Plugged-In Over Preppy: Teenagers Favor Tech Over Clothes
“You can shop online for clothes on your phone,” Caitlin Haywood, 15, a high school sophomore from New York, said on her way into a Hollister in downtown Manhattan. A fan of the store’s “California style,” she also noted that she owned many decorative coverings so that she could accessorize her phone.
That’s a fashion statement itself, she suggested. “When you take pictures, people see your case,” she said.
In fact, accessories like crystal-studded phone cases or neon-colored headphones are high on a teenager’s shopping list.
“Having a cool phone to show you’re plugged in is a huge part of people’s style, a huge part of life these days,” said Eva Chen, editor in chief of Lucky Magazine, adding that teenagers used smartphones to signal status in the way men used to do with ornate watches.