Article by: Fatima Mannapbekova
Illustration by: Sung Yun Bae
ISM is a school that enforces a rule that students must wear uniforms. Most say that clothing is key to knowing someone’s personality — that people can stand out and be identified through the way they dress. However, school uniforms can restrict a student’s ability to dress to express their originality.
There are students, though, like Nacho Tambunting who disagree with this opinion, who think that “restricting the options forces students to be more creative and pushes them to think outside the box.” Describing his fashion sense with one adjective, Nacho states that he likes to dress “preppy,” so the school uniform fits his fashion sense. When asked how he applies his style to the uniform, he says, “Personally, one way I do this is by matching my shoes with the color of the school shirt I am wearing on a specific day. Another way to make the school uniform look better is if it has the right fitting. Myself, I like to wear my uniform shirt tighter.”
Students also accessorize to “dress up” the uniform, using a variety accessories ranging from necklaces to bracelets to belts. This includes Nacho who says he always wears a watch on his wrist and a belt at his waist. “I always try to mix and match different colors and accessories I wear. I feel that how students wear the school uniform is one way to show their personality.”
From this, it can be concluded that uniforms force us to look identical from a distance, with dozens of ISM students wearing the same colored polo and shorts. Nevertheless, there are students who embrace the uniforms and have found creative ideas to make the uniforms reflect their fashion sense and characteristics.
