by LIVI Lyman

In my time in Humboldt, I have experienced emboldened individuals who symbolically tear and tie their clothing. They find meaning in everything and they wear it with pride. I’ve met empowered people who drown in their hoodies and walk swiftly to their next experience. They feel comfortable in who they are and wear their oversized jackets with love. That’s the freedom of fashion. Fashion is always in a fluid, transformative state. Fashion can fill a person’s glass, it can fit their needs and satisfy their goal of expression, when they have chosen it for themselves. 

Fashion was described by participants in the Fashion < Identity survey as the soul’s expression, shared by Diamond Gunn, a sociology junior at Cal Poly Humboldt. Social work senior Miles Banda Davila shared this sentiment. 

“[Fashion] is the easiest way to say, ‘this is who I am,’ without saying anything,” Davila said. 

Isa Phythian, a communications major at Cal Poly Humboldt, shared their love for fashion. 

“Fashion is the freedom to be anything and everything depending on the moment,” Pythian said.

Fashion is not about looking the best; it is never about wearing the trendiest, hottest, most expensive new look. We see the fashion world move through resurrections of trends every 20 years described by Laver’s law. Proving what is ‘in’ has no weight compared to how you want to dress. The control and expression that you get to encapsulate in how you present is a direct correlation to how you feel about yourself. To hell with the stereotypical impression of Humboldt fashion, you are art. 

The fashion of Humboldt was described by community member Rianna Duke as extensive and versatile. The stereotypical outdoorsy hippie look hasn’t been accurate in Rianna’s experience. In the five years they have been in Humboldt, they have observed more fluidity as they have become ingrained in the community and realized how deeply fashion is expressed. 

“There is very little judgment of how you present yourself because people up here want to be themselves,” Duke said.

Being able to validate who you are without societal pressures of having to look a certain way, I believe, is the first step to creating space for humanity’s differences by celebrating them. 

Finding comfort in the ability to express your feelings, your imagination and creativity is the purest form of freedom. Students’ styles reflected those from the 90s and 2000s, with lots of  baggy or tight clothing. I saw fashion with bright colors and patterns, vintage to eclectic accessories, and different individuals with whimsical or grounding auras. All of these styles came together in a room to be shown off in the Fashion < Identity Photoshoot. 

I got to engage and direct models of fashion varying in extreme degrees, in the Fashion < Identity photoshoot on Cal Poly Humboldt campus on Dec. 3rd, 2025. In a collaboration with photographers Carmen Ruiz Fernandez, Bodhi Haugen and Miles Robinson. I saw participants’ anxiety melted away once they started talking about the accessories they picked and the memories tied to them. From the cat galaxied leggings and dangling chains, to the eccentric cowboy whose poses were an extension of themself, I saw the most beautiful interpretations and representations of art in science majors, bodybuilders, dancers and community members. The spectrum of love for who they are and the confidence that arose from showing off their favorite items was such a profoundly impressive moment. I believe this encompasses the Humboldt fashion. 

This love for fashion was expressed by Jazzlyn Strebel, a biology and ecology junior.

 “One of my favorite things is hearing the sound of my earrings clinking together when I walk by,” Strebel said. “It is the sound of magic, it is the sound of me… I am not hindered by qualities of myself that I do not understand.” 

The dichotomy of validating yourself; or validating yourself to others – impresses upon me, you’re not everyone’s cup of tea, you were never supposed to be. 

There is no destination or required outcome when it comes to fashion. It’s what you’re comfortable in, what makes you feel confident, it’s prioritizing yourself in your expression – it’s the goal to achieve. 

Senior botany major Vivana Morfin, described what fashion is to them.

“An extension of oneself,” Morfin said. “The first thing people get to see of you. Fashion has reminded me that I can accomplish my visions in reality.” 

This journey of exploring the fashion in my own life, seeing Humboldt’s fashion in the wild, inspires me to Do. It. Yourself. An independence you get to choose, taking the harder route to experience growing pains, rather than becoming complacent in what is deemed normal or ok to do. You can take control of yourself; it’s your decision. 

Break the pattern of what is comfortable and digestible to other people — cut a new cloth and choose what fashion is to you.

LIVI E. Lyman (they/them) is a senior at Cal Poly Humboldt, a lumberjack fashion reporter, studying Business Marketing. Contact humanmade.in.humboldt@gmail.com to share your story.