Fashion is like a time machine. Seeing one piece of clothing can instantaneously transport someone back to a decade prior. The original walls of Omaha North High School have seen over ten decades of fashion failures and successes.

I decided to take a trip down memory lane and evaluate all the fashion trends from each decade utilizing the Omaha North High yearbooks from the different decades.

Starting off with the 1920s, things looked a lot different from what they did today. The women wore short skirts, and knee length dresses. When I say short skirts however, I am not talking about the microskirts that are in style now which I find to be ugly. They also wore chemise dresses. A chemise dress is a loose fitting, straight-hanging dress that resembles a linen chemise, or shift, which is just an undergarment. It is a simple unstructured garment without a defined waist. I cannot get behind the trends from back then, but I cannot say with 100% certainty that I would have felt that way if I was alive back then.

By the time the 1940s rolled around the clothing choices were somewhat similar but different at the same time. Now the women and girls wore tea dresses and shirtwaist dresses, with many different prints. Vibrant floral prints, polka dots, plaids, and delicate pinstripes. The different types of patterns added pazazz to the outfits. The use of patterns just adds a special element that seemed to have been missing in the previous decades.

For the men and boys, they mainly wore suits. Plain suits in muted colors like black, brown, navy, and tan. Their shirts were collared with pointed Spearpoint collar, and Windsor knot ties made from wool or rayon. I struggle to wrap my head around the fact that people would wear these items to school daily.

Between the 1950s and the 1960s, the clothing choices were remarkably different. Tight fitting drainpipe jeans became really popular for the women and girls. Casual sportswear was also starting to increase in sales to many people’s surprises. A good way to describe drainpipe jeans is a more tapered jeans that are not very tight to the body. Surprisingly, Levi’s® 501 jeans were at the top of the list of jean sales. Levi’s® 501 have gained traction recently on Tik Tok and other social media platforms.

In the 1960s bell-bottoms were introduced. Bell-bottoms are tight at the hips and flare out once they hit the knee. I won’t say that I am opposed to this style by any means, but I am not impressed either.

To go along with the bell bottoms, tie-die shirts took off becoming a very popular outfit to wear during that time. Since then, tie-dye has stuck around. I feel that there is always one spirit day a year that is themed towards tie-dye.

The 1960 fashion was also really bipolar in every way. Bright colors, tie-dye shirts, long, big hair and beads is not something that you would expect to see combined, but the 60s gave that to us.

Fashion seemed to have a flip of the switch when the 1980s came around. The 80s was a decade of bold and experimental fashion. Men’s clothing went from business casual to chill and more laid back. They wore things like Hawaiian shirts and Levi’s jeans. The fashion seemed to resemble more of what we see now if the halls, with jeans and t-shirts not a full-on suit.

The male fashion was influenced by television shows such as Miami Vice and Magnum PI. Other inspirations came from American singer and song writer, Michael Jackson.

For the females they were into tight leggings and big hair. I feel that the big hair needs to be specifically highlighted, because it was a statement on its’ own. To add to the statement, hair accessories were seen as a special guest star to the main attraction. The combination of crop tops and high waisted jeans started to become a staple, one that has since reappeared numerous times since then.

The 1990s did not change largely from the 80s, minus a few elements. One element in particular was denim. The use of denim in outfits blew up. Obviously, denim has always been popular in terms of pants, but it also took the world by storm, now becoming apparent in shirts, jackets, accessories, and overalls.

The men’s choices of style were almost identical to what I have seen walking the halls recently. A loose fitting “dad” jean and a novelty 90s sweatshirt was the go-to staple. I probably see half of the student body wearing something identical to that every day.

In the 2000’s, Y2K took the world by storm. Just like the 90s, the fashion trends from this year have started to make a comeback in recent. Some popular trends were Juicy Couture track suits, strappy sandals, and longer shirts. For the boys Y2K usually involved leather jackets, a statement dress shirt, and chunky shoes.

The 2010s was a combination of the 1990s and the 2000s in my opinion. The trends started to overlap, and the idea of “hipster” fashion became more apparent. This is starting to enter the territory of what I am used to now a days.

Although the walls cannot talk in the building, their eyes have watched the millions of outfits that have walked the halls. It has seen students on their worse dressed days and their best dressed days. I personally enjoy that fashion allows for anyone and everyone to express themselves and show off their style, no matter what decade it is.