The world flipped on its head when everything went virtual in March 2020. One of the many aspects of life that changed would be how people dressed and presented themselves.

Since everyone is confined to a computer screen, the effort put into looking one’s best has taken a new approach.

“I would say there’s either people like me who really don’t care anymore and are like, ‘I’m just going to be as crazy as I want to with my fashion.’ And then there are other people who are still really into comfort fashion because it is zoom,” said Alexandra Duerst, an interviewer at Radio DePaul. “And so I think that we’re gonna see, once we’re all out, a lot more fashion that’s geared towards, like, comfort and loungewear.”

Even though it’s been only a little over a year, the evolution of fashion has not slowed down. Trends from the 1970s and 80s have made a comeback and Y2K fashion has made its comeback as well.

Hannah Lau, the president of the DePaul Fashion Society, said that fashion has changed at a faster pace, especially since we’ve been inside for a long time — and we’ve been recycling fashion at a faster pace.

“Fashion really impacts time and time impacts fashion,” Lau said. “There’s still people wearing skinny jeans, and there’s still people, like, not jumping into the hype of flared leggings or vests, you know, so I think that there’s a way where, you know, we’re all consuming it. But at the same time, other people aren’t.”

Not only are people changing their fashion according to going virtual, but people have changed their fashion for virtual job interviews. With Leslie Torres, the senior event coordinator for Her Campus DePaul, she typically dresses from the top up.

In one instance, she had done her makeup and wore a crop top blouse. The funny thing is, her interviewer didn’t know she was wearing a crop top blouse — it looked like a regular shirt over Zoom. Torres even admitted that she wouldn’t usually wear that type of shirt to a regular, in-person interview.

Both Lau and Duerst ring in similar sentiments. Lau explains that she usually dresses from the waist up during virtual interviews rather than a full head-to-toe outfit.

“I really just [dress waist up],” Lau said. “Because I think that like, I think I can actually have more confidence through, like, Zoom and, like, being in sweats or shorts because I never really feel like I’m out of my element. I’m home, like I feel comfy.”

Duerst said that going virtual has allowed her the comfort to experiment with fashion. Being able to see herself Zoom has allowed her to see her fashion in action, and if she doesn’t like an outfit, she can easily change.

Fashion has been heavily influenced by the pandemic, especially the latest fashion trends. One of the fashion trends people have gotten into is loungewear, which makes sense as people have been stuck at home for the last year-and-a-half and people want to be comfortable at home.

People have taken this year-long quarantine to embark on healthy habits, especially working out. This is why activewear has become another fashion trend people have gotten into. People have been getting their bodies right and they would like to look cute doing it.

Perhaps the most popular and infamous form of fashion to come from this pandemic would be what USA Today would call Zoom Tops. As Torres described before, people tend to dress from the waist up when attending Zoom meetings.

Fashion tends to evolve and is a reflection of society at that specific moment. In the future, today’s fashion will represent the time of the pandemic, and the unique culture it fostered.