 99.9% of the time you will see Jose wearing the same faded, black Kipp San Jose Collegiate collar shirt with some black pants. If it's cold out you'll see an equally faded, plain, black zip up hoodie over his collared shirt. For his lack of experimentation and lack of need to buy new clothes, he gets two stars. By Rebecca Lopez People who want to keep their eyebrows looking good try a lot of different methods including waxing, threading, and plucking them. Aside from getting them done, you also have to decide what type of products you'll use, whether it’s pencil, gel, or powder. The types of products one can use on their eyebrows can be extensive. From high end products that tend to be quality, but expensive, like Anastasia Beverly Hills, to the low end products like NYX, and so much in between. Nowadays, you'll see posts about eyebrows scattered around social media, especially Instagram; people want to share their brow game. When people, specifically young men and women, are going through social media, they are exposed to these expectations about what their eyebrows should look like. If they don’t meet the proper eyebrow standards, they will feel like they eyebrows don’t look good. There are thousands of men and women on YouTube who identify as beauty gurus, which means that they pride themselves in knowing how to look better. Some eyebrow tutorial videos can be up to 10 minutes and be solely about what it takes to get good eyebrows. Society has made it so men are expected to uphold this idea of masculinity. When men use makeup or do their eyebrows, they are often called “gay”. Stereotypically, gay men are shown as extremely feminine people, which is why the word “gay” is used when a guy does their eyebrows. Wrongfully so, this association is very damaging to our society since it reinforces gender norms, expectations, and oppresses the gay community. Whether a guy wants to do their eyebrows has nothing to do with their sexuality. Luckily, more and more men are starting to do their eyebrows, and are defying the oppressive expectations of society. In fact, KSJC’s very male students do them. Sophomore Daniel Montes has been doing his eyebrows for over 2 years and continues to get them redone every 3 months or so. He waxes them, but will pluck them once they start to grow out a little. When asked what he thinks of people who say it's wrong for guys to get their brows done, he doesn't really seem to care because he knows that more guys do it now. Senior Jiten Gidda also does his brows; he plucks them rather than waxing or threading them. He has had them plucked ever since he got a unibrow in the 8th grade and feels that keeping eyebrows maintained is important. To these young men, whether or not you do your eyebrows does not have an effect on your masculinity or femininity. Beauty standards have changed a lot over time and now, more than ever, they are evident because of social media. Eyebrows are a hugely popular trend in beauty, so it really is up to the individual whether they want to follow it. Overall, if someone wants to do their eyebrows, it’s fine: regardless of gender! If someone doesn’t want to do their eyebrows, that’s fine too, as long as they’re not putting others down for doing it.
By Michelle Perez High school in itself is a very tumultuous time for any teen. However, teen girls specifically tend to face more struggles regarding their appearance. The media, including magazines, Instagram, commercials, television, and movies, constantly bombards women with specific depictions of beauty. A girl has to have a clear face, be thin, have plump lips, and thick eyelashes. Luckily, that why beauty cosmetics exist! Foundation, concealer, BB cream, highlight, etc. Makeup is used for women to essentially ¨look better¨, but if this idea of beauty was merely imposed by society, is makeup really the right way to go? We normally see girls with their eyebrows filled in and mascara on, but many girls also add on foundation and concealer to cover acne, scars, or dark marks. Girls seek the help of makeup to cover up all of their flaws in order to feel comfortable in their own skin. A student here at KSJC has stated, ¨I feel more comfortable knowing that people can't see my flaws because once they do, I can't act like myself around them.¨ Young girls growing with this mentality can be easily influenced by the media into buying more makeup products. If a girl is constantly wanting to hide their flaws, they will also constantly be buying new makeup. Cosmetic industries are continuously finding new ways to make women feel bad about the way they naturally look, so that they can introduce a new product and make money. Do the blemishes, scars, or dark spots on your face really make you look bad? Women in our society use makeup to cover up their insecurities. While it does make them more confident at the moment, it is bound to come to an end when they take their face off at night.. There is one simple message that every young girl should know: ¨You're not ugly, society is.¨ No one is perfect and the sooner we realize that our flaws don’t make us ugly, the better. Once you're satisfied with yourself, then you can grow to love others and not always feel the need to cover your true-self up. Be proud and confident, life's too short to be hiding all the time.
By Ismerai Saavedra Tess Holliday just had her first photo shoot with MiLK model agency and she shows off her pictures on social media. She posted a few pictures on Instagram and on one picture she captioned, "So thrilled that I can finally share these images, I shot with @catherineharbour in London last month & this was the result... Thanks to my agent for pushing me out of my comfort zone!" She is also looking into changing the fashion industry and she told Daily Mail, “I think if someone doesn't look at an image and feel something, you haven't done your job, whether it's a negative or positive, it should evoke something in them. That's what I've always done with my work, I want to challenge society's perception of 'beauty' and what's acceptable in our industry and the world. There is no one way to be a woman, or to be beautiful. We all deserve a place." Holliday has just broken the record by being the first model of her height and weight to have been picked out by a huge major modeling agency. This is a huge impact on today's society considering the fact that we don’t see this often. Many girls are afraid of showing their true bodies. They hide it as if its something to be ashamed of. Society expects women to be skinny and weigh a certain amount in order to be considered “beautiful”, but Tess Holliday is making changes. Hopefully Tess is able to inspire girls to not care about their thigh gaps or muffin tops and to say “effyourbeautystandards”. by Bianka Olazaba Steps on doing a Square 4 Strand Braid :
BUT YOU ARE NOT QUITE DONE WITH DOING THIS BRAID, YET… 9) To make your braid look a bit thicker, pull your braid gently down and stretch it. NOW YOU ARE DONE! You can use this unique braid on a summer day, when you are going to the beach, to the store, to school , to ANYWHERE! This is a very unique braid that many people do not know how to do, but if you do know how to, you can be one the girls out in this world with one of the most unique braids. This is a braid that would look beautiful on every girl! by Bianka Olazaba Steps to doing a waterfall braid:
You can do this braid when it is a sunny day or when you go to the beach. You can even do this when you go play your favorite game. By Ismerai Saavedra All over the world, women are disfigured, injured, and scarred by acid attacks. There is a high concentration of acid attacks in south and southeast Asia. A lot of acid attacks are a result of women being unrightfully attacked for refusing marriage or sexual advancement. They could also be motivated by gang tension, conflicts over property, religious extremism, and some women have even been attacked for attending school. Stop Acid Attacks is a foundation specifically dedicated towards acid attack survivors. Now recently, Bello Magazine, which dedicates themselves to photographing models, have now added acid attack survivors to their calendar. Society is used to seeing beautiful models half naked on calendars, so this project is a big deal. It opposes society’s expectations of what beauty means. This campaign was started by the Chhanv Foundation in India and the funds they raise will directly help the rehabilitation of Indian survivors. Raul Saharan, who was the photographer for the girls told Huffington Post that he was very happy to be a part of this foundation because according to the girls they feel, “confident, courageous and strong” and that, “... everyone has a responsibility to empower women… they are fighters”. THIS is what beauty is really about. It is different, unique, and an empowering form of art.
By Ismerai Saavedra 5,000 women in the UK were surveyed and according to REAL magazine, more than 91% of those women were unhappy with their bodies, specifically their thighs and hips! Here are some of the results found: -77% of them hate their waist -78% of them have cellulite (lumpy dimpled flesh on their thighs)and last but not least -73% of these women think about their body size and shape every single day You want to know the percentage of women who are happy with their bodies? ONLY 3% OF THEM ARE TRULY HAPPY WITH THEMSELVES! Why is this? Well as we all know, it all comes down to society. 65% of these women believe that if they were to have a slimmer body or at least lose 9 pounds, their perspective about themselves would completely change. One of the reasons these women are very dissatisfied with their bodies is because of the way that female celebrities are portrayed. Celebrities are everywhere! We see them on TV, magazine covers, and every time we go on Instagram. Many of us have probably thought to ourselves, “Wow look at JLO, she’s 45 years old and she still looks perfect!” This brings me to another detail from the results; many of these women were an average of 33 years old. Seeing these celebrities in their 40’s and still looking amazing must be devastating. The media tends to highlight the beauty of celebrities, which definitely contributes to the low self-esteems of middle aged women. However, celebrities aren’t the only thing that play a huge role in this. Ordinary women in your daily life can affect your self-esteem. In the study, 68% of these women were insecure about their body due to other women criticizing them for their shape and size. It can definitely be understood to feel this way. If one doesn’t feel comfortable in their own skin, seeing someone who is slimmer than you or “more beautiful” can be awful. In addition to that, 67% of them stated that if they could have plastic surgery done, they would be up for it. Although this is directed towards women mostly in their 30’s, I feel like this still applies to young ladies. Many young girls out there have these thoughts run through their heads every once in a while. As a young lady, I believe that every young woman out there needs to be accepting of their imperfections and, above all else, their body as a whole. Who cares if you aren’t a size 0? That doesn’t define your beauty. Learn to accept you for you and not live up to anyone’s standards and just like Khloe Kardashian once said, “I’m proud of my body. My body weight will always be something that I’ll struggle with for the rest of my life, but I’m finally in a good place and learning to love me for me, and not somebody else's standards”. |