Culture, Self-Expression, and pajama pants
Image by Ivan O ’25, Leo Piamthipmanus ’25, Michelle Tang ’26
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Jason Noh ’27, Michelle Tang ’26
Fashion. It’s everywhere — on the streets, filling our social media feeds, and in the community of NMH. But is there more to fashion than just fabric, logos, and attire? The answer is, Yes, much more. With international students accounting for more than 25 percent of the NMH student body, fashion becomes a tool for exploring new environments, blending identity, and grappling with the challenge of fitting in and standing out. There are untold experiences to explore inside the closets of these students…
Junsang (Korean)
In Korea, we heavily emphasize academics and education. I honestly say students don't have enough time to invest in fashion, since they just wear whatever society thinks is acceptable and whatever they can grab right away when they go to school. We're a very conservative country, and we follow Confucian ideas a lot. It would be frowned upon if you reveal a lot of skin. But here, there's much more freedom. We value education and academics, but we also value other things: culture, diversity, and finding our true passions.
For me, the change in my fashion was quite natural because the culture here is very diverse and flexible, so I wasn't pressured to fit into a certain type of standard. It gave me the opportunity to explore different types of clothing and wear what I want.
Michelle (Chinese)
From where I am from, partly due to a collectivist culture, most Chinese high schools have uniforms, so we don't really have much every-day fashion choices. The good side of uniforms is that they save a lot of time and energy from deciding what to wear, and they create a collective school identity, although they erase individual identity to some extent.
Fashion speaks for one’s identity and personality in many ways. But sometimes it becomes a burden when you become conscious that what you wear will be a mirror that reflects yourself and the window for other people to glimpse inside of you. I have to be aware that what I wear can speak of me as a person: obviously I can’t wear a trash bag to go to school, right? But like, honestly as a junior now, I really don't care that much, because everyday is just about surviving through the day.
Anna (Russian)
Russia has a big culture of dressing up. The girls would do their full face makeup every day because society really judges you based on your appearance. And so I never got rid of this cultural thing. I still wake up early to put on makeup, and my hair and my outfit will always be planned since the day before, based on the weather forecast. But there's definitely a little more freedom in my outfit than I would have at home.
People think that Russian people normally wear huge fur hats, and I actually made fun of this: last year I went back to Russia during winter break, and there was this trend of ‘I'm just a simple Russian girl’. My friends told me I gotta do this trend, and it's just wearing what people would traditionally associate with being Russian. I am Russian, I enjoy wearing the huge hat and the boots for one photoshoot, but I'm not sure if I would like to wear it every day in the winter.
I also remember I was going to the dining hall and was wearing leggings and a hoodie. I didn't wear any makeup, and my hair was in a messy bun. And the girls sitting there were like, “Oh, okay, so you're really quite American now.”
Claire: (Korean-American)
Growing up in Ridgewood, New Jersey, I was always interested in fashion, but the fashion there is basically wearing hoodies and shorts, just because it's comfortable and what's accepted. Traveling back to Korea helped me find a sanctuary for myself: I found familiarity and comfort being in an environment where fashion was more normalized and appreciated.
In Ridgewood, where I first started experimenting with fashion, there were more than a few occasions where I felt I stood out in an uncomfortable way because of the way I dressed. I've definitely grown more comfortable with that aspect of myself, especially with Korean culture helping me express my fashion.
At NMH, we have people from all over the country and the world, so when you come here you expect people to have different outlooks and perspectives. But an issue is that sometimes NMH struggles to fully embrace all those different cultures. I believe trying to embrace and lean into the authenticity of other cultures is important, especially when we are a school that advertises the presence of various cultures within the community.
And I think because specifically NMH doesn't have a dress code, students are allowed to experiment and express themselves, even if that expression is hoodies and sweatpants every day.
Wyatt (UK)
My fashion changed a lot. I've tried to embrace it a little bit more because sticking to the stuff that I felt comfortable with in London is not necessarily the stuff that I felt comfortable with here. I'm very into baggy clothing, but other people here might perceive it as weird. However, from where I'm from, it would be considered cool.
I think everyone's pretty positive here in terms of what people wear and there is no judgment around it. There are days when I don't necessarily have the confidence to pull off an outfit, and then I kind of cave in and give in to the pajama pants.
Fashion is no longer just what we wear
Buying new clothes doesn’t necessarily mean throwing away the old ones. Being in a new environment doesn’t mean that one abandons their origins. As students expand their identities expressed through fashion, they find a balance between fitting into a new cultural landscape and staying true to themselves.
The fashion choices of NMH students mirror the freedom of self-expression and the agency to decide who they want to be. Fashion is no longer just what we wear, but how we choose to present ourselves in an increasingly global and interconnected world. So how would you carve out a personal narrative from the clothes hanging in your wardrobe?
