What's important about dressing on the first day of school?

Anya Goss, 13: The good thing about the first day of school is that you can just realize a part of yourself wearing something that really describes who you are.

Theo Campbell-Berzins, 15: You can make a statement on the first day of school, like, “This is who I am.”

Is there much pressure about what to wear?

Theo: I was nervous when I was going into Grade 9 about what I was going to wear. But as soon as you meet a bunch of people of all different kinds, it gets easier.

What's special about your outfits this year?

Theo: These pants are crazy comfy. It's like wearing bed sheets. I also like the tie-dye.

Len Yabuki-Soh, 13: I have a T-shirt with my name on the back.

Allegra McLeish, 10: I got this outfit at a second-hand store. I really like bell-bottoms. And then the shirt I got, it was really sparkly and it also had really nice designs on it.

Anya: A new pair of Converse; every year I get one.

High-tops or low-tops?

Anya: There's this one with Kurt Cobain writing on them.

Theo: My favourite are tie-dye Converse.

Allegra: My friend has one that has like stars and sparkly hearts.

I was always a sucker for slip-on Vans, although Cons are super comfortable.

Theo: Yeah, but you have to dedicate yourself to them because it takes like 10 minutes to put them on.

Anya: Exactly.

Where do you guys get your style inspiration from?

Anya: I love vintage stuff, but from different times. I like forties and fifties stuff, but then I also like grunge, punk, rock. You kind of have to mix it around. And new music as well.

Theo: I heard about these pants through a website. I love tie-dye and big pants. My favourite company is UFO. They make these pants.

Len: Friends. If I see something that they're wearing and I like it I will just go to that brand or store and check it out.

Allegra: Usually friends, but I have lots of different stuff in my closet.

What's one thing you would never wear?

Len: A nose ring.

Theo: One thing I would never wear is a leotard. That or a G-string.

Anya: A shirt that says “Daddy's Little Girl” or “Mommy's Little Angel.” It's just meh. Or a muu-muu dress.

Theo: I don't even know what a muu-muu dress is.

Anya: Also the Hammer Time pants. Now they're making them with like garbage-bag material.

What's your favourite thing in your wardrobe right now?

Anya: I like high-waist skirts.

Theo: I've actually got three favourite things: My Bob Marley hoodie, my tie-dye shirt and probably these pants.

Len: I'm not sure, maybe the T-shirt with my name on it.

Allegra: There's this one T-shirt and it has this butterfly at the top and then there's flowers at the bottom. I really like that shirt. I got it during the summer.

How come you're not wearing that on the first day of school?

Allegra: Because it's pretty special and I only wear it for special occasions.

What do you think your style says about you?

Len: Sometimes I wear weird stuff, so I guess my style says that I'm weird. Once, I wore a beanie hat with the propeller on the top and my friend grabbed it and the propeller snapped.

Theo: I would love to wear that hat. I would wear that every day.

Len: And sometimes I just wear a Santa Claus hat in the summer with my big sunglasses on.

What would you say your style says about you, Theo?

Theo: I guess just that I'm really easygoing.

Anya: I'm so into the past, I'm really vintage, stuff like that. Then I start wearing really nerdy things and that really does show me. If you look at my friends, they all kind of have the money to buy American Apparel and Hollister and I don't really see anything in that.

What's your nerd clothing?

Anya: My World of Warcraft shirt. My style is spontaneous. I love so many different things.

What are things like in Grade 6, Allegra. Are people really into clothes?

Allegra: No one usually wears nice stuff for school. They just put something on and go to school.

How much time do you spend getting ready in the morning?

Anya: A long time. I'll plan for clothing the night before and then the next day I don't want to wear it. Then my hair won't co-operate and I don't like straightening it every day.

Theo: I try to spend 15 minutes but I usually end up falling back to sleep.

Len: I don't take that long. Maybe if I find a shirt I'll just look for a pair of pants that would match. So not that long, maybe five minutes.

When you go shopping, are you looking for something specific or do you browse?

Len: If I just go shopping with my friends I'll just browse around. But if it's some kind of clothing like for graduation then I would look for it.

Allegra: I usually just browse. I go to CTS on Queen Street, which is a bunch of used clothing and they always have new stuff.

Do you have any favourite stores or brands?

Anya: H&M. You can see lots of variety. And it's a really good price.

Theo: Probably UFO and Tripp, because Tripp is another pair of pants I really like.

Is UFO skater gear?

Theo: No, it's more like raver gear and kind of break-dancing stuff. But I'm not really into brands. I usually wear band shirts and black sweaters.

Len: I like skater clothing, but I don't skate. I kind of like the designs and the shoes.

What's the most money you or your parent ever spent on a wardrobe item?

Theo: $185. It was on a pair of these Tripp pants that I have. They're really big and green and chainy and they have tonnes of straps.

Len: I'm not sure.

Allegra: Not much higher than $30, probably.

Anya: In the Boxing Day sales, these black kind of boot high heels. They cost $100.

What are the main style cliques at your school?

Anya: Preppy, then there's the average, the boys who let their parents shop for them. Then hipster, skater.

Allegra: Usually everyone just wears stuff.

There are no real style cliques in Grade 6, are there?

Allegra: No.

Len: The main clique would be preppy. And the rest would just be normal clothing. There's a few skaters.

Theo: There's the preps, there's the jocks, there's all the gangstas, and then there's the metal heads. And then there's skaters.