5 Ways Teens Cope With Change Through Fashion
When teens change the way they look, it’s to remind themselves that the world’s still moving and to cope with stress.
The COVID-19 Pandemic is perhaps the most toxic time of a teen’s life. By now, they thought that cinemas would be open, and dining in would become a thing again but, it hasn’t. There are still lockdowns and them being under 18 means they’re still stuck inside. While younger kids have their imagination to work with, teens thrive more in novelty where they get to experiment and find themselves. How do they cope? Teens cope by undergoing a fashion change!
1. Changing their fashion allows teens a sense of control
Nobody likes losing control, most especially teens. But with COVID-19, there’s that unsettling feeling that there’s nothing to control which leaves them scared of what might happen. So, they look for something they can control and their fashion sense is the first thing they might change. You’ll notice that they’ll change from bright colors. They might adopt something more neutral or darker to reflect their mood but don’t worry, the change isn’t permanent unless they’re comfortable in it already.
2. It reminds them that they’re still alive
COVID-19 didn’t just rob people of life but it robbed them of their time. Although your teens may not tell you, they’re probably in a state of languishing — wherein they’re doing their best to achieve the bare minimum. To prevent themselves from sinking any further, teens will change their look to break the routine and to remind themselves that they’re still thinking, breathing, and doing something.
3. A fashion change allows teens to explore (even if just a little bit!)
Being a teen’s all about identity exploration. They’ll try a bunch of things to find out where their niche is, including changing how they look. Teens often define their cliques and find their communities based on how they’re dressed. They even narrow down their fashion all the way to the color palette. So, don’t be surprised if your teen’s in dusty rose one moment before going all black-like-the-color-of-my-soul the next. It’s them changing their fashion to find other teens just like them.
4. A breath of fresh air
Since they can’t go out to get some fresh air, they’ll have to find other ways. Some teens find the fresh air in binging K-Drama series. Others find it by listening to new kinds of music they haven’t heard before. But most of the time, teens find that a change in fashion is a breath of fresh air as it allows them to change their identity and see themselves in a different light instead of the usual.
5. Fashion change has minimal risk
Unlike some coping mechanisms like stress eating, teens opt for a fashion change instead because the damage is minimal if something goes wrong. Like, 200 pesos worth of cookies will make them feel more guilty than a 200-peso shirt because they’ll see it as something that will heavily affect their lifestyle. Whereas, a 200 peso t-shirt or blouse can either be given to their younger sibling or used as loungewear if they lose their interest in it.
When their fashion changes, it means teens are trying to grow up and find their identity.
While we love dressing our kids in cute clothes especially on holidays, our teens would prefer that we recognize them as an individual and that dressing them up maybe something they won’t allow you to do anymore. But that doesn’t mean they’re cutting us out of their lives. It just means they want to find themselves amidst the chaos that this pandemic caused. Besides, as long as you assure that there’s positive and open communication at home, teens will always tell you about their latest fashion change.
