Who’s Really Fitted at Sinatra?

by Kaylin Ruiz

It’s no surprise that Frank Sinatra School of the Arts (FSSA) is a fashionable school. Think about it — the most stylish people you can think of—Zendaya, Rihanna, Bad Bunny, Lily Rose Depp, and Playboi Carti—are all artists in one way or another, whether they are actors, musical artists or otherwise. Sinatra is a center for upcoming artists just like them, so it’s only right that our “fits” are top-tier.

But who better to be the judge of the style at Sinatra than the students themselves?

In a school-wide poll conducted on March 31, 2022, the question of which major is the most fashionable had admittedly the most expected response. Fine Arts was considered to be the most fashionable major by a landslide, making up 70 percent of the 150 votes.

The second highest percentage was for Drama, making up about 15 percent of the votes. Fine Arts majors just seem to have that artistic touch and aren’t afraid to make unique choices with their personal style. 

In fact, three of the top 5 best dressed people ranked were Fine Arts majors according to the poll. One of these three is sophomore Mackenzie Cameron, who ranked 5th most fashionable in the school. 

Another is Maeve Gopeesingh, a senior at Sinatra, who was ranked 4th most fashionable. When asked what she considers to be her personal style, Maeve shared that she doesn’t go for one specific style, but instead wears whatever catches her eye. Bright colors and loud patterns are usually what she gravitates towards at thrift stores.

The Salvation Army near Sinatra as suggested by the at-the-time sophomores, was just the place for Maeve to find the clothes all the upperclassmen were wearing. It was here, during her freshman year, that she claims to have really begun her style journey in the “artsy hippie y2k kid-core teen,” aesthetic.

Now, Maeve is inspired by the fashion she sees within her friend group at Sinatra. In particular, she admires the fashion sense of her friend Chloe Beckert-Brown, who also made the top 5 list, and explains that she dresses so uniquely to her and she has a lot of confidence in what she’s wearing.

Edona Hasanaj, is also one of Maeve’s biggest inspirations for makeup, due to her bold eye looks, colored eyeliner, and colored eyeshadow.

But Maeve’s style has been met with some push back at Sinatra as well, in particular from certain members of administration.

She shared her experience with being dress-coded at school in her Freshman year—yes, there is a dress code, and only half of the school is aware of this, exactly 50 percent of the poll respondents voted “yes” when asked if they knew of a dress code at FSSA. Despite not knowing of the real dress code until this year, Maeve was dress-coded by a member of administration in her freshman year for wearing a tube top which she was told she couldn’t wear because “it doesn’t have straps” and therefore “isn’t a shirt.”

FSSA’s third most fashionable Sinatra student Trinity Moore, a senior instrumental major, was another victim of this mysterious dress code violation. In a written interview, they shared that although they knew about a dress code at Sinatra, seeing people in bras their freshman year made the code unbelievable.

“When I was dress coded, it was a complete shock to the system,” Trinity stated. 

Regardless of the dress code, Trinity’s style still manages to be out of the box. Their eccentric and bold style fluctuates daily, and isn’t inspired by only one source, but rather by how they feel when they wake up in the morning and those closest to them.

Trinity also shared that over the pandemic, their style evolved as they explored more “masculine” styles and became more comfortable and carefree, not seeking the approval of anyone around them. From primary colors to big white afros, Trinity’s fashion serves as a form of therapy, and they believe that nothing is comparable to feeling confident in what we as individuals wear, especially at Sinatra.

“The school has about a thousand students, why not show off a little?” they asked.

While it’s safe to say that the majority of Sinatra students do “show off” their unique fashion looks at every given opportunity, according to the poll, the overall style at Sinatra seems to be way more laid-back.

Interestingly, nearly 15 percent of the responses considered their individual styles to be casual streetwear: baggy jeans, comfy oversized sweatshirts, graphic tees and sneakers categorize this style.

The second highest percentage of the votes were for a simple or “normal” aesthetic, where standard t-shirts, plain hoodies and regular-fit jeans dominate. Sometimes, going back to the basics is just as necessary as over-accessorizing.

The model-off duty and casual “skater” inspired aesthetics were tied at 8 percent in the poll and are thus the third most popular styles in the school. 

But Chloe Beckert-Brown is nowhere near “casual.” In fact, she’s widely known both at Sinatra and on social media, for her fun, unique, bright and colorful aesthetic. Representing the film studio, this senior was ranked the 2nd most fashionable student at the school. 

At this point, you must be wondering, who could possibly be the current best dressed student at Sinatra? Well, contrary to popular belief, the most fashionable student isn’t a senior, or even a junior. That’s right, the voted most fashionable student at Sinatra is a sophomore vocal major, and his name is Adam Jaggernauth. 

Heavily influenced by 2000’s New York/Japanese streetwear, Adam’s style is experimental and “all over the place,” with no one particular aesthetic guiding it—a popular idea shared throughout the top 5 list.

“I don’t have a set aesthetic because I feel like that restricts you so much. It gives you no room to grow and explore fashion wise,” Adam said.

However, Adam noted that he draws a large amount of his style inspiration from none other than Kylie Eastman, a Sinatra alumni from class of ’21.

“I aspire to be as fly as her,” he stated. 

Adam also believes that fashion is a huge part of Sinatra, and that the collective creativity at the school is evident in the clothes we wear. He notes that he’s motivated by the different styles and aesthetics he sees at school, and that dressing up for school makes his day.

“Putting on a good outfit makes me feel so much better about myself. It’s the reason I can either have a good day or a bad day. I know that sounds so dramatic, but it’s the truth,” he added.

When questioned about his feelings on being voted the top most fashionable person in school (out of 150 responses in less than one day), Adam humbly expressed his happiness over the title.

“It’s insane that people actually pay attention to what I wear. Getting voted most fashionable inspired me to further my fashion journey,” he said.