#29: Mallory and the Mystery Diary

"That's why her diary's so big: it's full of secrets."

So, this gem is from the era before the Mystery sub-series appeared. And I can definitely see a modern day hipster wearing Mallory's cover outfit, (thanks dibbly-fresh) right down to the big dorky glasses. I've been trying to squint at the alarm clock - I think it says 10:30. I certainly hope that means 10:30 a.m., because 10:30 p.m. is waay past Buddy Barrett's bedtime and I don't care what his negligent mother says. What was up with Mrs. Barrett, by the way? Closet alcoholic? I know they always had to mention that she looked like a model, but that woman was a hot mess. Clean up your act, lady!

"Claudia is also one of the coolest dressers I know. She would never, ever get arrested by the Fashion Police. [What about the bungee cord belt?] She wears long, baggy sweaters, tight leggings [as opposed to loose leggings, obviously], dresses with flared [gasp!] skirts, little ballet slippers, and wild jewelry. She makes a lot of the jewelry herself."

I hate the fake-out. Those books where they'll give you some lamely vague style info but refuse to take the extra five minutes to combine a bowler hat with suspender-overalls, a space-dyed t-shirt, and a sequined cardigan, accessorized with a snake bracelet and a necklace made from feathers and Legos. I mean, really, is that so hard? It took me two minutes!

Oh, wait! We've actually hit the motherload, hidden in Chapter 9: another edition of What the BSC Wore!

I'm still skipping Kristy's outfit, by the way. I hold firm that if you don't know what she's wearing, then you have some independent studying to do.

"Jessi was wearing a long, heart-covered sweat shirt over her dance leotard [Jessi probably wears dance leotards in the shower] and a pair of pink pants that (although you couldn't see this) I knew were held up at the waist with a drawstring. I was wearing boring old jeans [watch your mouth!], but a top that I liked a lot - a big white long-sleeved t-shirt that said I [HEART] KIDS across the front."

Oh, MALLORY. Plus, who are they marketing that shirt for? Maybe I've been watching too much syndicated Law and Order: SVU, but I'm kinda creeped out here.

"Mary Anne, who can be pretty funky in her own shy way, was wearing a very cool short printed jumper over a striped shirt. You might think that those two things would clash, but they didn't. [If you're sure.] They looked great together The jumper was white with a small red print, and the shirt was white with narrow, widely-spaced stripes. Claudia called the outfit 'a fashion risk that worked.' [Oh. I guess she's the expert. Mallory, your opinion has been validated. For once.] Claud herself was wearing jeans, a plain white blouse , a pink sweater, white socks, and loafers. She said she'd gone back to the fifties for the day. [Well, come back, babe! You can do better!] Stacey, on the other hand, was in a much more typical outfit - a short sleeved blue-and-white jumpsuit [fact: babysitters love jumpsuits] with cuffed pants. Parts of it were striped, parts were solid. On her feet were high-topped sneakers laced only halfway up so that she could roll the tongue of the shoe down (extremely cool), plus she was wearing a lot of jewelry. I think Claud had made some of it for her.

Last but not least was Dawn, sitting backward in Claud's desk chair [fact: babysitters feel most comfortable when sitting backward in a desk chair], resting her arms on the top rung of the back. Her outfit was fairly normal - pants and a baggy sweat shirt - but on her head was a small straw hat! I couldn't believe it. Talk about fashion risks."

And yet . . . was there a payoff? Did this fashion risk work? You be the judge. Maybe you enjoy small straw hats. Bonnets, even.