It starts before the Fourth of July with the frenzy to snatch up any garment in red, white, and blue, or more preferably, with a literal American flag printed across the front.

Six months later, adolescents everywhere are still rocking the stars and stripes.

It’s the theme of a sorority mixer (not at Wes, of course, but I’ve seen countless Facebook pictures from neighboring schools). It’s the dress code for your ironic dorm party. And it’s a joke nationwide. The point is that the Americana trend is rarely serious.

Blue jeans and a T-shirt. That was the original all-American uniform. Today, Americana has become an essential style for the young and hip. Somehow, the stars and stripes have become part of a language that hardly says anything about the wearer’s politics or opinion of America. Forget Tommy Hilfiger; for the more casual, college-age set, Americana means so much more than a polo shirt and a pair of navy blue slacks. It’s becoming a lifestyle. In addition to the flag print itself, it’s a full aesthetic. It’s desert and sand; it’s the ultimate clash with the often-accompanying Navajo-patterned cultural appropriation. It’s cherry-red lips and denim all over. Everything is bubble gum and Diet Coke. We show it in the clothes we wear and, more importantly, in the attitude with which we wear them.

If someone stepped into Usdan in a cropped sweater with the Confederate flag stitched across the front, there would be uproar. With the American flag today, there is little to no association with propaganda.

Back to the satire of it all. How ironic is too ironic? Do you listen to Lana Del Rey as you adjust the straps on your American flag tank? Congratulations, you’re embracing the hip Americana trend, and you’ll fit in quite nicely at Wesleyan.

But who knows whether or not we’re joking when we yell “’MURICA!” The combination of stars and stripes is simply another hip category of iconography in today’s fashion mags. You don’t have to sing “You’re a Grand Old Flag” or have a “Bless Our Troops” bumper sticker on your car to be a part of this movement.

It’s sort of like playing Bruce Springsteen’s beloved song “Born in the U.S.A.,” which has been, over time, widely misunderstood as a patriotic anthem. In reality, the verses are highly critical of our country, particularly in relation to the Vietnam War. Like this ironic hit single, the American flag trend is patriotic only in a literal reading. Many of the fashionable girls and boys wearing stars and stripes would never call themselves patriotic or even that proud to be an American. Some may say that’s the whole point; they’re being “ironic” or making a statement against America. The rest will probably say that their apparel doesn’t indicate any political opinions.

It’s comforting to know that we can wear such a trend to exhaustion without the associations of loving or hating our country. That being said, what’s the point then? Was the peace sign a radical symbol to bear before it became completely oversold? Probably. Are we standing behind ideas just because we don’t really need to stand behind them? You can wear red, white, and blue all over and really love this country. You can wear it as a “joke” in unison with your seething hatred for America. Either way, you’re living here, and you’re representing something. It looks cute, but no one needs to know what you think. Maybe that’s the magic of the trend. Maybe that’s the curse.