On any given day at Lick, it’s impossible to walk down the hall without seeing someone who has made a wondrous wardrobe design choice — dressed in a cool pair of plaid pants, or a hand painted jacket, or wearing an unexpected color combination that somehow works perfectly.
Despite Lick having a heavy focus on the arts and self expression, fashion is rarely talked about as an art, revealing philosophical and conceptual design choices. For many students, fashion means more than just picking out an outfit in the morning, or going shopping. For them, fashion is a way to express themselves and their creativity.
Alana Baer ‘18
How would you describe your style? Is there any way you would categorize it?
I think my style is constantly evolving, every day it’s kind of different. I look at a lot of streetwear, and I pull inspiration from designers. My favorites are Rei Kawakubo, Iris van Herpen. They’re both super inventive, super inspiring. They’re doing something totally on their own. I’ve been looking at a lot of their stuff recently. I’m also inspired by visual artists. My favorites are Andy Warhol, Basquiat, and Bryant Giles. I’m wearing a dress right now with a Basquiat print all over it. Anything I watch, listen to, or do influences my work in some way. And I my style plays off of what I see. But I would say influenced or inspired because I’m constantly modeling what I wear after what inspires me and my art. Also somewhat eccentric. I like to play with shapes and silhouettes more so than textures or colors. Nostalgic is another word because I look at a lot of vintage designs and trends from the past that are coming back.
When did you start designing? Has fashion always been important to you?
Fashion has always been important to me. The way we wrap fabric around our bodies and play with it in different silhouettes, patterns, textures and colors has always been a great interest of mine. One year I asked for a sewing machine for my birthday and I started sewing everything I could. I sewed my Bat Mitzvah dress, my graduation dress and my own clothes whenever I couldn’t find what I wanted. Eventually, I got in touch with a local designer, Jared Garza, and ever since I was twelve or thirteen, I’ve been going to his studio a few times a week to sew on his industrial machines, create patterns and drape on mannequins. I finished my collection recently and have also done a bunch of other work and been exploring fashion through other realms.
What is your collection? How long have you been working on it?
I called it the Awake Collection. (see it on www.alanafrancesbaer.com) I worked on it, start to finish for about two years, and finished it a couple of months ago. Initially it was going to be a five piece collection to explore new silhouettes and forms that were more advanced than what I’d been doing before. As I started to develop it, I had more ideas for a cohesive collection that I felt couldn’t be encapsulated in just five looks so I expanded it to ten. Jared Garza helped me navigate the whole process, from pattern making to technical sewing, fitting, and doing photoshoots of all the garments. The most important part was developing my idea and making sure that I had a unique voice as a designer. I really enjoy looking at works of art and so I want to offer a unique perspective that gives someone else what I found in other artists. It was a ton of work, a ton of hours in the studio but it was so satisfying and fulfilling to create, do the photoshoot at the end. Actually putting my own work into the world and creating something on my own was something that I hadn’t done in this way, to the fullest extent, before.
Royce Fong ‘18
How would you describe your style? What inspires you?
I think my style is very unique. Basically everything I wear is something that no one else would wear and that’s the point I try to make with my fashion. I draw a lot of inspiration from my grandparents. Everyone in my family is a big photographer so I like to look back at old photos and see what they wore on an everyday basis. I like to look at the cuts, especially the type of pants they wore and try to emulate that in modern day patterns and colors.
Do you make your own clothes?
I started altering and making my own clothes the summer after my sophomore year. What I realized is that I’d find a lot of stuff that didn’t really fit me or was too big for me and I could make it fit the way I wanted it to. I guess my whole philosophy on it is why not make clothes that fit or look the way you want them to? Since then I’ve been working on that and trying to get better. I haven’t taken any formal sewing classes besides the one at Lick but I think it’s something everyone should get in to.
Is your personal style something you think about a lot?
I wear something different everyday so I do think about it every morning. For me its a creative challenge to come up with something different. It’s important to me to spend time on that because what I put on each morning impacts how people perceive me that day and its important to be mindful of what you’re showing the world.
Silvana Montagu ‘18
How would you describe your style? What do you draw inspiration from?
I honestly feel like my style is very Bay Area. It fluctuates a lot, sometimes it’s pretty grungy and sometimes it’s more refined. It’s a lot of thrift style. My inspiration comes from art I like, social media, and what I see other people wearing. Also just going to thrift stores and seeing something I like, and thinking about how I could make it into an outfit. My style also reflects different parts of my life and what I want to express, and my mood. If I want to be comfortable, I’ll dress for comfort, but other times I’ll dress more business casual.
Do you have a favorite or most special piece of clothing?
A lot of my clothes are from Vietnam or clothes that my mom gave me that she used to wear. Clothes from these two sources are probably the most important to me because I feel they connect me to my family and what has actually made me —me— and connects me to the part of my culture I don’t get to interact with as much living in California. Especially the stuff from my mom because its things she really casually wore but it feels really important to me to be given a part of her life; I get a peek into what she was like in her twenties.
Harrison Gable ‘18
What inspires your style?
I look up to a lot of musicians and how they dress. There’s one punk band, called The Garden and all the guys in the band dress really well. Also in my day to day life, if I see a color combination that works really well, or if I take a photo and like the way the colors work together, I try and put that in an outfit. People in my life, and my friends and the silhouettes or the textures they’re wearing inspire me everyday.
Do you have a favorite or most special piece of clothing?
Even though I own clothing that has more value or is pretty rare, at the end of the day I end up wearing this one Atlanta Braves baseball hat every day. It was really cheap, maybe five dollars at the most. The colors work really well, it goes with every outfit, and if I’m more dressed up I can wear the hat and dress it down.
How has your style changed over time?
When I was first getting into clothing, I was trying to emulate other peoples’ styles, especially with pop culture figures, like rappers that I obviously wasn’t going to dress like forever. That and buying and selling clothing, going to thrift stores helped me develop my own personal style. I was finding pieces, and then eventually keeping the things I liked a lot. Through that process of trying different outfits, trying different silhouettes, I found a wardrobe that is pinpoint to what I like. I wouldn’t say I have a style that is easy to characterize, because I like to wear different things, but over time I’ve developed a style that is more me. Probably half my clothing is from thrifting or online shopping— that could be Ebay, Depop or Grailed. I also get a lot of hand me down clothing. Even pieces that I see my grandparents or my dad wear, because I can change them into outfits that I think work a lot better than how they wear it.
Abigail Amlesom ‘19
How would you describe your style? What inspires you?
Simple, comfortable. But kind of nineties-esque. Kind of toned down, sometimes a pop of color. I draw a lot of inspiration from looking at people and seeing how different pieces go together and then I try to recreate that. I also get ideas from Instagram and seeing pieces there that look good. I also like to thrift shop a lot because I like how you won’t see other people wearing the exact same thing. I go to places like H&M, Forever 21 to get staple pieces and then accessorize them with pieces I get from thrift stores. I go to a few in the Mission and then also to different Goodwills. I try to go to neighborhoods where there aren’t as many teenagers because that’s where I find the best pieces because adults don’t really want them.
Do you have a favorite or most special piece of clothing?
I like baggy or mom jeans. They can go with anything. You can wear them when you’re feeling happy or down, or you can dress them up with heels. They’re a staple piece to have. Also, white shoes. They’re big in fashion and at Lick but I’m attracted to them because they go with everything and make outfits look better.
Do you consider fashion to be a big part of your life?
I’ve always been interested in what I wear. In high school, especially sophomore and junior year, I’ve started to use fashion to express myself more and think about things like color schemes and embroidery. However, even though it’s a part of me, fashion isn’t something that I’m always keeping up with.
Roma Edwards ‘20
How would you describe your style?
Pretty unusual and lots of crazy colors. Whenever I go to big stores like Urban Outfitters I get paranoid that I’m going to run into somebody at school with the same thing, so I mostly shop at thrift stores and I like to get giant, mens pants, and clothes with crazy patterns. Wasteland is really good and my old favorite thrift store was Painted Bird.
Do you ever make your own clothes?
Not as much, because you can’t experiment as much with making clothes as you can with jewelry. But I do like to embroider and draw on my clothes. Over the summer I went to a Goodwill type of store in Napa. In the children’s section they had a white karate suit which fit me so I decided to buy it. Then I embroidered, screen printed and drew on it. I also make a lot of jewelry. I have these thin sheets of copper and brass from Cliff’s variety, and I cut out shapes, hammer, and fold the metal. I usually make earrings but have made a few necklaces as well.
Do you have a favorite or most special piece of clothing?
I have this one denim jacket that I got it from my friend who is the owner of a clothing store. I go to figure drawing class and afterwards I look at the figures I drew and draw them onto clothes, so she would give me a bunch of random pieces to draw on and then give back to her. As a thank you gift she gave me this denim jacket that she got from a thrift store a long time ago. It had all of these beads embroidered onto it, and the back was just covered in them in a sunset-like pattern. My friend wore it for awhile and added studs on it. Then she gave it to me and I added my drawings of figures, and a couple of other things, like ladybug buttons. It’s really special because it has all these parts from different people.
Audrey Hirschman ‘20
How would you describe your style?
Wannabe Unif with Sidney Hirschman influences.
What influences your style?
A lot of my influences are from my family, but also what I see in the media, what I think looks cool, what I see my friends wearing. Not as much celebrities as people I care about and respect. Seeing people around, like Audrey Kalman and what she wears everyday, makes me realize that I just have to be true to me, and wear what makes me feel comfortable, but also comfortable looking in the mirror. I try to find things that make me happy, and look on the outside how I feel on the inside. I’m also inspired by art. I felt at my best fashion place over the summer when I went to art camp. I wore shirts I printed and the same shorts everyday that were really comfortable and had grids on them. I think finding inspiration from art is my ideal, but it doesn’t always happen, usually it’s just from things around me.
Do you make clothes as well?
I did a lot of screen printing over the summer but it’s kind of time consuming so I have less time to cut stencils during the school year. Graphic design is more interesting to me than clothing design so I mostly focus on interesting graphics.
Greg Kalman ‘21
How would you describe your style?
Laid back, current. It’s a mix of comfort and practicality and going outside of my comfort zone. A lot of what I wear is thrifted, and then I shop a lot at Zara. I have some of my grandfather’s ties and then when I was in Alabama I thrifted some Dior pants for two dollars. They’re big slacks so I wear them with a tighter shirt.
Do you consider fashion to be a big part of your life?
Definitely. What I wear depends on my mood, if I’m feeling really good or confident I’ll wear something really out there and accessorize. It’s also fun for me to see what I can do with different outfits. I’ll roll up a pair of pants, wear a shirt with a turtleneck under it. It’s fun to customize how I express myself. As I’ve started to figure out how I want to express myself, live my life, I’ve started to step outside my comfort zone more, and now have a more refined sense of style that still has a lot of stuff in it. Today I’m wearing skinny jeans, but yesterday I wore baggy pants.
