#51: Stacey's Ex-Best Friend
The cover is nice and all, but I thought we could update it a bit:
There it is.
Those city girls. They sure do grow up fast.
Stacey on Claudia (and, of course, herself): " ... She's tall and thin and a very distant dresser. Claud cares about clothes as much as Kristy doesn't care about them. That's one thing Claud and I have in common. If I may say so, we are pretty sophisticated. [ . . . ] We both like wild outfits - leggings, cowboy boots, short skirts, the layered look, cool hats. And we pay a lot of attention to our nails and our makeup and especially to our hair. I am constantly getting my hair permed. (My hair is blonde and wavy; the perm makes it look even wavier. [God, I wanted a perm so badly when I was a little girl - dammit Stacey!]) Claud likes to experiment with different hairstyles. And she likes hair ornaments - beads and ponytail ties and flowers."
What Stacey wears to meet Laine: "I examined myself critically in the full-length mirror. [Soapbox moment: great message there, ghostwriter] This was the outfit I had chosen in which to meet Laine: a purple shirtwaist top over flowered leggings, my cowboy boots (cowgirl boots? cowwoman boots?), a purple hair ornament made from shoelaces, [didn't we all own a hair ornament made from shoelaces? Mine was pink, green, and orange neon. Baller.] and long dangly silver earrings. I passed my test." Swell.
What Laine wears to meet Stacey: "I saw Laine the second she stepped onto the platforms. She was hard to miss, considering she was wearing a jean coat with a fur collar (I sincerely hoped the fur was fake), black capri pants edged with lace, very chich black ankle boots, and on her head, a brilliant red oversized beret." Wow, the capri pants and the ankle boots. That is a bold move. As is a jean coat with a fur collar, but it is 1991 we're talking about.
Laine and Stacey have a tiff over wearing red on Valentine's Day -- Laine finds it childish and Stacey's all about it. Her defense is that her mom wears red on Valentine's Day. Swing and a miss.
What Stacey wears to the Valentine's Day Dance (you bet there's a dance!): "I pulled a red top and a very short jean skirt out of my closet. 'Laine? I could wear this.'" Laine, awesomely, ignores her and starts contemplating whether or not she should change her nail polish. And then she tells Stacey she should go on a diet.
What Laine wears to the Valentine's Day Dance: "Laine was dressed in black from head to toe. Black leotard, long black jacket, black leggings over black stockings, black shoes. Her jewelry was silver, though. And big." I'm assuming the leggings are the dreaded calf-length variety, otherwise I can't picture this being an outfit. It's pretty hard as is, what with the leotard and leggings. I feel like she's going to lead a Sophisticated New York-Style Jazzercise Session.
Stacey and Laine bond briefly over the tropical fish earrings Stacey had Claudia make for Laine. Aww, Claudia. Your little art projects have the power to heal.
Hey, my pack joke from the last entry totally panned out and I swear to god I didn't even plan it. Check this: "My friends and I (all seven of us, plus our dates) had decided to meet at the door and then go to the dance in a pack. Sometimes we like to stick together that way." Sometimes?
The dance is a middle school dance - gym, streamers, awkward kids - and Laine's date is wearing his trademark sneakers with his suit and Laine just keeps making snotty comments and then Kristy totally burns her. After some kid spills punch near Laine, she comments that 6th graders have no muscle control and shouldn't be allowed at dances. Later, she ends up turning down Pete (her date) for a dance and then goes off with some young middle school stud. And then comes the magic:
"Kristy had joined us. 'I wonder if Laine knows her dream boy is a lowly seventh-grader.' She paused. 'I also wonder if Laine thinks seventh-graders have enough muscle control.'
Claudia laughed, but I didn't." Well, Claudia knows funny when she hears it, Stacey.
What Stacey wears on Valentine's Day: "'Not too much like a red elf?' I asked. (I was wearing red leggings, red ankle boots, a bulky red sweater, and red barrettes.)
'Not at all like a red elf,' said Claud. 'I wouldn't tell you something like that. Who do you think I am - Laine?'" Well, you're certainly nicer than I am. Stacey? Elf city.
The cover is nice and all, but I thought we could update it a bit:
There it is.Those city girls. They sure do grow up fast.
Stacey on Claudia (and, of course, herself): " ... She's tall and thin and a very distant dresser. Claud cares about clothes as much as Kristy doesn't care about them. That's one thing Claud and I have in common. If I may say so, we are pretty sophisticated. [ . . . ] We both like wild outfits - leggings, cowboy boots, short skirts, the layered look, cool hats. And we pay a lot of attention to our nails and our makeup and especially to our hair. I am constantly getting my hair permed. (My hair is blonde and wavy; the perm makes it look even wavier. [God, I wanted a perm so badly when I was a little girl - dammit Stacey!]) Claud likes to experiment with different hairstyles. And she likes hair ornaments - beads and ponytail ties and flowers."
What Stacey wears to meet Laine: "I examined myself critically in the full-length mirror. [Soapbox moment: great message there, ghostwriter] This was the outfit I had chosen in which to meet Laine: a purple shirtwaist top over flowered leggings, my cowboy boots (cowgirl boots? cowwoman boots?), a purple hair ornament made from shoelaces, [didn't we all own a hair ornament made from shoelaces? Mine was pink, green, and orange neon. Baller.] and long dangly silver earrings. I passed my test." Swell.
What Laine wears to meet Stacey: "I saw Laine the second she stepped onto the platforms. She was hard to miss, considering she was wearing a jean coat with a fur collar (I sincerely hoped the fur was fake), black capri pants edged with lace, very chich black ankle boots, and on her head, a brilliant red oversized beret." Wow, the capri pants and the ankle boots. That is a bold move. As is a jean coat with a fur collar, but it is 1991 we're talking about.
Laine and Stacey have a tiff over wearing red on Valentine's Day -- Laine finds it childish and Stacey's all about it. Her defense is that her mom wears red on Valentine's Day. Swing and a miss.
What Stacey wears to the Valentine's Day Dance (you bet there's a dance!): "I pulled a red top and a very short jean skirt out of my closet. 'Laine? I could wear this.'" Laine, awesomely, ignores her and starts contemplating whether or not she should change her nail polish. And then she tells Stacey she should go on a diet.
What Laine wears to the Valentine's Day Dance: "Laine was dressed in black from head to toe. Black leotard, long black jacket, black leggings over black stockings, black shoes. Her jewelry was silver, though. And big." I'm assuming the leggings are the dreaded calf-length variety, otherwise I can't picture this being an outfit. It's pretty hard as is, what with the leotard and leggings. I feel like she's going to lead a Sophisticated New York-Style Jazzercise Session.
Stacey and Laine bond briefly over the tropical fish earrings Stacey had Claudia make for Laine. Aww, Claudia. Your little art projects have the power to heal.
Hey, my pack joke from the last entry totally panned out and I swear to god I didn't even plan it. Check this: "My friends and I (all seven of us, plus our dates) had decided to meet at the door and then go to the dance in a pack. Sometimes we like to stick together that way." Sometimes?
The dance is a middle school dance - gym, streamers, awkward kids - and Laine's date is wearing his trademark sneakers with his suit and Laine just keeps making snotty comments and then Kristy totally burns her. After some kid spills punch near Laine, she comments that 6th graders have no muscle control and shouldn't be allowed at dances. Later, she ends up turning down Pete (her date) for a dance and then goes off with some young middle school stud. And then comes the magic:
"Kristy had joined us. 'I wonder if Laine knows her dream boy is a lowly seventh-grader.' She paused. 'I also wonder if Laine thinks seventh-graders have enough muscle control.'
Claudia laughed, but I didn't." Well, Claudia knows funny when she hears it, Stacey.
What Stacey wears on Valentine's Day: "'Not too much like a red elf?' I asked. (I was wearing red leggings, red ankle boots, a bulky red sweater, and red barrettes.)
'Not at all like a red elf,' said Claud. 'I wouldn't tell you something like that. Who do you think I am - Laine?'" Well, you're certainly nicer than I am. Stacey? Elf city.
I've retained a troubling amount of information about books I read during my childhood.
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19 comments
I totally want the free Babysitter bookmark included in that book!
by nikki on 8:12 PM. #
A leotard, stockings, and leggings? Sounds kinda overkill to me. I get that Laine's badass and she's from New York so she must wear black, but damn!
by BananaBomb on 9:17 PM. #
ha! laine is totally and completely blair.
by carey on 10:13 PM. #
Bwaaaa ha ha ha ha! God damn it I love it when you post. I totally had a shoelace hair clip. Oh and you totally didn't mention King! Remember King? With the spikey black hair? Surely he gets a mention?
by Smaggle on 12:54 AM. #
Omfg. Blair's head looks like it was meant to be pasted on there. It's like. You open with that brilliance and I was like ok. That is a stellar opening but can Kim surpass it? AND IT JUST KEPT GETTING FUNNIER AND YOU DID. WCW lights up my life. Just so you know. A+++++++ BB. WOULD READ AGAIN.
by courtney summers on 3:59 PM. #
Love the blog and with all your posts this month (woo! nice work) i realized that this article in boston mag about the gloucester pregnancy "pact" women TOTALLY does Ann M. Martin/BSC-esque wardrobe descriptions.
Link here: http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/growing_up_gloucester/page1
for gems like these --
"Kaila pulled on a denim skirt and a glittery, cream-colored tube top that left her white bra straps exposed. Her hair was almost completely straight, the product of a lengthy session with the flat iron, and she swung a very real-looking faux Chanel bag. Alivia, with her hair perfectly slicked back, wore Bermuda-length jean shorts and a low-cut scoop-neck shirt."
by Janet on 4:40 PM. #
love love love your entries! keep it up!
by Lexie on 8:23 PM. #
Whats with pairing the ankle boots with capris? and capris trimmed with lace???? hahaha.
by Reannon on 5:34 AM. #
god, your blog makes me happy. gossip girl + babysitter's club = love.
by alicia on 1:29 PM. #
"I feel like she's going to lead a Sophisticated New York-Style Jazzercise Session."
Please just drop out of school and do this full time already. I'll donate to your campaign (read: paper mache bracelets).
by Rebecca on 2:54 PM. #
PS
Holy cow if I could have your hair for one day out of my life I would be flipping that shit over my shoudler so much that I'd have to sue you for whiplash.
by Rebecca on 3:12 PM. #
And that was the last time Ann M. Martin ever allowed an asian male on her covers.
by So@24 on 3:31 PM. #
haha
i love the updated cover!
and laine was always my fave character even though she wasn't even in the club
she is such a rockstar
by Jillian on 10:10 PM. #
If Lucky gives you Dior Addict or Ma Dame Gauliter, can I have it? I don't get asked to enter fashion contests for my Lost blog, incidentally.
by Rachael on 1:45 PM. #
wow, the muscle control comments caught me off guard. who knew snarkiness began with the bsc?
by francine on 3:57 AM. #
Haha if I remember correctly, wasn't Laine 12 and her boyfriend about 18? Seemed weird when I was younger but even weirder now!
by Anonymous on 7:02 AM. #
far out. I was nearly crying by the time you reminded me that I WANTED TO WEAR ALL RED after reading about the all-red outfit. I think I even recalled the exact mental image I created the first time.
by Holly on 11:43 PM. #
This is sad because I had flowered leggings & the black capris with the lace edges and I remember when I read that in the book I felt so smug...oh, so wrong.
by Krysten Lindsay Hager on 8:58 PM. #
I totally just polyvore'd the awkward meeting outfits!
http://www.polyvore.com/ex-best_friends/set?id=12888871
I don't know what the hell a shirtwaist top looks like, so I just improvised.
And just for the record it's very hard to find a picture anywhere of a denim coat with a fur collar.
And...
elf elf elf.
RED elf!
Take that, Stacey.
by Stace on 9:31 AM. #