Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Jr High Style

Daddy Likey has a contest going for best junior high fashion confession. Unfortunately, I don’t have any colorful stories of how I emulated some pop star. I was just plain dorky. I never owned a pair of Guess? jeans, though I longed for them. I had to make do with discount clothing from Sears or JC Penney. Interestingly, though, in all three dork-tastic junior high photos, you can see hints of the budding fashionista.

6th grade. I’m growing out my first perm. I should be wearing glasses, but I’m too vain. (My vanity will eventually lead to my flunking out of math class because I can’t see the daily quizzes.) I freakin LOVED this sweatshirt. It features a puffy, white bear painting himself to look like a panda. I remember wearing it with short, white shorts on a field trip and thinking I was the ultimate in stylishness. Even back then, I appreciated the classic combination of black and white, punched up with a bright color. I did not, though, have an appreciation for hygiene. For some reason, I boycotted brushing my teeth for weeks at a time.

7th grade. By God, this picture is painful. Again, you can see that my fashion roots run deep with the layering. I’m pretty sure that this shirt had turquoise in it, so I felt that topping it with a turquoise jumper was quite sharp. I attempted and failed at mall bangs on a daily basis. Instead of a defiant claw, I ended up with insipid fluff. My favorite shirt from this grade isn’t pictured here. (I must have gotten it after the start of the year.) It was a white, baseball-style shirt with 3/4 sleeves, one of which was yellow and the other pink. It had a “Troop Beverly Hills” emblem on the chest. When I wore it, I felt pretty and popular. It mysteriously disappeared at my Grandma’s house the following summer. I pined for it for years. Even now, I’d kind of like it back, for nostalgia’s sake.

8th grade. Things were looking up. I got a spiral perm and highlights. I still wasn’t allowed to wear make-up, but I’d sneak some of my mother’s or apply a friend’s at school and then wipe it off before I got home. This shirt is sort of cropped, but, hey, that was in style (and it doesn’t have any bears or weird checks on it!) By this time, I really started getting into jewelry. I remember going nuts over the cheap bracelets at 2 + 2 at the Clackamas Towne Center (in the pre-Claire’s Boutique days). Even back then, I carefully sorted and stored my jewelry. Each pair of earrings had its own, tiny ziplock bag and the entire collection was stored in a decorative tin. I wore these fan earrings almost daily, until I finally lost one. The “K” necklace is my mother’s but I appropriated it for many years.

While dorky to the end, at least my style improved a little between 6th and 8th grades. I left animal prints and jumpers behind. I embraced a simpler style of clothing and showcased my flair with accessories. I was never cool, even in high school, but I gradually strayed less and less from my fashion ideal. I zeroed in on the things I love – color, layers, and accessories – and eventually found a way to make them work with my look and wardrobe.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok, seriously, how cute were you? With my frizzy hair & braces, I really just try to forget those days, much less post proof of said fugliness on the internet. You, on the other hand, will have a hard time winning that contest with the cuteness so off the charts.

Kasmira said...

OMG - I see NO cuteness! Must be an outsider's perspective.

Wendygital said...

Kasmira, I also see a cute girl in those pics, seriously. Lovely pics!
Wow, reading your post has made me feel the urge to look for my old albums. How many memories!
I can identify myself with some details you tell, like the baseball shirts (which I also had and loved, beside basketball ones) and the care you put on your jewelry.
I'll go check Daddy Likey; sounds fun. :-)

Jessica said...

I have to agree- you look cute! I looked sooooo much worse in my jr. high phase. I don't know how old you are, but I am 30 and the early 90's were NOT KIND to my childhood scrapbook.
Coincidentally, I also failed math due to not wearing my glasses in class. I can hardly blame myself- I had big, red, Sally-Jesse-Rafael-style monstrosities...