CARIBBEAN SECONDARY EDUCATION CERTIFICATE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

TITLE: Fashion (Trending Teenage Fashion)

NAME OF SCHOOL: New Campbellville Secondary

CANDIDATE’S NAME: Isha Cornell

CENTRE NUMBER:

TERRITORY: Guyana
ACKOWLEDGEMENT
INTRODUCTION
 PLAN OF INVESTIGATION

Teenagers can be considered as trendy people who like to keep up with new styles in fashion. For this

reason, I have chosen to research ‘Trending Teenage Fashion’.

As a student of English the research will help me to improve my summary skills, my reading and

analyzing skills.

The three artifacts to be used are a poster from the movie “Mean Girls”, an article titled “Dress to

Impress or Dress to Succeed” by Ann Paragon Ph.D. and a video clip from the movie “Mean Girls”. All three

pieces are taken from the internet.

COLLAGE
Reflection 1
ARTICLE
 Dressed for Success? Or, dressed to impress?

By: Ann Naradon PH.D

What did you or your significant other wear to school?

Perhaps you sashayed into your high school wearing a pink poodle skirt and shiny saddle shoes. Or

maybe you rocked out in scrunch socks layered over neon leggings and accessorized with an oversized

scrunchie, crimped hair, and electric blue eye shadow.

What did your teen wear to school today?

Today's teens are resurrecting past fashion trends giving life to leggings of the 80's, reviving the 70's

micro skirt, and becoming reacquainted with Lycra from the 90's. In hallways across America, the trend

is becoming apparent: less is more and tighter is better-than-ever as female teens sport ultra mini skirts,

skinny jeans, off the shoulder sweaters, and strapless tops covered by an easily disposable cardigan.

Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development describes adolescences as a period in which teens

grapple with questions concerning identity formation and become preoccupied with how they appear to

others (Erikson, 1950). In the process of trying to figure out who they are, teens try on different fashion

trends in an attempt to fit into particular social groups or to express their individuality to peers. In an

adolescent's world, fashion plays an integral role in identify formation and the development of self-

esteem.

With today's rising hemlines and plunging necklines, what effects can these fashion trends have on

teens?
While female adolescents may be dressing like they are 25, underneath the make-up and provocative

attire, they are still just teenagers. Their physical appearance and emotional state are in conflict; their

appearance suggests they are physically mature and capable of handling the independence that

accompanies adulthood, but inwardly they are still developing socially and emotionally and are not

ready for certain pressures that come with age.

Boys may objectify females, inferring qualities about them solely based on their physical appearance,

which frequently contradict females' values. Boys' emotional states may be altered as a result of

interacting with females dressed in revealing clothing. In an interesting study conducted by Paul

Johnson, Don McCreary, and Jennifer Mills (2007), researchers discovered that men exposed to images

of objectified women reported higher levels of anxiety and hostility when compared to control groups

who viewed neutral images of women and hypothesized that heightened levels of arousal may be

explained by the courtship patriarchy prevalent within Western culture, which can promote feelings of

entitlement to sex in males.

Girls may use another girl's choice of clothing as a way of gaining social leverage by firing off

derogatory marks about another girl in an effort to defame her reputation and social status. Often times

the way a girl dresses is perceived by other girls as an indicator of her sexual experience. So called slut

bashings have become prevalent into today's teen culture and often unfold over social networking sites.

Research shows that your daughter may feel worse about herself as a result of interacting with

provocatively dressed peers. Fiona Monro and Gail Huon (2005) demonstrated that women who were

exposed to images of objectified women through media advertisements experienced increased levels of

body anxiety and body shame. Similarly, Nicole Hawkins, P. Scott Richards, H. Mac Granley, and
David Stein (2004) found that exposure to images containing objectified women led to decreased levels

of self-esteem and increased levels of negative affect, depression, anger, anxiety, and confusion in the

women they sampled. If your daughter's friends are consumed with modeling the latest mini skirts,

plunging necklines, and spandex, your daughter could experience negative feelings regarding her body

or she may feel pressured to conform to her friends' taste in fashion.

Maybe school uniforms aren't a bad thing.

 Reflection 1

Fashion should simply be putting pieces of cloth together but after watching the video clip I was proven

wrong. I was shocked and amazed to see how the teenage girls were influenced to change their style of dress

form casual to a more provocative style. This provide me with a clearer understanding of what is fashion about.

The article has open my mind to some reasons why fashion become a trend among teenagers. I

once wore a crop top and damage jeans, unaware of the true reason behind my choice. .I now realize

that like other teenagers, I wore that particular fashion to be accepted.

The collage depicts a teenage girl in a simple top and jeans, which is totally different from the

other teenagers. Then she change that to what the other girls wore. I realize unconsciously that

teenager’s change who they are just to adopt to what’s trending.

Reflection 2

In the video clip, the girls easily grasped the teen girl attention as she walked out with her new fashion

cloth, the teenager’s facial expression and eye contact with each other provide me with a clear

Understanding of what the girls was thinking. It was instrumental for me because, it help me understand

More about trending teenage fashion.

The article was written in formal English but the vocabulary was a little higher than my level, to better

understand and develop some clearness I had to use a dictionary to defined some of the terms used ,in

the end I was able to understand the article and relate to it since it’s something that teenagers are

influence by.

The poster display a pictorial image, the language was formal and it was written that anyone at any age

can understand at the level in which it was written. The language was written in formal English.
Reflection 3

After completing the sba the way in which I used to think about fashion I don’t anymore, as being a

Teenager and seeing other girl wearing these fashionable clothing I long to wear those type of clothing

Then after I realize that we teenage should not be influence by other and that other personality and

Identify is show by our style of

I wasn’t knowledgeable neither interested about trending teenager fashion, after completing this sba, I

realize being a teen myself, I should be aware of what tending around teen and what interested

teenagers which is fashion trends. Participating in teenager fashion trends provide me with confidence

self-esteem, and an identity in society.