5 Cities. 13 Schools. 47 First-Day Looks.

What was going through your mind when you picked out this outfit? Get to school.
What are you most excited for about the school year? I like strings a lot. I play the viola. It doesn’t really feel like a class to me. It’s just fun.
Who do you think has cool style? This baseball player called Fernando Tatís, Jr. When he’s on the baseball field, he has a bunch of chains and really nice shoes.

How do you feel about starting middle school? A little nervous.
Describe your style. Probably streetwear or, like, old Y2K stuff.
Who’s your favorite musical artist? I’d probably say Kendrick Lamar. He influences my style, too.

How do you feel about your final year of middle school? I feel excited, but at the same time a little nervous about grades. I don’t want to do too bad. Or do too good and get cocky.
How did you pick out your shoes? My brother helped me for the first day, shopping at Foot Locker. He’s a big style influence. I was just taking his word for it.

I see you’re into wired headphones. Honestly, I think the look is a lot better, and the sound. Wearing them, I feel confident.
What’s your favorite type of music? I like to listen to K-pop. My favorite is TXT. I saw them live when they came to L.A. in May, and I was second row on the floor. I was freaking out!
Is that their name on your bracelet? Yeah. At K-pop concerts, people will kind of walk around with little goodies, and they’ll give them out to the fans. It’s supercute.

How would you describe your style? Today I’m wearing beige and camo. But that’s totally not my style. I’m more into bright colors or pastels. I’m a huge Barbie girl. So the outfit I’m going to wear tomorrow is a bright pink T-shirt and three-inch Barbie Crocs.
What does it mean to be a Barbie girl? Just be who you want to be. Whatever’s stopping you, just get back out there and keep going.

Your T-shirt has the ’80s band Poison on it. Can you name three songs? No, I got this shirt for free! For being in a skating challenge near my house. The challenge was to do three kick flips in a row.
Why did you pick it out for today? I wanted to look nice on the first day of school, like something proper.

Are you all about the middle part? I like a side part! I actually really do. I just can’t find myself looking good in them.
How do you get your middle part just right? I use a mechanical pencil, and I just click it out a few times, and then I put it to the end of my forehead, and go all the way back. It takes me 10 minutes each morning.

What were you thinking when you picked out your look today? Yesterday I bought these shoes at Shoe Palace. I got my backpack there too. I just bought these pants yesterday too.
What stood out to you about those shoes? They look hard.

How does this look show your personality? It gives off an ‘‘OK, we know she’s chill’’ type of vibe.

What inspired this outfit? Nothing. I saw what I wanted in my head.

You two are brothers. Did you bleach your hair together?
Jaxon, left: It was my idea. I’ve seen people with different hair colors — like, my friend in elementary school had one side of his head with red hair and one side with blue hair. And I saw Odell Beckham Jr., the football player, and thought his bleached hair looked cool.
JJ: I play football. So I thought, “I’m going to look like Odell.” When I’m playing a game and I take my helmet off, I think it just looks nice.

When it comes to style, would you rather stand out or fit in? I’d rather stand out, because I like to just be myself and be comfortable in my own skin.

Cargo pants are really in right now. Do you use the pockets? Yes.
What do you keep in there? Just papers from school that I need to bring home to my mom, like report cards and letters.

Tell me about your hat. It’s a Yoshi hat. I found it at GameStop, and I thought it was cool, so I got it.

How would you describe your style?
Evie, left: It’s not super-duper pastel and it’s not, like, grunge. It’s just whatever’s clean and doesn’t make me look like an idiot.
Mai: Random. I try to coordinate, and then I kind of forget what I’m trying to do, and then I just throw on a random shirt, and it just happens.

I love your flower shirt. I got it from the mall when I was shopping with my aunt and uncle. It was for my birthday.

What’s your favorite part of your outfit today? The whole thing.

Are you excited about the school year? Yeah, it’s gonna be fire.
Tell me about your Nuka Cola shirt. It’s, like, a Coca-Cola parody. It’s from this game called Fallout.
Do you play it a lot? Yeah.

How would you describe your style? I feel like usually I dress like Adam Sandler.
What trends do you think are happening this year? So far, I’m seeing a lot of buzz cuts. I think that’s a little scary for me, personally. I’m seeing a couple mullets. This is mostly hair — I don’t really know about clothes. Hair is usually where the trends fluctuate more.
What are you looking forward to this year? I’m looking forward to the school musical. I heard rumors it might be ‘‘Legally Blonde JR.’’ or ‘‘Shrek.’’ I love singing. I’m auditioning for Denver School of the Arts.

Did you make your bracelets? I made all of them myself. They’re called kandi bracelets. They were popular in the early 2000s with scene kids, and they spiked in popularity again with the Taylor Swift people. They put song titles on them. I’m not really a Taylor Swift person — I put designs and some band names on mine.
What about your chain? I made it out of soda tabs. I think it was 150 tabs or some absurd amount.

Tell me about your style. My dad got me this hijab from Saudi Arabia, so I decided to wear it. I also picked out this bracelet that I bought. And I got this henna yesterday at the mall. My earrings are my favorite. I wear these almost every single day.
Do you have any style advice for sixth graders starting middle school? Wear what you want to wear.

Do you have advice for sixth-graders starting middle school? Just be yourself. It’s a big deal, but it’s also not that big a deal.

How did you decide what to wear today? My mom and I went to a goth and emo shop. I saw the suspenders and I was like, ‘‘This is really cute.’’

What do you want people to think when they see what you’re wearing? Basketball. Basketball style.
Did you do anything special to prepare for the first day of school? My hair, but I messed it up already in the first three hours of me doing it.

How would you describe your style? I like baggy and crumpled clothes. So I look cute, and if I want I can get back in bed and take a nap.
What advice do you have for sixth-graders just starting middle school? It’s OK to be nervous. There’s always tomorrow to try again.

Did you have to persuade your parents to let you dye your hair? No, I just asked them and they let me.
Is this the first color it has been? I’ve done a darker pink before. I’ve also done purple and orange. It’s a way to express myself. And I just like the bright colors.
What are some hobbies of yours when you’re not at school? I like to crochet. I made a little dinosaur, a rainbow T. rex. And I do track.
What’s the longest distance run you’ve ever done? A 5K.

The blue in your hair matches your cardigan so well. Did you do that just to come back to school? I really did that just to come back to school.
Do you like wearing a uniform, or no? Yeah, I do. It keeps my regular clothes cleaner for when I go out.
Tell me about your shoes. I feel like they really go with my uniform. I feel like it kind of gives me that scholar look.
Is there anything that you would just never, ever wear? It would probably be some type of Jordan. Most of them are cute, but certain ones are really ugly.
What advice would you have for sixth-graders starting middle school today? Stay out of drama. Drama isn’t going to get you anywhere.

Tell me about your hair today. So, I got my hair done yesterday. These are called Jayda Wayda braids. Today I did two space buns in front of my head, and then I put matching scrunchies to match my uniform shirt.
Have you and your parents ever had a fight about clothes? Yes.
What was it about? OK, so being that I’m still at a very young age, there’s certain things that I can’t wear. I love crop tops, but sadly, I’m not allowed to wear them outside.
But you’ve tried? Yes.

Who gives you style inspiration? I’ll say Lil Tecca.
Why? ’Cause he’s got the drip.
What are some of your hobbies? Playing basketball. Video games. Reading.
What’s the last thing you read that you really liked? ‘‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians.’’
How would you describe your personal style? [Notices a bee circling his foot] Even the bees like it! . . . All right, my personal style, it’s pretty snazzy. It’s a lot of Adidas, and then you’ve got the Nikes.