Inter-Pret This

[1]

Image Thumbnail:

Whether it was the March sisters in Little Women, who were always in a fluster to find their best dresses before a ball (cotton, since they were poor) or the thrown-together cool of young bands like the Arctic Monkeys, dressing up well has always been an integral part of the teen years. And getting a look that represents who you are, is as important as being trendy.
A recent study of teens in the US found that clothes stores, friends, magazines and films and television are still the leading sources of fashion inspiration for teens. The wired generation has also started turning to fashion blogs for advice, although most visitors to these blogs are girls. Guys on the other hand, take fashion tips from social networking sites.
So where do Indian teens look for styling tips? Pallavi Chemburkar, a 17-year-old aspiring fashion designer, says, “I tend to go through a lot of fashion magazines like Vogue, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar to decide what kind of a look I want.” Shopping for Pallavi is a mix of off-the-street and stores. “I look at the trends in the stores and then try and get the same stuff from street stalls.”
Another teen who goes in for a mix of street and store is 19-year-old Ashwini Iyer. This pharmacy student digs all things ethnic, and looks at what clothing stores have in the way of teen chic before she puts an outfit together. “I don’t have a preconceived idea of what I want, but I try and find what suits me,” she says. Ashwini too is a staunch street shopper.
Twenty-year-old Siddharth Singh was wearing checked gamchas long before they became a rage. But Siddharth insists that dressing up for him is not about trend spotting. “Your look shouldn’t be forced, you should be at ease with what you’re wearing,” says this Mumbai-ite.
While teens here aren’t yet looking to the web for their fashion needs, magazines and stores are giving them all the inspiration they need for now. Teens certainly have a sense of what they want when it’s time to put on the togs!