Sports fanatics, food tasters, interior designers, technological innovators and even artists spark constant debates fighting for their side of the country. Come to the southeast, where you can find tropical beaches, alligators roaming and walking bronzed mannequins. On the west you will see celebrities, cameras buzzing and surfers, competing with great white sharks for the Pacific Ocean. Both sides have their pro’s and con’s but which coast takes the gold for the ultimate reward, best dressed?
The California ‘cool’ reputation takes the cake for having a laid back feel yet gives off a fashionable sense of style. This past summer visual senior Luis Zepeda visited the chic city of San Francisco for five weeks at the San Francisco Art Institute precollege summer program.
“[In California] it’s more about comfort than appearance,” Zepeda said. “In New York people are a lot more sophisticated and have a much more mature look.”
While June, July and August are the usual months of summer in the northern hemisphere, San Francisco does not conform to these expectations. In this northern California city, residents dress in the layered look.
“My favorite thing I bought was this jacket from an army store,” Zepeda said. “It makes me look like a gorilla. I wore it all the time there but I can’t wear it here because it’s too hot.”
From Zepeda’s standpoint the students traveling from the Los Angeles region looked ‘rich, artsy’, these Californians seemed to be put together in designer looks saying, “Everyone looks like Kendall and Kylie Jenner.”
The rivalry between the two regions has existed for as long as buttons were accessories. However the question ponders stylists of who directs these drastic style changes. According to Marcy Roth, owner and buyer of Accessory Artists, the media sets the trend for loyal fashion followers.
“It’s mainly celebrity driven fashion on the west coast, versus the fashion industry on the East Coast,” Ms. Roth said in an interview with SheKnows Magazine.
From the east perspective, celebrities like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, influence their fashion fads on their fans. Their ‘dumpster chic’ look takes dirty rich to a new level. The Olsen twins fashion sense rival that of Rachel Zoe, queen of the west coast.
At Dreyfoos, students dress for success. September’s new fads are quickly seen among students who purchase the newest accessories and clothing that have a touch of west coast influence.
“Their [west coast] clothing is the future,” digital media senior Tristan Torrey said. “On the east coast we think we have to match, making us pretty generic. The west coast generates weird designs.”
Most students take pride in their clothing choices which emphasize their unique look with influence from chart topping artists.
“The west coast is ‘killin’ it,” digital media senior Jake Seiler said. “On Rodeo, everyone wears stuff that’s bold. It’s an orthodox that fits well. They have very ironic fashion like random cat heads on t-shirts.”
For Seiler’s personal look, he explains that it’s necessary that one must have a gold necklace among their wardrobe. He explains that he draws his taste from rapper Tyler the Creator’s clothing brand Odd Future. The brand’s clothing is available online where you can find floating cat heads on skateboards or graphic tees with neon camels dressed in rollerblades.
“The west coast makes it harder to perfect your look. They throw matching out of the window but make it work,” Seiler said. “It’s [west coast] precision with their fashion using a lot of dark bold colors.”
There is no right or wrong answer to this notorious debate between east coast and west coast. Go to the east where you will see slicked back hair, big bug eye sunglasses and Prada feet. Turn left and you might spot a skate boarder cruising by wearing a Supreme hat. From several Dreyfoos students’ perspectives, it is found they prefer that west coast cool.
