Sporting the latest fashion trends is a necessity in today’s society!  Advertisements encourage us to purchase “brand-name clothing and accessories” to gain popularity and acceptance among members of the in-crowd.  Does it define you? No, because it doesn’t tell anyone what kind of person you are; you are not the clothes that you wear. A person’s fashion statement does not equal their worth.  

Peer acceptance should not be based on the clothes that you wear. Fads come and go, but people remember you for the way in which you treat others.  Are you kind and honest? Kindness matters, and it is a very important trait.  Peers will discuss various things about you, and it doesn’t matter if your clothing is acceptable or not.  Sometimes, others feel that you should not dress as they do. They view their style as a status symbol.

People often say that “beauty is skin deep.”  As the fashion trends continue to change, your inner beauty will draw people closer to you.  If you are impolite to others, your clothing will not make you a nicer person.  Your values and your moral standards are far more important than the clothes that you wear each day.  

Accessories cannot measure your personal worth. Often, people cannot afford the clothes and shoes that they are wearing, but they want to “fit-in” with their peers. They feel they are more important or that they have a higher value if they are sporting the right style. This is not true. If a person gets too tied up with material things, they will never value the true beauty that surrounds them.

In conclusion, clothes should not define a person because people are worth more than their $200 pair of shoes or their $20 pair of shoes from Walmart. Clothes and accessories are what people see on the outside. They don’t see who you actually are on the inside. Why do we get put into categories? They put us all into a little category so we “know where we belong.” Such as popular, nerds, rich, poor, loners, and so on. Most of those groups are based on money because if you’re rich, you have your own category, same as if you’re poor. Why can’t we all get along either way? But, I guess that’s how society is now that we are all put in categories.