Hot Summer, Hot Fashions written by Kelsey Jones

Fresh new fashions have arrived this summer and each style possesses its own unique twist. From the dainty skinny jeans, to classy kimono sleeved shirts, every girl can’t wait to hit up the mall and grab whatever’s in style. Daitza Medastin, a 15-year-old from Stockbridge, glides her fingers through dozens of tank-tops at the popular fashion store Lubi in the Southlake Mall. From pink with laces to white with glitter, there are so many for her to choose from. She finally picks up a sexy black spaghetti strap top and looks at it for a while. She turns it from front to back a couple of times, frowns a little and decides to put it back on the rack. Medastin describes herself as simple but fashionable. “I see the big pumps and stuff, but that’s just not me,” she says. “I prefer to wear a pair of skinny jeans, a cute top, and flat shoes.” Medastin says she has always been more of a down-to-earth dresser, but would agree that this summer less is more. “A lot of girls like the low cut v-neck tops, but I just like something that is sexy, yet still covers you up a bit.” With all the new and ever-changing styles it seems like it would be hard keep up, but Chantisse McLaurin, a salesperson at a hip hop fashion store called Mix5, says that to stay up with the new styles all you have to do is know what’s popular in entertainment. “When the song, ‘Party Like a Rockstar’ came out, people began to come in and buy a lot of our punk rock clothing,” says McLaurin, “Also they just like the hip hop style so we sell a lot of Roc-a-Wear and Ed Hardy.” Roc-a-wear is a clothing label owned and run by rap star mogul Jay-Z. It is based on the hip hop fashions that are largely seen in his music videos, so it is easy to see why so many girls are attracted to his clothing. “Girls want to be in style and that’s what’s hot right now,” says McLaurin.The walls of another cool spot for fashion, G&G, are covered with hundreds of trendy shirts of all styles. Walking in, you can’t help but notice the various graphic tees neatly folded on the table right in front of the door. Salesperson Renada Phillips says that graphic, or screen tees are really fashionable this summer. “We sell a lot of the tees along with the leggings and tank-tops,” she says as she folds another tee that reads “2 Hot 2 Look.” “Not to mention the kimono shirts that come in all types of bright colors.” Phillips has worked in retail and fashion for over a year and says she has sees many changes this year from the last. “Something really new this year are the suspenders and the big belts that,” she says, “Some girls like to wear the belts because it can hide some of that extra chubbiness in your mid-area.” “Young girls today are really concerned with fashion and being ‘in style’,” says Phillips, “So I get lots of questions daily on what I might think about this shirt going with this skirt, or are these pants really cute? I just tell them wear lots of solid colors, but in layers.” She points over toward the jazzy jewelry, “and also accessories, lots of accessories.” Brittnie Jemmott, a fashionable 18-year-old, works her way from the front of the store Gadzooks, all the way to the back, making sure to stop by each rack. She finds a cute black half top and tries it on over the shirt she’s wearing. Jemmott herself has on a pair of skinny jeans, a pink top, and silver flat flip flops with bright white toenail polish. “I just have my own style,” she says, “Like right now I’m really into long flowing baby doll dresses. Matter of fact I just bought one from the store across from here,” she says as she giggles and holds up her Body Central bag. Jemmont says she likes the new styles because shirts are not tight anymore but are more loose-fitting, and flat shoes, like stylish flip flops and sandals, are easier to wear than the stiletto pumped heels. “Honestly, I just like to be comfortable and cute,” Jemmott says with a smile, “Flat shoes or wedged heels with a peek-a-boo toes and sometimes, but not always, accessories to match are really cute.” Jemmott is not the only girl enjoying the hot new fashions of the summer. Each fashion shop in the mall was filled with young girls and women hoping to catch the perfect pair of jeans or blouse that set them apart from the rest and yet described them at the same time. One of the busiest places in the Southlake Mall in Morrow, GA is the juniors department at Macy’s. Walking in, the first thing you might see is the leopard print display. Most of the shirts have polka-dotted, striped, or plaid designs. A sassy mannequin is clothed in a long flowing red shirt with black and blue patterns along with a pair of skinny denim capris and black platform wedged heels. Across her shoulder hangs a gigantic black hand bag. Thirty-four-year-old salesperson Tisha Baldwin says this is nothing new to her. “All the leopard print, plaid, dots, layers, it’s all old stuff coming back,” she says as she points to mannequin dressed in black leggings, short shorts and with one red flowered shirt layering a blue stripped one. “A lot of the young girls probably don’t know this,” she says, “but I remember back in 1989 the same styles were in.” Baldwin says that nothing is really “simple” anymore and just wearing a plain shirt is definitely out. “Every shirt and pair of pants have to have a pattern of some type,” she says. Baldwin points out that their biggest sales are in jeans. Their most popular jeans are of course the skinny jeans. Skinny jeans are very tight denim pants that stretch. They are called skinny jean because unlike wide leg jeans, they don’t flare out and are tight on the legs all the way down to the ankles. “Like I said, these are actually a comeback from the ‘80s, but girls love them because they can put on a cute shirt and a pair of sexy red open-toe pumps and look really cute,” says Baldwin. “Summer is a time when you definitely want to be in style and be your cutest,” says Jemmott, “So that’s what I’m going to do!”

(The following is a sidebar)So here’s the rundown. To be fashionable this summer a girl definitely needs the following: Plaid Bermuda shorts Baby Doll Dresses Big flowing shirts Graphic Tees Bright tops Flat shoes Platform wedged heels Skinny jeans Suspenders Wide belts Leggings Accessories