Blake has forever endured the many labels that have been so joyfully assigned to us by our loyal rival schools.I’m talking about The Blake School of Excellence for Preppy Kids stigma. For quite some time many people have deemed us to be a cult of Sperry-wearing, Lily Pulitzer devotees whose closets overtly consist of Vineyard Vines polo shirts. However this year in particular I have to say I appreciate the quick, yet intense shift.

Blake is slowly but surely turning into Hipster Central and frankly I love every bit of it.

Now don’t get me wrong; for those of you who are still regular Lily Pulitzer wearers, you keep doing you, no judgment here. I’m just pleased to see the incorporations of other styles making up our eclectic school body. Why does it matter? Innovation through fashion is an aspect of diversity that will in fact lead Blake into becoming a safer space for simply being you, however you really want that to be. 2014 has graced us with a wide-range of looks. From grunge-y chic to the return of the 90’s, our school is evolving into a cosmos for exciting and original self- expression through fashion.

Even students from different schools are seeing it! A student from Minnehaha Academy, Gracia Gilreath ’15 said she took part in the Blake name-calling, but now she has to come up with something more applicable; “It’s true I honestly would always say ‘yea Blake is really freaking preppy and that’s all they’re good for’, but now I definitely see a change.” If people from outside of our school are seeing what I’m seeing, there is some truth to it.“There are those top styles that we see that are the typical styles, but we’re starting to branch off into different things.”

The excitement of Blake’s positive evolution inspires senior Joe Owens ’15 as well; “Everyone’s dipping into every type of style out there and I’m super excited how it keeps going and how Blake ends up on the private school spectrum.”

We, the students at Blake, are celebrating authenticity and this new celebration of individuality could lead to further development our school community – where everyone is welcomed as they truly are at Blake, panache and all.