Fashion sense: Senior Maddie Polizzi steps out in style
As senior Maddie Polizzi gets ready to conquer her day, she decides what outfit she will wear. Black or bright? Heels or tennis shoes? Pants or a skirt? She asks herself these questions every day because of how she uses fashion to showcase her personality. Growing up, Polizzi was never able to express herself through her clothes -- at least not during the school day. That all changed in middle school when she was able to wear more than just a school uniform. As Polizzi has gone through her high school career, she has gotten to create her own look and make her own mark with fashion.
“I prefer more of an edgy style,” said Polizzi, on her personal fashion statements. “My closet has a lot of black, but I really value high color pieces to go off of that. I also value jewelry and hairstyle. And make-up can make or break a look.”
The clothes a person wears affect not only what they look like, but what they feel like -- which is a great way to express oneself. When it comes to fashion, Polizzi feels it is important to have a good thought process on an outfit. “I like to think about what I can pair it with, and if I can make several good combinations,” she explained. “If I can only wear it with one thing, I won’t get it, but if I can wear it on several different occasions, I’ll get it. It also has to be slightly unusual.”
Because Polizzi uses fashion as a way to project her sense of style, she noticed that people judge her just based on what she wears. “People can be close-minded,” she said. “I’ve had many experiences of people staring me down when I’m in public. Also, people like to make assumptions about my personality based on how I dress.” Usually, those assumptions are that she is intimidating or mean -- which she quickly and vehemently denies.
Polizzi gets a lot of her unique outfits at thrifting stores. The term “thrifting” means finding discounted or used clothes that aren’t really found in regular stores. This is something that Polizzi bases her fashion from, as a large amount of her clothing come from thrifting. “A majority of my clothes are from thrift stores; Goodwill is a staple around here,” she said. “In downtown Indianapolis, there are more good thrifting stores that have really odd pieces that I can incorporate into street wear.”
Even though she thrifts because she likes the style and it complements her fashion, she does it also to benefit the community and reduce her carbon footprint. “It’s better for the environment,” said Polizzi, “and in some instances, it’s cheaper, and the more broken-in the clothing is, the better it looks and feels. Also, a lot of thrift stores have a charity aspect, and it supports small businesses.” Polizzi also said she prefers old clothes over new clothes, so thrifting is something she does often with her fashion.
Polizzi has a very different fashion sense than most. But, she learned in middle school how to express herself through her fashion. Fashion makes her the type of person she is, and she can be creative with her style. “In elementary school, I had a uniform policy, so when I came over to middle school, I had all of these opportunities to dress how I wanted, and I kind of went off the rails,” she said.
Story by Kyle Stout