Students choose to express themselves in all sorts of different ways, especially when it comes to fashion. So many different styles of clothing can be found at Utica, from bright and colorful outfits to dark t-shirts and jeans.

Lots of students like wearing shirts that sport the logos of their favorite bands.

“I wear band t-shirts a lot, I think pretty much every day,” senior Zoey Lawrence said. “I love showing off the bands I listen to.”

Sometimes, however, students wear t-shirts of bands they don’t listen to, usually because they like the shirt’s design or the band’s logo.

“I think it’s dumb to wear a shirt of a band you don’t listen to,” Lawrence said. “Sure, a lot of them have cool designs, but why would you buy a shirt of something you don’t know anything about?”

Some students don’t believe this is a good idea. Students who wear shirts of bands they love don’t see the point in wearing something they’re not a fan of.

“I think it’s stupid,” senior Coltrane Monteleone said. “I wouldn’t wear a sports t-shirt or something of a sports team I don’t watch, root for, or that I’m not a fan of.”

Some students understand wearing a shirt solely for the shirt’s design, but still think they should give the band a chance.

“To an extent I get it with some bands if they’re wearing it just for the design, like ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ by Pink Floyd, that’s an iconic design,” Monteleone said. “Nirvana’s got an iconic design, but just go out and listen to it. It’s good music.”

Some people, especially teachers, have even begun asking students to name a certain amount of songs or list facts about the band to prove they’re a real fan. This questioning isn’t appreciated by all students; some finding it irritating to constantly be asked to name songs by the band whose logo they’re wearing.

“I’ve been asked to name songs so many times,” Lawrence said. “It’s really annoying. I do really love the bands I wear, I just suck at remembering names on the spot.”

Not all students share the same mindset as Lawrence, however. Others don’t mind the questioning and even find humor in it.

“I think it’s hilarious that teachers do that,” Monteleone said. “They should do that.”

Monteleone has also been asked to “name songs” on numerous occasions.

“I’ve been asked that by Mr. Haley when I wore a Pink Floyd t-shirt and I named their whole discography,” Monteleone said. “I named all their good albums and all their members.”

Teacher Jeff Lapratt is one of the teachers that asks students to name songs to prove they listen to the band.

“When I see kids walking down the hallway wearing band t-shirts of what I would consider ‘classic rock bands,’ I think ‘fraud’,” LaPratt said. “I’ll ask them what their favorite song from that band is, and they reply ‘oh, I don’t know, I don’t listen to them,’ thumbs down right there, because that’s a great band and a great t-shirt, but you’re only going 50% of the way. Wear the t-shirt, go throw the record on, check out the band, and take that final step, because whatever shirt you’re wearing is probably a pretty good rock band.”