oh yeah, I'm going there. It's mystery time.
"Janine sometimes teases me and tells me I'm 'shallow' because I'm interested in hairstyles and cool clothes. I'll admit that I love to wear trendy stuff - in fact, sometimes I'm the one to invent trends in my school. And I do love to try all kinds of wild things with my hair, which is long and black and straight. I even love to experiment with makeup. I like to try accentuating certain features. But I don't think that makes me shallow. These things are part of my artistic nature. I see my body as a blank canvas, and I can put anything I want onto that canvas, depending on my mood. Does that make any sense?
I was thinking this over, and checking that day's outfit (lace leggings, purple tie-dyed T-shirt dress, and purple high-tops) in the mirror, when I was snapped back to reality by Charlotte who was tugging on my sleeve."
I like that Claudia is so distracted by her own fashion greatness that she's ignoring the kid she's sitting for.
"Sometimes I wish I were the kind of person who thinks ahead about what I'm going to wear to school each day. Like Mary Anne. I happen to know that she lays out a whole outfit - from headband to shoes - each before she goes to sleep. She is so organized.
But sometimes I'm glad I'm a disorganized slob at heart. I think the outfits I put together spontaneously are much more creative and fun than they would be if I planned each detail ahead of time. For instance, as soon as I looked in my closet that morning, I knew I wanted to wear this pair of black-and-white-checked stretch pants I just bought. I grabbed them and pulled them on. Next I started to look around for my red belt, since it would look perfect with the black and white. 'I know it's here somewhere,' I muttered as I poked around in my closet. Then I remembered: I'd been using the belt to hold my portfolio shut. The portfolio clasp was broken, but the belt held it together just fine. I found the portfolio under the bed and unbuckled the belt. I reminded myself to ask Mom for something to take the belt's place.
Next I needed a blouse. I figured a black one or a white one would look fine, so I knew I'd have no problem finding something. But I was wrong. Believe it or not, every one of my black blouse and every one of my white blouses was in the dirty laundry. Or crumpled at the bottom of my closet, which was basically the same thing.
I shrugged. Okay, I thought, no problem. I remembered that fashion magazines always say to be bold and mix your patterns. That's what I'd do! I checked the closet again and found a black shirt with white polka dots. I held it up and looked in the mirror. The dots next to the checks made me a little dizzy, but I decided that the total effect was just what I had been looking for. I pulled on my red ankle boots, put my hair into a ponytail on the side of my head (fastened with a black-and-white barrette), stuck on my favorite red heart-shaped earrings, and I was ready to go. All in under a half an hour. That's how I get dressed almost every morning. I'm sure watching me do that would drive someone like Mary Anne nuts, but personally I think it's a lot of fun. It's always a challenge to come up with a super-cool outfit on the spur of the moment."
Notice the extraneous belt (since she's wearing stretch pants) . . . once again, Claudia knows about 2007 hip-kid fashion. She just feels it in her 'creative' spelling, candy eating, disorganized slob heart. I want candy.
"Janine sometimes teases me and tells me I'm 'shallow' because I'm interested in hairstyles and cool clothes. I'll admit that I love to wear trendy stuff - in fact, sometimes I'm the one to invent trends in my school. And I do love to try all kinds of wild things with my hair, which is long and black and straight. I even love to experiment with makeup. I like to try accentuating certain features. But I don't think that makes me shallow. These things are part of my artistic nature. I see my body as a blank canvas, and I can put anything I want onto that canvas, depending on my mood. Does that make any sense?
I was thinking this over, and checking that day's outfit (lace leggings, purple tie-dyed T-shirt dress, and purple high-tops) in the mirror, when I was snapped back to reality by Charlotte who was tugging on my sleeve."
I like that Claudia is so distracted by her own fashion greatness that she's ignoring the kid she's sitting for.
"Sometimes I wish I were the kind of person who thinks ahead about what I'm going to wear to school each day. Like Mary Anne. I happen to know that she lays out a whole outfit - from headband to shoes - each before she goes to sleep. She is so organized.
But sometimes I'm glad I'm a disorganized slob at heart. I think the outfits I put together spontaneously are much more creative and fun than they would be if I planned each detail ahead of time. For instance, as soon as I looked in my closet that morning, I knew I wanted to wear this pair of black-and-white-checked stretch pants I just bought. I grabbed them and pulled them on. Next I started to look around for my red belt, since it would look perfect with the black and white. 'I know it's here somewhere,' I muttered as I poked around in my closet. Then I remembered: I'd been using the belt to hold my portfolio shut. The portfolio clasp was broken, but the belt held it together just fine. I found the portfolio under the bed and unbuckled the belt. I reminded myself to ask Mom for something to take the belt's place.
Next I needed a blouse. I figured a black one or a white one would look fine, so I knew I'd have no problem finding something. But I was wrong. Believe it or not, every one of my black blouse and every one of my white blouses was in the dirty laundry. Or crumpled at the bottom of my closet, which was basically the same thing.
I shrugged. Okay, I thought, no problem. I remembered that fashion magazines always say to be bold and mix your patterns. That's what I'd do! I checked the closet again and found a black shirt with white polka dots. I held it up and looked in the mirror. The dots next to the checks made me a little dizzy, but I decided that the total effect was just what I had been looking for. I pulled on my red ankle boots, put my hair into a ponytail on the side of my head (fastened with a black-and-white barrette), stuck on my favorite red heart-shaped earrings, and I was ready to go. All in under a half an hour. That's how I get dressed almost every morning. I'm sure watching me do that would drive someone like Mary Anne nuts, but personally I think it's a lot of fun. It's always a challenge to come up with a super-cool outfit on the spur of the moment."
Notice the extraneous belt (since she's wearing stretch pants) . . . once again, Claudia knows about 2007 hip-kid fashion. She just feels it in her 'creative' spelling, candy eating, disorganized slob heart. I want candy.
This is my favourite post yet. Best bits:
ReplyDelete"I see my body as a blank canvas, and I can put anything I want onto that canvas, depending on my mood."
" I think the outfits I put together spontaneously are much more creative and fun than they would be if I planned each detail ahead of time. "
Claud is the MASTER of rocking that oh-so-fashionable 80's staple: the side ponytail.
ReplyDeleteOH MY GOD I was obsessed with this outfit when I was a kid! That passage is still my clearest memory out of all the BSC books. I thought it was the coolest thing ever and I wanted to mix patterns like Claudia but I didn't have any black and white, so I tried it with two different florals in a leggings/tunic combo and my mother got upset that dad had let me leave the house dressed like that. I kept trying, though.
ReplyDeleteshe has two different outfits...
ReplyDeleteI bet the main criteria for Ann M Martin's ghost writer was being able to put together outfits like this.
ReplyDeleteI remember this one exactly! I love this blog so much. The only thing that could possibly be better would be if it also somehow incorporated all her hidden junk food. That was the most thrilling thing to me. I would try it myself but I'd always eat whatever treat I tried to hide after half an hour.
ReplyDelete