Sophomore Aiden Bell walked into Solon High School one Friday morning with wired headphones settled around his neck, a tie buried underneath a polo, “The Cure for Women” by Lydia Reeder in hand and a quarter-zip-up on top of it all. His curls were clean, his glasses were straight on his face, and there wasn’t a visible wrinkle in his entire outfit. He swirled an iced matcha as he walked into his second period Honors Pre-Calculus class.
This outfit is not Bell’s ordinary attire. It’s also not the regular getup for most students at Solon High School. You can normally expect a cornucopia of sweatpants, hoodies, sweaters, jeans and everything comfy-casual during the second quarter of the school year, when day-light savings just happened and midterms are approaching.
So why is it that Bell, along with his peers and teachers, arrived at the school on Nov. 14 adorned with a quarter-zip?
The answer to this question stems from two different movements, one across the global online community, and the other right here at home.
It was back on Friday, Oct. 24, when senior student Noah Prample thrifted a quarter-zip and wore it to school, that the trend made its initial local appearance.
“Quarter-Zip Friday was inspired by basically nothing,” Prample said. “I just thought of it randomly. A few of my friends and I did it in October, and then it came back again.”
What started as an innocent inside joke accidentally bloomed into a full blown phenomenon. Prample said he did not attempt to encourage others to participate in the trend when it resurfaced in November.
“I had no idea it would get this big,” he said. “This was a quarter-zip revolution.”
But why did Quarter-Zip Friday become so popular on Nov. 14, two full weeks after Prample’s first appearance with his thrifted sweatshirt? The answer resides within a TikTok post by content creator Jason Gyamfi (@whois.jason).
“We don’t do Nike tech, we don’t do coffee,” said Gyamfi in the video he posted in collaboration with @Richdafifth on Nov. 5. “[We do] straight quarter-zips around here. We upgraded in life. We wear glasses now.”
In the video, the two men wear quarterzips and hold iced matcha drinks. The post, which has since gained three million likes, has been reposted by a number of Solon High School students on all different grade levels.
Quarter-zips appear to have become a part of a broader “Performative Male” movement: a trend that encourages men of younger generations to portray themselves in ways appealing to progressive women. According to a New York Times article titled “How Do You Spot a ‘Performative’ Male? Look for a Tote Bag,” men who participate will add tote bags or Labubus to their outfits, drink matcha, wear wired headphones or dress in more formal clothing.
Gyamfi’s video contributes to this movement by throwing quarter-zips into the mix of criteria men must meet in order to be considered “performative.” But to the students of Solon High School, quarter-zips and Quarter-Zip Friday means something deeper.
When asked about Quarter-Zip Friday, for instance, senior Cariona Lewis said, “As someone who participated in it, I feel like it’s a great way to show school spirit and unity.”
Anya Evdokimenko, another senior who was asked about her feelings about the event, had similar sentiments.
“The concept of Quarterzip Friday being a unifying event throughout all of Solon High School has shown the societal growth from a Nike tech to a quarter-zip,” Evdokimenko said, referencing the video made by Gyamfi. “I have seen more matchas and performative men today than I have in my whole entire life. I am proud to be a part of Solon High School.”
Other students, including senior Elliot Neifach, junior Leo O’Keefe and sophomore Noah Goodman, also announced their own positive feelings about the trend—and personal hopes that it might continue.
“I love Quarter-Zip Friday,” Neifach said. “We should keep it going every Friday.”
“Performative,” Goodman said. “I like it.”
“I love it, it’s amazing,” said O’Keefe.
Aside from the students, the teachers had their own involvement in the trend. According to math teacher Michelle Speelman, director of the Wellness Center and former study hall monitor Michelle Shene sent out an email to the staff encouraging everyone to wear a quarter-zip on Friday.
“My students [also] told me about it,” Speelman added, before saying, “I love Quarterzip Friday. It was so fun.”
Assistant principal Louise Teringo was also in on and approved of the movement.
“I thought it was an underground event for staff,” Teringo said. “At my other school we used to have underground staff days where we would dress in certain things and students had to guess [what the theme was]. I guess this was just for everyone instead.”
But not all Solon High School attendees found Quarter-Zip Friday enjoyable. Senior Zayaà Ogletre had negative comments about Quarter-Zip Friday.
“I honestly feel like it’s very stupid,” Ogletre said “I’m sure that next month, this trend will be over. I see all over my TikTok For-You page how people are trying to improve their lifestyles, but nothing is really changing. They’re still going [to be] the same uneducated people they were before, just with a quarter-zip and matcha. You can’t commit to something and not execute it.”
Sophia Chiodo, the president of Solon High School’s Fashion Club, has an adjacent opinion.
“It’s a great way to get students involved in fashion and trying out new styles,” Chiodo said. “I wish these people acted how they dress.”
Additionally, Ogletre isn’t the only one to say that Quarter-Zip Friday won’t last. Noah Prample himself also made a similar statement.
“I don’t think it will,” Prample said, when asked if he thought the trend would continue in the following weeks. “The Quarter-Zip Friday thing might be over.”
Even if Quarter-Zip Friday does end as the quarter continues to chug along, the impact it’s had on Solon High School students is undeniably widespread.
Junior Michelle Henderson, who moved from a school district in Texas to Ohio last year, said she believes Solon High School could use a little more consistent, fun and unifying days like Quarter-Zip Friday.
“Comparatively, there’s so much school spirit in Texas,” Henderson said. “We had a school spirit week at the end of the year and everyone would dress up as cowboys. You would hear spurs in the hallways.”
It seems that, among the chilly Ohio winter weather, the students and staff in the Solon community have not only discovered the unifying power of a trend, but have opened the door for other experimental morale-boosting movements.
As Henderson said, “Themed Fridays would help build school spirit.”
Who knows, maybe next Friday we’ll see Noah Prample make a post with a half-zip and witness a second explosion of Solon pride.
