For senior Elea Besse, her style fluctuates with her life.

“I usually dress how I feel. So one day if I am dressed more put together I will probably have my school stuff put together, just feel more confident about my day. If I am dressed in sweats it’s probably because emotions are running a little high, and stress is higher,” Besse said.

How one dresses can be a reflection of what is within. It makes sense, then, why style is so important to many people. Style has a big effect on first impressions, as it is the first thing people see of another person. Style manifests itself in many different ways: in one’s clothes, one’s makeup, one’s hair, one’s jewelry, or one’s shoes.

It is a way to tell others who one is without saying or doing anything. Often, high school is a time where students discover and play with their style. Freshman year was when Besse started thinking about her style.

“I actually had a uniform in middle school, because I was new freshman year at SPA. So I really started thinking about how what I wear… represents my personality, after I finished 8th grade,” Besse said. “I was free to wear what I wanted.”

Sophomore Mimi Longe, on the other hand, has been thinking about style for much longer.

“I when I was very little. Probably like 5 years old. I’ve always really liked fashion,” Longe said.

Both Longe and Besse use small details to show their style. One part of Besse’s style is jewelry. She has a pair of thin silver octagon shaped hoop earrings that she finds break away from more basic jewelry.

“I got them at where I work, Encore Consignment… I like these because they’re not the classic hoops… since they’re octagons I thought it was a little twist on the original hoop earrings,” Besse said.

Long finds her expression in another form; glasses.

“People keep asking if they’re fake,” Longe said, “They aren’t. They’re prescription.”

Many have negative connotations with glasses, as those who wear them are often stereotyped as nerdy or unattractive. But Longe has found a way to make glasses something that increases her confidence.

“[Style] makes you feel good and it makes you proud of yourself, I feel like at least, and also it is a way to express yourself physically,” Longe said.

Though some think style puts emphasis on the outside rather than the inside, style can be a tool for many people.

“I put a lot of effort into my style, even though I know that’s not supposed to be that important, ‘physical appearance isn’t important, blah blah blah,’” Longe said. “But I’m really into fashion. It is the way you can express yourself… to other people that you don’t know.”

Besse uses style to open herself up and become more self-assured.

“I think it makes me more confident in who I am. If I’m putting that part of myself, my personality, on the outside it’s easier to have people know me for who I am [without interaction] instead of getting to know me through interaction. That’s another layer of how you get to know somebody,” she said.

Style means a lot to Longe and Besse, and they are not alone. Style has many positive effects like increased confidence, self-expression, and individuality. Though style may be overlooked on a day to day basis, its effects go deeper than most realize at first glance.