Senior Ivy Hardy readies herself in the morning with her go-to “sandwich method”, donning an emerald sweater with blue jeans and matching emerald shoes. On days where Hardy wants to feel put together without much styling effort, she is drawn to this combination. One aspect Hardy doesn’t consider is the weather.

Much like Hardy, senior Kaleb Amanuel said dsCalifornia weather enables him to prioritize fashion. 

“Almost every day, I choose style over comfort,” Amanuel said. “Even if the weather isn’t ideal, I’ll still wear something if I really like how it looks … fashion comes first for me most of the time.”

Hardy said the recent warm weather has encouraged her to bring back some summer staples.

“I’ve caught myself wearing flip-flops recently, even though it’s February and raining,” Hardy said. “I just think you can never go wrong with them. Summer’s almost approaching, and flip-flops are the one thing I love.” 

Amanuel said he has seen students ignore the weather depending on the temperature.

“Some people definitely still wear summer style outfits when it gets a little colder,” Amanuel said. “But when it’s actually cold, I notice more people layering and dressing more realistically for the weather.”

Junior Lina Ruan, though, said students do dress for the weather, but it isn’t as noticeable.

“It doesn’t get that cold in California to the point where it’s necessary to wear a ton of winter clothes,” Ruan said. “So it’s pretty flexible in that way and people still have a lot of options on what to wear.” 

In other places, however, winter fashion looks very different. Emma Yang, a Paly class of ‘25 and freshman at the University of Minnesota, said there is a distinct difference between how students dress in California versus Minnesota during winter. 

“In Minnesota, warmth is really important, because if you don’t dress properly for the weather, you can get frostbite or you can get sick,” Yang said. “Being out in the cold for so long is physically so incredibly uncomfortable that it’s not something you can just ignore.”

Yang said she misses the flexibility California weather provides.

“I’ve definitely been mourning my outfit choices that I could have made if it was just a little bit warmer,” Yang said. “I really like going out in these heeled boots, but I haven’t been able to do that recently because of how icy it’s been … I have these wool socks from Amazon that I wear in my sneakers. There’s a lot of layering.” 

But Amanuel said he thinks winter clothes are oftentimes more fashionable than summer ones.

“In the summer, it’s so hot that people usually wear fewer garments just to stay cool,” Amanuel said. “During winter, you can layer more pieces, which gives you more freedom to style and experiment with outfits.”

Hardy said she appreciates how California weather allows students to express their fashion choices in a variety of ways. 

“Anyone can wear whatever they want, and it’s really nice,” Hardy said. “You can just express yourself and share that with everyone  and just like who you are. At Paly it’s a part of who you are, and I think there’s a lot of aspects to it.”

Ultimately, Amanuel said he prioritizes style over weather because of how much it affects his confidence and mood. 

“Even though dressing for style can sometimes mean being too hot or too cold, it’s usually worth it,” Amanuel said. “When I’m happy with my outfit, it boosts my confidence and makes the whole day feel better.”