Fashion Friday: Avrill Gratton ’19

Gallery • 10 Photos

Anjali Huynh

Avrill Gratton '19 pairs a gray sweater borrowed from her dad with red pants from Dickie's.

From vibrant patterns as a youngster to more neutral colors today, Avrill Gratton ‘19 says she has always had an interest in fashion and that her style continues to evolve.

“I always wore what I wanted to wear, so when I was really little, it would be polka dots and stripes and butterflies and then … in junior high, I really just started developing my own style and I was wearing what I wanted to wear and not what everybody else was wearing, which was usually like leggings and a t-shirt,” Gratton said.

Although she describes herself as quiet and typically wears neutral shades, Gratton believes that fashion has provided her with a gateway to come out of her shell.

“I’m a very quiet person, but sometimes I like to wear really bright colors. I have a couple pairs of pants that are just bright red or bright yellow, bright pink that I wear a lot just for fun,” she said. “[Fashion] is a good way to express myself and sometimes it speaks for me, which is a good thing and a bad thing. Good because it allows me to make new friends and talk to different people … Bad because people assume that because of the way I dress I’m rude or I’m an art hoe, which I’m not.”

Gratton strongly believes that comfort can go hand-in-hand with the term stylish.

“I won’t wear something if it’s not comfortable, even if it’s super cute and if I really like it. If it’s not comfy, I’m not wearing it,” she said.

Gratton gets most of her fashion inspiration from social media sites like Instagram and Tumblr. Though she is fond of the current high-waisted pants era, she doesn’t pay much attention to fashion trends. Rather, Gratton wears what appeals to her.

“I don’t really keep up with trends. I don’t follow fashion blogs or anything. If I see something, I like it and I wear it,” she said.

Gratton cites thrift stores and family members’ closets as some of her go-to places to shop.

“I get a lot of my clothes from Goodwill. I also steal things out of everybody else’s closet. So my dad has a bunch of sweaters that I stole. I steal his t-shirts. The same with my brother,” she said.

As for her favorite brands, Gratton often turns to Dickies for pants and Vans for shoes. Gratton believes that footwear completes an outfit.

“I think that [shoes] really just bring the whole outfit together. Socks, too. Socks are like my favorite part of my outfit sometimes. I have a lot of really fun socks,” she said.

Overall, Gratton views fashion as an art form that enables her to express herself and sees parallels between it and what she studies in art classes at West.

“I really like primary colors, so I feel like that reflects itself in my art as well as in the way that I dress,” she said. “I think all of my art is just an extension of my thoughts.”