Science teacher Ms. Alayna Enos is only entering her second year teaching at La Salle, but she’s already made an impression upon the students and staff through her self-described “eclectic” and “maximalist” style.

“I just really love colors and patterns,” she said. “I think it’s so fun to express yourself with the things you wear.”

She remembers her passion for fashion beginning around the time she was in high school. When considering how her wardrobe has changed over time, she said that when she was a teenager “a lot of my fashion reflected angst within and I kind of gravitated towards darker colors.”

However, as she has grown, so has her wardrobe. 

“As I’ve gotten older and gotten more confident in myself, I feel like the things that I wear are just more and more reflective of the brain,” she said. 

Her bold style remains consistent whether she’s in or out of the classroom. Outside of school, Ms. Enos said that her attire doesn’t change much aside from the ability to wear more denim and cargo pants, and the occasional tank top.

Ms. Enos attributes much of her inspiration to the women in her life — like Billie, her old neighbor in Texas, and her grandma — who have influenced her style.

But her wardrobe tells stories that extend beyond her own life. A lover of thrifting, she sees wearing other people’s clothes as carrying a legacy forward.

“My clothes oftentimes carry stories of people I love that have given them to me, or are thrifted and have a life they’ve already lived before I came across them,” she said.

Ms. Enos said her favorite thrift find was a Versace suit — “a blazer and a skirt” set. 

“I think it’s early ‘90s, but it feels like I just belong in a rapper’s mansion in the early 2000s,” she said. Versace being a prominent designer brand, she said she was surprised to buy it for “maybe 30 bucks.”

Ms. Enos is especially happy that “thrifting culture has blown up,” she said, because of her love for secondhand shopping and the environmental benefits that accompany it. 

“I see so many young people doing it more often,” she said. “It’s such a thrill to find something that is treasure among trash, and I think that’s so much more valuable than a short term dopamine rush of hitting checkout from a machine purchase.” 

She worked in fashion, which is where she started to learn more about the environmental impacts of the industry — knowledge that she said fundamentally changed her relationship with clothing.

“A lot of big brands are out to maximize profits, and a lot of the times that comes with minimizing workers rights, and the impact on the environment and the planet,” she said, all of which has compounded her preference for buying secondhand over supporting fast fashion.

Ms. Enos enjoys fashion because it gives people the opportunity to either accept or reject trends based on whether or not one identifies with them.

These days, however, she hasn’t been shopping that much. 

“I’m much more into slow fashion and keeping the clothes that I already have … or I’ll repurpose stuff,” she said.

She focuses on supporting brands “that are really conscious of their footprint and sustainability,” she said. She will also collaborate with her friends to create clothing designs. 

“I have friends that do printmaking, so instead of going to buy a new shirt, I’ll design something and then they’ll help me screen print it on a shirt,” she said.

Overall, her advice to students and staff is to be thoughtful about the impact of their everyday shopping and clothing choices.

“Do your best to make small choices that can accumulate to a big difference,” she said, though “it’s also okay to have a human moment and succumb to an Instagram ad every once in a while.”