Music Credits:

Adding The Sun by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5708-adding-the-sun

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Evelyn Sampsell-Jones: Style is one of our purest forms of human expression. It can be simple, functional clothing for your everyday life or bold statements meant to reveal an unseen personality. Style is different for everyone, but sometimes it can feel like style is too stereotypical. With the rise of social media popularizing different aesthetics, it can feel like style is a box that one must fit into.

Tyler Christensen: I used to think a lot more about fashion stereotypes and what people might think of me, based on what I’m wearing.

ESJ: That’s sophomore Tyler Christensen. Notice how she says she “used to” think about stereotypes. How about now?

TC: I honestly have just stopped caring about what other people think.

ESJ: Hi, I’m Evelyn Sampsell-Jones and welcome to the first episode of Outside the Box, The Rubicon podcast about what students are doing outside of SPA. Today, we’ll explore style with Tyler Christensen. Tyler is from Edina, a suburb of Minneapolis, but she draws her influences from elsewhere.

TC:  A lot from, like, other musicians, and a lot of different music like 90s music. And also like some literature that I’ve read. Some, like, Shakespeare stuff, some weird stuff that we read for school. 

ESJ: I’m wondering how she draws inspiration from Shakespeare, because I would love to dress Elizabethan for a day. Anyway. Like any style aficionado, Tyler also has her individual style icons.

TC:  Hayley Williams of Paramore. I really love her style.  There are some Instagram users that I draw inspiration from. And different brands. Like, there’s this brand called UNIF that I draw a lot of inspiration. And also 90s, kind of grunge clothes.

ESJ: Tyler mentioned a lot of musicians as influences, and she’s a musician herself. She goes to a lot of local concerts, which in turn influence her style and her music.

TC: I go to a lot of, like, house shows, which are like kind of small shows that are in the basement of someone’s house. I go to a lot of local bands.

ESJ: But of course, her tastes took time to develop and change into what they are now.

TC:  I’d say I’ve become a lot more experimental.  I feel like I’ve become more like, just like not trying to fit into any boundaries and kind of really experimenting and wearing what I wanna wear. And, like, curating my closet a little bit more.

ESJ: As her style has developed, Tyler has found more than a few pieces that have become really expressive for her.

TC: I have this like mesh shirt that, it’s like, it’s kind of like nude, and it has blue ribbing and, like, this black design on it. It’s really cool. I’d say this necklace that I have. It’s like an amber scorpion. My jeans, like, I have like these two pairs of jeans that I, like, wear almost every day, which are kind of baggy. I only wear kind of like, non-fitted jeans. And then my boots, which I wear every single day. 

ESJ: Tyler seems to have her aesthetic all put together. She has her favorite pieces, people who inspire her, and even connections to the music she loves. But as her style has grown, Tyler has had to grow personally as well. She’s learned how to express herself without caring what others think.

TC: I live in, like, the middle of Edina so I worry about, like, all the older people and what people around me might think when I’m in public. I honestly have just like stopped caring about what other people think unless it’s, like, positive. 

ESJ: Tyler doesn’t appreciate the stereotypes or ideas people have of those different than them.

TC: I think there’s the stereotype of, like, people with dyed hair or people who dress really unusually or just, like, out of the norm are more rambunctious or not as smart, or less educated. It’s like, it’s just really untrue.

ESJ: Overall, Tyler has an interesting story to tell about her style and how stereotypes can be harmful. Style is a personal canvas for expression, and it’s not about trends or the opinions of others. It’s all about personality. Though assumptions aren’t great, style positivity is always welcome.

TC: I do really like the stereotype of like being artsy and interesting, because I think that’s, that’s cool.

ESJ: Thank you to Tyler Christensen for agreeing to be interviewed and sharing her time, and thank you to Mimi Huelster and Maddy Fisher for helping edit this episode and conceptualize this series. I’m Evelyn Sampsell-Jones, and this has been Outside the Box.

Listen to Episode 2, Theater touring with Soren Miller and Valerie Wick.