Has your brain, like mine, been treating you to a pretty steady flow of Your Personal History’s Greatest Hits since yesterday? Right now as I’m typing it’s an entry for the cheesy high school love song category, hairband ballad subcategory: Love of a Lifetime, by Firehouse. I am wondering how guys in that era felt about having so much hair. Like, were they suddenly so interested in conditioner and hot oil treatments and good brushes and spiral vs. traditional perms and whatnot, and was that kind of surprising to them? Did they cut it all off with relief when the trend was over, and go back to a bottle of Prell and not having to think about it? Okay, now I am onto the next song: More than Words Can Say, by Alias. For some reason I’d thought this was by Firehouse too, but it is not.
I am sugar-high-mind-blown at the moment by my rediscovery of chocolate brownies + vanilla ice cream. Henry wanted to bring brownies as his school birthday snack and there were some extras, and we had leftover ice cream from his birthday ice cream cake, and if you started reading here when I was pregnant with him, you should know that more than ten years of your life have slipped away. As I listen to Bad English singing When I See You Smile followed by Poco’s Call It Love, what I mourn for are all the days of those ten years that have NOT included brownies and ice cream. And why? WHY? Why this unnecessary torment? It’s not even hard to do! Warm up a brownie! Put vanilla ice cream on it! You don’t even have to warm up the brownie!
Have you recently enjoyed the treasure that is Linear’s Sending All My Love video? I WHEEZED with laughter. Or Pretty Poison’s Catch Me I’m Falling, which is less funny but makes up for it by involving snippets of a Jon Cryer film? I’m half “What a strange time that was to be alive” and half “Ooo, that reminds me of a cute shirt I had!” My top favorite clothing item in high school was a strange hybrid of overalls and miniskirt, constructed from stiff bleached denim. I also had a really long skirt, denim but a very thin comfy soft acid-washed denim so my hope was that the look was more “Let’s get our picture taken while laughing and spinning arms-wide-open in a meadow!” and less “I hope this doesn’t show more ankle than would please the Lord”; I wore it with a cute fitted boyish-cut white t-shirt, huge white hoop earrings, and high-top sneakers. High-top sneakers looked good then, I’m not making that up, right? I remember really wanting a pair, but they cost more than regular sneakers so I had to pay for the difference with my babysitting money. I’ve got the brand name on the tip of my brain. LA Gear! Mine were white and light pink, with light pink laces.
Another one for the dance category: Because of You, by The Cover Girls. I am certain that Teenage Swistle danced around the house to this song in the LA Gear high-tops. Also to I’m Hooked on You, by Sweet Sensation.
Do you remember when I said one thing I like about my cartilage piercings is that they make me feel like a little bit of a badass even though any time I presume to be even 1% badass my entire household quotes this scene from Steven Universe at me:
Steven: “I guess I’m just too tough to cry!”
Pearl: “Just today you were crying about snakes!”
Steven, immediately starting to cry: “They don’t have any arms!!”
Anyway, the outfit I am going to describe to you made me feel like a badass even when my ex-boyfriend was kissing his new girlfriend next to my locker: black denim miniskirt, textured black tights, lace-up black suede boots, loose black t-shirt, vintage army jacket, huge silver hoop earrings. I am a little surprised my parents let me wear it, but they both left for work before I left for school so that prevented a LOT of “What do you think you are WEARING??” discussions.
Speaking of badasses: Grace Slick. I love the yell at the beginning. Do you remember hearing that she named her daughter “god” (with a lowercase G)? She did not.
Speaking of scandals that went whipping through my Christian-school community when I was there: Faith, by George Michael and Like a Prayer, by Madonna.
Speaking of a Christian middle school, my first year at a public high school my favorite outfit was a pink skirt patterned with teddy bears. The teddy bears were wearing yellow bowties, so I wore the skirt with a yellow t-shirt, and I wore alternated stacked scrunch socks: yellow then pink on one foot, pink then yellow on the other foot. Pink earrings.
I would be very interested in hearing about your favorite high-school outfits. Also in hearing The Look, by Roxette.
Stacked. Scrunch. Socks. YES. In junior high, I had a royal blue and bright yellow Esprit skirt and t-shirt which I wore with, of course, yellow and blue stacked scrunch socks.
In high school, my style went from late 80s Generra and Esprit, with vests and fluorescent colors and high-waisted jeans, to early 90s silky patterned shirts and huaraches with nude knee-high stockings to almost mid-90s uber-preppy old-school J Crew (khaki shorts with braided belts and henley shirts).
I think my favorite dressy outfit was a black velvet sheath dress with rhinestone spaghetti straps that I wore to a Christmas dance in 12th grade, with black stockings and black suede pumps. By then my hair was long and straight and shiny without the terrible bangs of 9th and 10th grade, and I was ballerina-slim. I still think I looked damn good in that outfit.
I fully embraced the grunge layering movement (I graduated in 1996). Baggy men’s jeans on the bottom, then multiple layers on top. Goodwill t-shirt from some business or youth sport team, long sleeve long underwear- either under or over the t-shirt, depending on the season, hoodie- black or navy, wool socks, faux Birkenstocks or Vans. I was wearing many sizes too big for me overalls and a tie dyed Bob Marley shirt on the day I met my husband (in 1995).
My dressy outfit was a body con black dress, black tights or fishnets and black boots- because dressing up brought out the goth in me for some reason.
Yes! I fully embraced the grunge look. My shirts were so huge… what was I thinking? After I got married I have some of my flannel shirts to my 6’3″ 200 lb husband and they were big on him!
I wore my shirts and flannels with men’s jeans, because I hated the tapered leg jeans. Of course they were enormous and tapered so I cut open slits at the bottom and paired them with my blood-red Doc Martens.
I did have a couple of actual fitting clothes, this amazing pair of Arden B jeans and a black sheath dress I got at JCrew, which is still sitting in my closet. Ahhh, the 90s, not sure how I feel about all the old trends coming back in style. And for the love- the high waisted jeans are just as unflattering on everybody now as they were then!
Oooh boy. In seventh grade (I’m going to get specific about when this was for context, sorry) (1997-98) I had a CK Jeans sweatshirt that I would wear with khakis and CK One perfume. Matchy! Don’t remember what shoes went with that, but I definitely had some of those ridiculous white canvas platform sneakers. My favorite dressy dress at that time was a black stretch glitter velvet t shirt dress, worn with nylons for sure.
Ok, now put this on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROatPGGMvXg
In high school, (1999-2003) it was all about FLARE JEANS. Most of mine were from American Eagle. Worn with whatever top- baby tees, vintagey logo tees, hoodies of all kinds (team, sweater knit, logo) and what the heck kind of shoes? WHAT kind of shoes go with flares to keep them from trailing on the ground and getting that little bite out of the back? We didn’t know. I had Converse low tops (in maroon!) and some Adidas. Not the Superstars that were popular but something similar. Top it off with a fleece jacket (high fashion in Seattle), preferably North Face. I think mine was Lands End.
I LOVE this! In jr high, the “IT” outfit for girls was: long sleeve white t-shirt with a short sleeve rock band of your choice t-shirt over it. Thermal long John pants (cream colored), with plaid flannel boxer shorts over them. Birkenstock sandals. This was early 1990s, Seattle area. I’m cringing now, but that’s what we all wore.
My favorite high school outfit was a tight long-sleeved crop top (tiny stripes of maroon and a slightly lighter shade of maroon), a weird black dress/flare skirt/jumper combo that had spaghetti straps, but the skirt part began just under the boobs and the length ended mid-thigh, black tights, and super tall black Mary Jane clunky heels. And tons of LA Looks hair gel to scrunch all my curls, lots of black eyeliner, and pastel pink lipstick. UGH.
The long John pants/boxer combo was not allowed at my high school. But it was very much weekend wear.
In the late ’90s I remember wearing olive green or khaki shorts and a white short sleeve unbuttoned shirt over a white or olive camisole. That was right when I discovered a super-expensive self-tanner that smelled awful, but actually looked natural. I felt so Abercrombie.
High school for me was late 80’s so-acid wash denim from The Buckle, denim mini’s, Swatch, cropped tops, and Coca Cola rugby shirts. I spent my entire junior year in denim mini’s (I had light blue, acid wash blue, acid wash black and grey) no matter how cold it got in Iowa. I had bare legs all winter and Was.Not.Cold. My stick straight hair was permed to within an inch of it’s life and bangs teased sky high. I also remember mint green Reebok high tops that looked like marshmallows. :) Although my clothing description doesn’t sound like it, I was totally into 80’s goth music (and secretly 80’s hair bands).
Yeah, I’m going to need to see photos. ;)
I graduated in 2004 and cannot specifically pinpoint a fashion trend at that time. We all wore…bootcut jeans? And…shirts? In the summer it was tube tops and denim mini skirts. The celebrities were all wearing pleather and shiny plastic weirdness but real people didn’t.
I graduated in 04, too, and don’t remember anything specific. I wore jeans and t shirts 95% of the time or more, plus a hoodie if it was cold. Same thing I still wear actually.
Agreed. I graduated in ’02 and I have thought about how I don’t feel we had much of a “look.” I also wore jeans from American Eagle and had a pair of Mary Jane Docs and Adidas Superstars. I do remember the ridiculously huge JNCOs which were cool in late elementary I think and also rolling up the hem of my jeans in early elementary school.
’03 graduate. Lots of American Eagle jeans, pretty much all bootcut. I think the style was fairly low-rise but that was not extremely flattering on me and I tried to find ones that at least came near my belly button. I had a lot of t-shirts. Like, a LOT. My favorite was one I bought at PacSun in 9th grade that was blue with a line of animal crackers coming across it. I also had a pink version that had the sprinkled animal cookies instead with little beads as the sprinkles.
Also an early 2000’s graduate–2003. Compared to the 80’s and 90’s it was as weirdly boring time for normal people clothes but an extremely bizarre time for celebrity clothes. I wore low-rise bootcut jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops like every day.
I don’t remember outfits so much – but I remember the 80’s hair! Now think, big 80’s hair…in Texas. That was some kinda hair, let me tell you.
I also vaguely remember THE shoes that were on the “must have” list in middle school – I think they were called Yo-Yo’s – basically a wedge sandal with a hole in the heel. Hideous.
I graduated from high school in 1971. Our big deal was getting to wear pants instead of skirts. At first, it could only be a pantsuit, but by my junior and senior years, we could wear blue jeans. Unless you were in any business class (bookkeeping, typing, etc.) because the teachers said you couldn’t wear jeans to work. Some kids would change clothes at school according to what class was next. I had a pair of medium blue bell-bottoms, worn with a striped long-sleeved shirt, but what made the outfit (IMHO) was the woven guitar strap I used as a belt. Hair was long, straight, parted in the center. I don’t remember wearing much make-up, but Love’s Baby Soft and Windsong were both popular fragrances. Oh, and Oh! de London.
My high school wardrobe maybe have been VERY BORING because I remember wearing jeans (brands were pretty important, Z. Cavaricci, Lucky, and Levi’s were all acceptable), Doc Martins (low, tan suede), and shirts? Sweaters with stripes across the chest, polos of many colors, v-neck t-shirts. I also had a pair of clunky brown platform loafers, and clunky wooden Candie’s sandals (remember when Jenny McCarthy sat on a toilet and ate hamburgers or something to entice Americans to buy shoes?! She’s such a GUY’S GIRL *barfs forever*).
I think maybe my mom bought my clothes in middle school? I had a lot of colored jorts and matching tops and basically didn’t know how to dress myself. Turtlenecks.
I remember wearing striped jeans that were a light denim with pink and blue pinstripes. I think they were also very tapered at the ankle. Penny loafers (I was very into penny loafers) and a shaker style raglan sweater. With a wife beater tshirt under it. I accessorized this with a chunky fake pearl necklace and huge earrings in the color of the sweater. We used to go to Claire’s to find perfectly matching earrings! This was high school (1984-87)
As I was reading your description, I’m thinking, “1987?” – and there you have it! Shaker sweaters, I had several.
I HAVE been thinking about high school and I did not even guess to credit your song post! My thoughts have mainly stayed in the blushing-over-what-hot-shit-I-thought-I-was-when-I-was-so-not camp which is not even as pleasant as it sounds.
So! Outfits! Two favorites stick out: A white Calvin Klein crop top I borrowed from my best friend and wore with my mossimo overalls and clogs. (What?) I also had a pair of Jnco jeans that had legs as wide around as my waist and completely hid my airwalks. I think I wore them most often with a striped belly shirt. I long for the flat belly if not for the blind confidence in my inherent coolness.
Jncos! Haaaaaa! I totally forgot how cool those used to be. In 10th grade my mom bought me a pair of knockoffs from a mall store… something like Fashion Bug but I don’t think it was that. I wore those things until they fell apart (with a JC Penney purple fitted v-neck shirt with a green stripe across the chest). I don’t remember what shoes, though.
Another outfit I remember fondly was a short mini skirt-ish plaid jumper (with wide overalls-y kind of straps) in shades of light pink, light blue, and cream, with a fitted cap sleeve cream tshirt underneath. I had some clunky brown Doc Martin type of shoes that I would wear with that, and if I was feeling extra sassy I would wear my khaki bucket hat, lol.
Thanks to your post, I spent last night listening to a one hit wonder mix from the 80’s and 90’s on You Tube. Jane Weidlen Rush Hour, Michael Penn No Myth! So many songs I hadn’t heard in decades.
I remember owning black and white checkered Guess jeans with the ankle zippers that I wore a lot. Usually with a too small, vintage, black turtleneck sweater and Keds that were drawn all over with a Sharpie. Also lots of black eyeliner. I used to also wear old Army shirts a lot, so much that my mom used to ask me when I was going to join since I like the clothes so much., lol!
I graduated in 1990…so it was a lot of drapey silk blouses, pinned at the neck with a big ole rhinestone pin, worn with either pegged jeans, or a long wool paisley skirt. I also liked big Champion brand sweats with the sleeves rolled up, and the pants twisted around my ankles, like twizzlers. Also white keds and those big slouchy socks.
So I was in high school in the 90s, and even though I wore my share of flannel shirts, mom jeans, and adult onesies, I was not very stylish, and also wore a lot of super baggy, androgynous clothing (like a sweatshirt UNDER a huge SF 49ers t-shirt). But my favorite outfit that I remember was this weird babydoll/overalls style dress – the bib part was pink plaid flannel with a picture of Bugs Bunny on it, and I wore a pink, silky t-shirt under it (which I kept well into my 20s, it was a nice shirt). The skirt part was off-white thermal, and fairly see-through. So I wore gray sweat pants underneath it – not tights, not leggings – sweats. The thing is, I knew it was hideous, and all my friends let me know for sure, but it was also super comfortable and I … just didn’t care. Senior year was my year of giving zero fu*&$, and I wish that girl was still inside me somewhere.
So I wore a uniform but it was fashionable to wear white scrunchy socks OVER the colored tights required in winter. Why? It made your legs look fat and shoes tight.
Also shorts under uniform skirt even if wearing tights (nothing like layers to flatter) and we would roll the skirts to make them shorter (but thicker).
Uniforms were supposed to be an equalizer but there were still trends and uncool ways to wear the same thing everyone else wore.
When I was middle school aged and in an all-girls Catholic private school (I’m 40 now, so this was, I don’t know, mid 80s) all the cool girls had Guess jeans, which I desperately wanted. Skinny legs, tight around the ankle, and often rolled up. My parents were not the type to care what the trends were, so I knew it was hopeless.
But the summer before sixth grade (fifth grade? seventh grade? Probably just as the craze around Guess jeans was dying off) my mom took me back to school shopping and Guess jeans were on sale, so she bought me 5 pairs, which seemed like I just completely hit the jackpot. I still vividly remember them. There was a teeny polka-dot pair with zippers at the ankles, an indigo blue pair lined in red, a sort of flowery sofa print-looking pair, a black pair and an acid-washed pair.
Man, I really loved those jeans.
And we rolled our uniform skirts too.
I’m having so much fun reading all of these comments!!! I’m also remembering my favorite college freshman outfit (late 90s). Long sleeve white ribbed crop top with light tan corduroy overalls and brown leather clogs with wooden soles. I wore those clogs so often that they ended up splintering and gave me slivers in my toes. Didn’t care.
Gap bleach-wash overalls with a (probably Christian) t-shirt under it. In colder weather, I would wear a long-underwear-type long sleeved shirt under the t-shirt. Shoes were probably ASICS running shoes…I was not super stylish in high school.
Middle school fashion was much more hideous (and important!) for me- I remember being super proud of my Jordache jeans that were dark on the front and bleached on the back (WHY), worn with a Duran Duran t-shirt and Bass knockoff boat shoes, which are back in style now, unfortch. Two pairs of socks in alternating bright colors, really big hair, purple mascara and teal eyeliner. Good times.
I forgot to mention I graduated in ’93. And KEDS! I forgot to mention Keds. I loved them so much. I would get the white ones, and then someone would step on them and they would be ruined, lol.
I was in high school from 1981 to 1985 and mostly went with a tomboy look alternating between preppy and grunge. Jeans, corduroys, rugby shirts, button downs, polos, flannel and big wool shirts. I had one skirt, for college interviews and such– khaki, knee-length, and one dress for my mom and stepfather’s wedding– white and kind of flowing in hippy sort of way.
Poco’s “Call It Love” remains one of my all-time favorite songs. Love, love, love. I can hardly believe I’m seeing someone else mention it. :)
Been thinking a lot about high school too (because I now have two kids in HS) – with your song post fueling the fire! I went to a private Catholic HS, but we did not have uniforms. Yes, we had a dress code though (no jeans, sweats, tshirts, etc.). I was in HS 1988-1992… here’s what I recall:
Skidz! (if you don’t know, google it – seriously androgynous pants)
Shoulder pads
Turtle Necks
Swatch Watches (with Swatch protectors!) and Swatch clothing
Z Caviaricci (spelling?)
Pegged jeans (um, I see this a lot not too)
Acid washed, tie-dyed, and printed patterned jeans (also coming back!)
Geometric patterned sweaters
White blouses with a brooch at the middle of the color
Plaid dresses had a very brief moment
Rope chains
Umbro shorts
Baggy pleated silky flowy pants
Paisley print
Bright colors – yes scrunch socks!
Bongo brand (jeans? skirts? I forget, but recall the brand name haha!)
BIG EFFING HAIR (I remember a girl using toothpaste to style hers)
I’ve been noticing a lot of it is cyclical but the 80s never fully come back (because obviously!). But I see a lot of “grunge”-inspired clothing making a comeback these past few years. I was never full-on grunge, but did appreciate the simplicity of jeans/tshirt/flannel in college.
I think it takes time/distance from a decade to really determine what the uber-trends were then. Those saying they can’t pinpoint a style – that is very interesting. It’s seems it’s the early 2000s that are having trouble… and I can’t think either, because I spent those years in maternity clothes and spit up!
I’m sure we’ll all eventually look back at gladiator sandals with a WTF expression.
UMBROS!!! I loved them! My kids get those type of shorts every summer, and my husband still calls them Umbros, much to their puzzlement.
Oh my word- Umbros!! I wanted a pair so bad and my mom got me a knock off JC Penney pair and I cried. I finally got a used pair from someone :)
This post and the comments are amazing.
I honestly can’t remember what was popular when I was in high school (I graduated in 1998), I was never particularly fashionable.
J’nco jeans (which I thought were stupid, but my sister had a pair), flared jeans in general, baby tees, thick chunky sandals. I had a pair of corduroy overalls that I loved, and paired with a tank top once it got warm out (because nothing says summer like heavy corduroy overalls). I also think the grunge look was pretty popular.
In middle school, i remember pegged jeans and techni-color shirts – because everyone wants to be able to tell when your armpits are all sweaty.
I love this so so so much, I am enjoying all the comments too. You are inspiring me to make my own blog post complete with photos! *makes note*
I graduated in 2000. The late ’90s must have been a very boring time period, fashion-wise, because I really don’t remember interesting outfits from the time, other than some grunge/alternative holdovers from the early ’90s. Like, I remember wearing my friend’s dad’s pants (?) and thinking that made me really cool and alternative, so I guess baggy pants were in. But mostly it was flared jeans with t-shirts…boring!
I graduated in 1990. My favorite outfit in middle school was a little red plaid skirt and a black sweater with a matching plaid collar, but things got more relaxed in high school. My parents never bought brand-name anything, so I did the best I could: one of those shaker sweaters (which I wore backward for some reason, so the V was in the back), a Mickey Mouse sweater I loved, and (eventually) a blue tie-dye Guess T-shirt that my friend gave me and that I wore into rags. Pink eyeshadow. Pink!
First day of high school, I had to wear my cheer uniform. With my brown pleather guess purse.
This made me laugh out loud: I hope this doesn’t show more ankle than would please the Lord
I graduated in 1990 so my middle school years were NEON. You could see us coming for miles. In high school, we wore Umbros as well as khaki shorts, the baggier the better. Scrunched socks with Keds of course.
First let me say that reading all these outfit description feels entirely like the beginning of a Baby Sitter’s Club book.
I graduated in 1999 and the outfits that really stick out were denim overalls and corduroy shorts over tights (to be dressy). In middle school there was a lot of plaid shirts tied around high waisted jeans. And clogs. Oh, the clogs.
OMG yes – the extensive clothing detail in Babysitter’s Club! I remember wanting to dress like Stacy or Claudia, but I probably looked like MaryAnn most days.
Haha, loved this topic and comments. I went from a smoke (sgektered) Christian school to a public highschool and got quite an education just from reading the Co-ed Naked t-shirts that everyone was wearing. I wore the required modest long jean skirt with cap sleeve t-shirt in various colors, boring, but I was trying not to stick out. A dear friend gave me a pair of Silver Jeans in gr 11 that I changed into at school to avoid parental censure, and I wore them to pieces. Cool girls wore crop tops that showed most of their bellies, with tiny backpack purses… I did not. Late 90s, strange clothes but fantastic music.
Small! Sheltered!
In 1988 I had black denim stirrup pants with suspenders (apparently I wanted to be sure my pants were firmly anchored both top and bottom), that I wore with a blousy button up white shirt with a tiny black/green paisley print. Collar popped. Lots of green eye shadow and a black fedora. Two pair of scrunchy scoks (white and green). LA Gear high tops. The horror.
I also had a super puffy blue sweatshirt (why??) in heavy rotation. And a white denim dress that had a floral pattern and buttoned up the front. Also thousands upon thousands of hair scrunchies (my mom made them for me). I spent the GDP of a small country on earrings.
When I was in junior high, I owned the same shirt that Marcia Brady wore when she took the football to her nose. Best shirt ever. All high school outfits pale in comparison.
I love this so much. I can totally picture that shirt!
I graduated in the 80s and don’t remember many of my clothes.
I do remember belts that wrapped around you twice and Bass loafers. I think my wardrobe was generally an unfortunate mix of LL Bean and New Wave wannabe (not sure there is a fortunate mix of those two things, but I sure wasn’t wearing it if it existed).
Oh, and my mother knit me a reindeer sweater. It was gorgeous.
I had completely forgotten about stirrup pants. Geez.
I remember mint green stirrup pants with a reversible! shirt in pale purple and mint green. Also pegging my jeans with safety pins.
Wearing men’s extra large Vuarnet T-shirt because I found it on sale. I tucked it in to my cut of jean shorts.
Skin tight, acid washed (size six!) jeans (probably Jordache or Guess?) with little bows and zippers on the back of the ankles. Stacked scrunch socks (and matching scrunchies, of course!) with white Keds or Dexter loafers. Extra long, down-to-your-knees sweatshirts, ideally splatter painted or puff painted or printed with your favorite New Kid’s picture (Jordan!). Bangs tortured with a curling iron, teased, and held tight with Aqua Net, perched above a spiral perm. Don’t forget the blush with sparkles and the blue/green/purple eye shadow AND mascara. Yikes we were frightening! But also SO COOL!
You guys, I feel really old reading these comments. I graduated high school in 1981, so my elderly memory is failing. All I remember is wearing your sweatshirt inside out. And wearing men’s boxers as shorts.
I was saving this post in my feed reader for a time when I would have a few minutes to click on links and MY OH MY did this not disappoint. THAT LINEAR VIDEO MY GOD HAHAHAHA
Also the description of your middle school teddy bear outfit is just charming me to BITS (and I would have been so, so jealous of your style)