We all know that the new year brings a fresh start: we make resolutions to introduce better habits into our lives, pop culture cycles in a new set of trends to stay for a fleeting moment and all the while timeless traditions will stay standing. However, there will also be a lot of things that will leave us in the new year. There was a time when we thought cow print, chokers and Rick-rolling would be forever, but alas, here we are. It can be difficult to know what will come with the new year. From friendships to fashion to finding your way, here’s what Oak Park High School students will be “in” and “out” in 2026.

Unabashed affection

Over the past few years, many of our words and actions have only alluded to what we mean; it feels as if our generation is less direct about our feelings and instead runs long circles around what we truly want to say. An example of this is being afraid or even embarrassed to show appreciation for our loved ones. However, senior Shanto Kladopoulos hopes that this changes, especially when it comes to friendships.

“Obviously I feel like a lot of people love their friends, right? But it’s just actually saying the words ‘I love you,’ and taking away the idea that love is only romantic,” Kladopoulos said.

Kladopoulos says that because of media and lack of normalization, platonic love is eclipsed by an overemphasis on only romantic relationships. He hopes that in 2026 we can remove that stigma and make it commonplace to express our love and appreciation for our friends. 

Sophomore Lucas Dunlop also predicts a more outwardly loving year.

“[What’s in is] being nicer,” he said. “People were nice last year, but I feel like it’s gonna be a compassionate year.”

Skinny jeans and boots

While many of us were too young to actually experience this trend at its height, we all remember the notorious skinny jean of the 2010s. Now, as baggy jeans are the style of the moment, they have been almost entirely wiped out from today’s fashion trends. However, some OPHS students think skinny jeans will become popular again in 2026, but in a very specific way.

“This is just a hunch, but I feel like skinny jeans are gonna make a comeback,” sophomore Lucia Martinez-Coie said. “I feel like they go so well with tall UGG boots.”

Martinez-Coie thinks this style of tight pants will also extend beyond just the skinny jean, particularly when paired with a tall boot in an almost equestrian-like way.

“A lot of people are wearing tights and boots and scarves; kind of a New York type of vibe,” Martinez-Coie said. “I feel like that’s definitely gonna become a thing next year.”

Outside of pairing with skinny jeans, Martinez-Coie thinks that people in general will be more into boots. However, she believes that the UGG boot, a staple shoe for many over the past few years, will loosen its grip on mainstream fashion and give way for other boots, such as the cowboy boot, to cycle in.

Resurfacing of past eras

As seen in the aforementioned skinny jeans, many fashion trends from the 2010s are coming back. However, it isn’t just the fashion; it’s also the culture. 

Online, a trend known as “2026 is the new 2016” has conquered the internet. From celebrities to the common folk, many have made 2016 throwback posts on their social media, including Hailey Bieber, Simone Biles and Kylie Jenner. It seems like everyone is romanticizing the simple, fun and free-spirited nature of 2016 and are looking to give into the nostalgia.

But 2016 isn’t the only era we’re bringing back. Online, many sources are predicting the reemergence of 80s power silhouettes like shoulder pads.

However, there’s one thing that was popular recently and in the 80s that Dunlop says isn’t here to stay.

“I think the huge hair is kind of going away. That’s out,” he said.

Spontaneity and letting go of rigidity

After 2025’s emphasis on putting together a consistent, healthy routine and prioritizing balance, people want to let go this year and live life a little more. 

“I feel like a lot of times, you’re either the person who says yes to everything and then you’re struggling to fit it all in, or you’re the person who’s a little bit too concerned with planning everything out,” Kladopoulos said.

Kladopoulos thinks that striking a balance between these two extremes – regime and spontaneity – can be healthy for the mind and soul.

“I remember seeing in a TV show this one quote, where it’s like ‘life’s about saying yes and figuring out how.’ So I think that’s very much something we bring into 2026.”

6-7

“I think 6-7’s out,” Martinez-Coie said.
”I feel like we’ve been known.”

The “6-7” trend emerged early last year around March and slowly grew into a nationwide phenomena, capturing the attention of nearly every generation, from little kids to teens to grandparents. 

However, many are growing tired of the trend.

“What I think, and hope, is gonna be out – and I know it’s probably unlikely – is 6-7,” Dunlop said. “Also, all old brain rot trends are just stupid [now]. We have to rotate. In general, brain rot will still be in, I just think the old ones are getting old. We need some new ones.”

Now, the trend is still going strong, but is slowly losing its strong hold in pop culture. Will 6-7 persist into the new year? Only time will tell. 

Romanticizing the “clean” aesthetic

The clean girl aesthetic, characterized by wellness routines, slick-back buns and simple minimalist style, took the internet by a storm a couple years back. While still popular in 2025, the trend certainly lost its hot streak. Many even predicted the aesthetic would go out of style a year ago. “Clean girl” was able to survive through 2025, but OPHS students think it will be even further cast out this year.

“I don’t think [the clean aesthetic]’s gonna be [fully] out, but I think there’s gonna be a lot more than just that,” Martinez-Coie said. “I feel like a lot of people are trying new things now, like new makeup and new stuff like that. There’s not just gonna be one thing that’s popular.”

Martinez-Coie has even seen and experienced the shift away from clean girl.

“I know before, a lot of people were trying clean girl makeup and stuff,” she said. “I was doing that, and then I tried a different [style], and so did my friends. It just seems like that’s changing a little bit.”

Viewing burnout as a product of overworking yourself

Especially in an extremely academic school like OPHS, burnout is something that many of us would love to know the secret recipe to avoiding. Right now, most of us likely view burnout as a result of overwhelming yourself with tasks and growing tired of having too much work. Kladopoulos talked personally to people in his life he considered to be “high-achievers,” and found that many of them were saying the same thing about burnout. 

“I think the overarching theme is them remembering why they do something. It’s almost like burnout comes from losing a purpose behind why you start something; it just feels like ‘I’m doing this just for the sake of doing it,’” he said. “There’s no purpose behind it, which then makes the scope of everything you do feel a lot more overbearing.”

Kladopoulos thinks we can all benefit by reframing the cause of burnout from overworking yourself to when something you love becomes robotic and emotionless.

“[Remembering] the original purpose why you start something [is] almost critical to completing it,” he said. “Remember why you start so you can finish.”

As a senior who has to balance school, extracurriculars and college applications, Kladopoulos can personally speak to this struggle with burnout. Looking back on this past semester, he wishes he could redo it, but not because of the reasons people would think.

“[It’s important to remember when] applying for college and doing all your assignments and extracurriculars, you’re not doing it for anyone else but yourself,” Kladopoulos said. “You’re doing it kind of to better yourself, to prove why you’re such an accomplished person.”

Essentially, so many of us are so lost in the process that we forget the purpose. Kladopoulos thinks that being aware of our mindsets will be a big thing in 2026 and will help us stick to our goals.

“It’s kind of going back to that whole idea, remembering the purpose of why you set those goals in the first place,” he said. “And being a little bit retrospective, thinking ‘who was I when I set those goals, and who did I want to be because of them?’”