Letter From the Editors

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Meet the Staff

Maddie W

ells

Nahal Poorm

asjedian

Jordan Sholem

Nic

ole-

Julie

t Fre

idm

an

Jessica Sohn

Soraya Sebghati

Aaron Sooshani

Sarah Iranpour

Rebecca Yiu

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There’s definitely a fine line between look-ing good and being overdressed. Most of it is pretty cut and dry, as I’ve never seen anybody show up to school wearing a cock-tail dress. However, certain things are a bit tricky to figure out: for instance, shoes. As far as the safest option for school, I’d go with any kind of comfortable flats. Bal-let flats, converse, and boots, favorite,

are really common around the Brent-wood campus. But every once in a while, you’ll hear the familiar clip-clopping sound of heels walking down the hall-ways. As females in the latter part of our teen years, we’ve reached the age where we can wear heels with anything casual to go shopping or to go out for lunch without looking weird and overdressed. However, school is kind of a weird place in that sense. We all love looking cute and getting compliments, but we’re al-ways afraid of going too far or trying too hard. And the issue of heels isn’t as black and white as the unspoken rule of only upperclassmen being allowed to sit in the cafeteria. This leaves the people who wear heels to school nervous during the entire day, and it leaves the rest of us wondering what to think of their foot-wear choice. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve definitely been on both sides of this dilemma. Last year while shopping at one of my favorite stores, Wasteland, I found a pair of booties that I fell in love with. Now here’s the catch: they had a small heel (maybe about an inch and a half). And it was definitely noticeable. I still decided to wear them to school though, loud and proud. Of course no-body said anything mean, but I did have a few friends who made jokes about the heels. Either way, I loved those shoes so much that I wore them to school most

Soraya Sebghati

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days for the rest of the year. The moral of the story? Well, the appropriateness of wearing heels to school has to do with a few important factors. It definitely depends on your outfit choice. For instance, wearing shorts or a low cut top with heels would probably draw the wrong kind of attention, especially at school. Also, no stilettos, please. Save those for the weekend, or for semiformal. Another rule to note: the height of your heels should not exceed two inches! No ex-ceptions. That’s just too much height for school. And now for the most important limitation: comfort! The least you could expect from your shoes is to keep your feet comfortable, especially in a school en-vironment where the stress is high. Just think about it. The entire day you’re going up and down stairs, rushing to get to class on time. And don’t forget that you’re prob-ably going to be carrying a few extremely heavy textbooks with you. Your feet will not be happy with you by the end of the day! I would recommend wedges or boots to get you through the school day if you feel that heels would complete your outfit. In sum, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with wearing heels to school as school as-

long as you keep a few things in mind. Jus think of the three C’s: casual, com-fortable, and classy! And remember to be careful with the stairs.

Soraya’s Tips- keep it classy

- nothing over three inches

- comfort is key

- no stilettos

- rememer, you’re at school!

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New York, NYThe Sartorialistthesartorialist.blogspot.com

Paris, FranceJak & JilJakandjil.com

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New York, NYThe Sartorialist

thesartorialist.blogspot.com

Copenhagen, DenmarkCopenhagen Street Stylecopenhagenstreetstyle.dk

Where to find more...*facehunter.com*stillinberlin.com*hoyfashion.com

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In the small world of men’s fashion at Brentwood there exist a few different atti-tudes. There are those who would say they are not fashion conscious at all, nor do they wish to be it. There are those who enjoy and dabble in the occasional interesting graphic tee, and then there are those who actually get into their wardrobe and daily garb. These degrees of separation come

come from a myriad of different rea-sons, but the main point being that in every case, for every man, boy or man-boy, that they posses their own unique style. That is not to say that some gener-ic styles don’t exist. For example, what I like to call the Palisades Look: high socks, vans, short cut shorts and a tank top. My main point being that I think the uniqueness in our styles, whether one submits to a generic style or not, helps shape and identify who we are as people. It is impossible to escape ev-ery person’s automatic categorization system. When walking down the street and looking forward a person’s brain automatically makes judgments, not necessarily those Middle School, “That dress is sooo ugly” judgments, but gen-eral ones. Not to be too cliché in say-ing, “you are what you wear”, I would like to pair it with the other hackneyed expression “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”. Your clothes can be very telling, that is all. I know many guys who would personally tell me that they don’t really care about fashion, but what my goal is in writing this is not for you to follow the latest trends with religious fervor or change what you wear because I, in some twisted way, made you feel inse-cure. My goal is to promote and aid your

Lessons for the Boys Aaron Sooshani

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personal style. And the best thing about your style is you can change it to your liking or keep it the same. With all that being said here are some suggestions for your style, Mr. Dapper.

Aaron’s Tips- there’s a world beyond tees and gym shorts

- take inspiration from the aging gents in your life

- the ladies love it when you dress up (the staff agrees)

- a cardigan can change everything

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confident fash- ion sense. As the week progressed, I ex-perimented with articles of cloth-ing outside of my comfort zone. I tried a pair of lace- up combat boots. I tried wearing a cropped top. I even gave in and purchased a pair of ripped and shredded boyfriend jeans. With each day that passed I felt more uneasy and conspicuous. The following week, I came back full circle and confident enough to embrace my true fashion self: I have come to accept that traditional guide-lines inform the way I dress. I like things that match. I like things that match. I like symmetry and classical proportions. But most importantly, classic doesn’t have to mean I am turning into my mother. It does mean, however, that I will not look back at the Brentwood yearbook and cringe at the sight of myself in high-waisted short-shorts.

No offense, but you kind of dress like a mom” a friend of mine recently told me as she perused my outfit and mentally branded me with the scarlet letter “M”. No offense? Actually, I took a GREAT deal of offense to this statement. I spend quite a bit of time meticulously planning each day’s attire, from hat to hosiery. Absolute-ly horrified, I gave myself what fashion-conscious girls call the “once-over.” Was there something wrong with my new black toothpick cropped cords? Was my cash-mere sweater too conservative? My ballet flats too common? Was my British trench that was casually draped over my shoul-ders in case of rain too stuffy? How in the world could people mistake this timeless ensemble for “mom” clothes? As clothing trends relentlessly recycle every sarto-rial idea that each past decade has to of-fer, certain “classic” pieces never cease to present a certain kind of woman. When donned appropriately, classing clothing can lend an air of good taste and ageless-ness to their wearer without being too staid. “Hmmm,” I scratched my head in bewilderment as a freshman clad in gold American Apparel lame leggings scurried by. This look was clearly the antithesis of the look I was trying to achieve. Filled with self-doubt, I began to question my former-

Conundrum ClassicA

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Around Campus

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From the

(clockwise from left)Marc JacobsLouis VuittonPrada

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Runway

(clockwise from left)Celine

Stella McCartneyCalvin Klein

Michael Kors

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(clockwise from left)Chloé, No.21, Michael Kors, No. 21

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What’s Hot What’s Not

- Boba - Starbucks

- Hydration Station - Bottled Water

- Sperry Topsiders - Vans

- Loafers/Brogues - Doc Martens

- Embracing Your Nat-ural Hair

- Formaldehyde-laced straightening

- Nicki Minaj - Ke$ha

- AMP 97.1 - Kiis 102.7

- Gmail - Groupwise

- Jersey Shore - 16 and pregnant

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Credits

Page One Images: the impossible coolPage Three Image: the sartorialist Page Five Image: the sartorialistPage Five Grafiti: Katie Grossbard Page Six Image: copenhagen street stylePage Seven Image: GoFugYourselfPage Eleven-Thirteen Images: Style.com

A big thank you to Mr. Donis and Mrs. Paige for being such great faculty advisors.