#36: Jessi's Baby-sitter
"My friends and I were dressed in typical outfits. Typical, but not necessarily traditional. For instance, Stacey was wearing tight black pants that reached just above her ankles, and sported a column of four silvery buttons at the bottoms. (The buttons were just for show, I think.) Over the pants she was wearing a long (past her knees) blue jacket made of soft material. [How does Jessi know? Is La Martin trying to imply that Jessi is rubbing up on Stacey? I know the junior members idolize the thirteen year olds, but that's just creepy.] Under that she was wearing a sleeveless blouse. Now that was unusual. [And by unusual, she means stupid. Keep trying, McGill.]
Claud was wearing a fake leopard-skin vest, a fairly tame blouse, and blue leggings. She had made her jewelry herself - five papier-mache [always with the papier-mache] bracelets that were painted in soft desert colors.
Mary Anne and Dawn had traded outfits, which they do pretty often. That's one nice thing about having a stepsister who's your best friend and also about your size. They were both dressed colorfully, and trendily, but not as wildly as Claud and Stace. [I love how Jessi kind of glosses over M.A. and Dawn . . . La Martin must have run out of steam after dreaming up the soft jacket and blue leggings. "They're colorful and trendy, okay? California Casual! Moving on!"]
Then there was Kristy in her jeans and turtleneck [dammit Kristy]. And finally Mal and me, also in jeans, but wearing (if I do say so myself) pretty fresh [fresh = cool, for those of you who've forgotten that the baby-sitters have not discovered drugs and alcohol yet and thus have to entertain themselves by making up annoying slang] sweat shirts. And Mal had been allowed to buy high-top sneakers with beaded designs on the sides!"
Goody for Mal. I think we'll all sleep better tonight knowing that her high-tops are beaded. One small victory for fashion-challenged eleven year olds everywhere.
"My friends and I were dressed in typical outfits. Typical, but not necessarily traditional. For instance, Stacey was wearing tight black pants that reached just above her ankles, and sported a column of four silvery buttons at the bottoms. (The buttons were just for show, I think.) Over the pants she was wearing a long (past her knees) blue jacket made of soft material. [How does Jessi know? Is La Martin trying to imply that Jessi is rubbing up on Stacey? I know the junior members idolize the thirteen year olds, but that's just creepy.] Under that she was wearing a sleeveless blouse. Now that was unusual. [And by unusual, she means stupid. Keep trying, McGill.]
Claud was wearing a fake leopard-skin vest, a fairly tame blouse, and blue leggings. She had made her jewelry herself - five papier-mache [always with the papier-mache] bracelets that were painted in soft desert colors.
Mary Anne and Dawn had traded outfits, which they do pretty often. That's one nice thing about having a stepsister who's your best friend and also about your size. They were both dressed colorfully, and trendily, but not as wildly as Claud and Stace. [I love how Jessi kind of glosses over M.A. and Dawn . . . La Martin must have run out of steam after dreaming up the soft jacket and blue leggings. "They're colorful and trendy, okay? California Casual! Moving on!"]
Then there was Kristy in her jeans and turtleneck [dammit Kristy]. And finally Mal and me, also in jeans, but wearing (if I do say so myself) pretty fresh [fresh = cool, for those of you who've forgotten that the baby-sitters have not discovered drugs and alcohol yet and thus have to entertain themselves by making up annoying slang] sweat shirts. And Mal had been allowed to buy high-top sneakers with beaded designs on the sides!"
Goody for Mal. I think we'll all sleep better tonight knowing that her high-tops are beaded. One small victory for fashion-challenged eleven year olds everywhere.
I've retained a troubling amount of information about books I read during my childhood.
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20 comments
Was I that advanced at 11? I think not...
by Mehreen on 11:22 AM. #
"She had made her jewelry herself - five papier-mache that were painted in soft desert colors."
Five papier-mache what? Five papier-mache jewelry? Maybe she could sell them. I would buy one jewelry, if only just to see what a jewelry is.
by shegotzen on 9:06 PM. #
woah, that was totally my bad. I was so taken with the whole concept of papier-mache that I couldn't control my transcription abilities for a moment. Or something.
bracelets, that is.
and now, I'm off to edit. :)
by Kim on 10:41 PM. #
I always wondered what "desert colors" were.
by amandalee on 11:10 PM. #
Your blog is hilarious! I used to read the BBC books and loved reading about the clothing (even in the 90's it was weird) b/c Martin put such detail into it. I'm wondering if her books were too short and she had to add a lot of details (i.e. way too detailed clothing descriptions) to meet her total word count? :)
by brewers on 2:08 PM. #
Okay, I've had this site linked in my blogroll for three weeks now, but these are the first new posts I've seen. And they are ever entertaining. I read the BBC books from the age of 8-11, and my sister (who is now 14) only just stopped reading them. Claudia was a HUGE fashion inspiration for me, and I think that's half the reason I've always harbored a secret desire to be Asian. Weird? Yes.
The other thing is that you're from Amherst! Which is so utterly thrilling, because I live in Conway, I used to go to school in Easthampton and my dad works at Umass.
by Sarah Fitz on 3:56 PM. #
Oh My God! I'm totally and completely in love with this blog. The BSC are you kidding? I adored those books and the clothing description were sooo fresh (hehe)! Claudia was like one of my first fashion icons. I'm so glad I found this blog.
C.
by Char Ruiz Manjarrez on 6:25 PM. #
Reading this blog brought on an epiphany: these books were why I dressed like such a flaming dork in middle school. I thought weird bright clothes like that were really cool. I tried so hard to emulate them. I had forgotten all about that until your transcriptions, and often wondered, why on earth did I think those outfits were so cool? Now I know. Thank you.
by Carrie on 7:51 PM. #
i'm going to have to start saying 'fresh'.
by fiona on 2:25 AM. #
You're funny.
by HaveYouSeenLucky on 4:27 PM. #
I would probably still be reading BSC books if my library hadn't undergone renovations and moved the series into the totally obviously kids section, thus making me embarrassed to peruse the shelves in there. My friend and I were totally in love with the BSC, even re-enacting the cover of (I believe) the super special where they go to California as a tableau for our grade 6 class. Awesome.
Amazing site. I am seriously considering heading to the thrift store and attempting to recreate an outfit from here.
by Rachel Anastasia on 7:03 PM. #
I love your blog, I used to adore the BSC. I can't remember what book this was, but Claudia was dressed like Wilma from The Flintstones, I think she even had a papier-mache bone in her hair. I'm not ssure this really exists, or if I dreamed it one night... but it's totally something she'd wear.
The outfits didn't seem quite so crazy when I was younger...
by Emlyn on 6:03 PM. #
i like how she says "fake leopard skin" instead of, say, leopard print.
i don't think anyone would be assuming a 13 year old even in this world would be sporting REAL leopard skin...
by Chelsea on 1:46 AM. #
I really can't remember most of the plots of the books, but I can remember the outfits just as well. I wish my dad hadn't thrown away all my BSC and Sweet Valley books-- he thought they were "garbage" (I guess he had a point-- they were literary junk food, but that's the whole point of junk food, isn't it? It's just so good, no matter how bad it is for you).
P.S. Your picture looks awfully familiar. I think I used to follow your website ten years ago or something. All the girls would copy you, including me. Heh.
by Required: The name used to sign your blog posts. on 11:45 PM. #
Oh, now I'm a little disappointed that they're just bracelets. At least they're desert colors.
And also another yay Amherst! I'm actually back here to finish up school, finally. It's a small world.
by shegotzen on 12:13 PM. #
i was always annoyed by Mallory's intense desire for glittery sweatshirts...
and her parents who considered them too mature for her.
Seriously?
by aimee on 1:35 AM. #
Go Mallory. Wait til you grow out of those beaded sneakers (fresh as fresh can be) in three months and have to pass them to what's her face, that sister of hers who always rhymed. Ha.
by Stace on 3:58 PM. #
I'm guessing it was a faux fur material, rather than just leopard print. You can have leopard print on silk, cotton, anything; but it's obvious when the texture of the fabric (perhaps a synthetic micro suede of some sort) is meant to emulate that of an actual leopard's skin.
by Libellule on 3:25 AM. #
You're lucky your library still has them at all; I live in a major city but all the libraries in my county system have done away with the BSC books (except for the recent reissues and graphic novels). I guess they've fallen out of favor now that the Twilight Games are It. Other areas on my state still have the whole BSC collection, and the books can be requested by interlibrary loan; but thanks to blogs like these that cull and summarize all the best parts, no need to go to such lengths!
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by Robin David on 5:25 AM. #