The saying goes that there are 104 days of summer vacation until school comes around just to end it, and those 104 days have come and gone once again. Which means we’re back to school, which means the return of Hot or Not!, our official unofficial guide to pop culture: the trends we see on campus, around Seattle, and through our phones. With a little help from our poll-responding friends, “Tatler” has assembled a list of everything hot, and everything not this back to school season.
HOT
SCHOOL SPIRIT
Lakeside may not have cheerleaders, and we may not have pep squads, but that doesn’t mean school spirit isn’t important to us. In fact, people are talking about school spirit all the time, especially how much we lack it. This year, as a solution to the most pressing of issues, I think we should all start going to games? Maybe clap politely for our golf team, cheer for our volleyball team, and dress as the themes at football games this season? Practice what we preach? Just a thought!
LIGHT RAIL
The new light rail is opening, which means a whole new world when it comes to transportation to and from school. If you can’t drive, you hate the people in your carpool, you live in an area not serviced by the school’s buses, or you just want to cut your carbon emissions, the light rail will be running just in time for the new school year.
BRAT AUTUMN
If you’ve been on the internet at all since June 7th, you’ve probably heard of Charli xcx’s album Brat and seen the endless posts on social media about it. Brat summer may be ending, but this could very well be a Brat autumn, as Charli xcx begins touring the album alongside Troye Sivan on the Sweat tour, which will end here in Seattle in October.
GETTING TO SCHOOL EARLY TO PARK
COMFORT
Wearing slippers, off-the-shoulder shirts, and pajama pants to school, dressing up in the Ebenezer Scrooge fit with the pinstripe pajamas and cap holding a candle.
NOT
MICROTRENDS
Back-to-school season means a visit from the Ghosts of Trends Future (jungle core, whatever that means), Trends Present (Adidas campuses, Brandy Melville number shirts, Owala water bottles), and Trends Past. RIP to bows, blokecore, blokette, mob wife, office siren, slick back buns — trends that may be gone (for now) but never forgotten.
BEREAL
The hype around BeReal has died exponentially, and, like Threads, it now seems like one of those apps you download because everyone else is, only to go on and forget about it in a few months.
SKIBIDI TOILET
If I have to write this one more time I’m quitting this column.
DEMURE AND MINDFUL
This probably isn’t very demure OR mindful of me, but I really can’t take this anymore. Why do people keep saying this? Why am I getting emails from Urban Outfitters and NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC about being demure and mindful?
SKIPPING ATHLETIC EVENTS
I’m feeling called out by this poll respondent, and I just want to say I commit to learning and growing and being better everyday!
PIT VIPER SUNGLASSES
I don’t know if Morgan Wallen wears these but they remind me of the walkouts he does before shows where he daps people up and jumps around a lot before getting on stage. They’re the embodiment of mullets, Vineyard Vines, and Hey Dudes, so I agree that we should leave them in the past!
BUZZCUTS
Hopefully. When a buzzcut is done well, it can be a very cool thing, but I have to agree with this poll respondent.
