The Early 90s: A Very Fashionable Era Of My Life
Thanks to facebook photos, I can now provide content and embarrass myself at the same time. So today's entry is devoted to photos of me as a scrawny blonde with a serious BSC fixation (not pictured). I remember realizing (this was in fourth grade, I think) that if I wanted to, I could read books at lunch. I didn't have to talk to anyone if I didn't feel like it! This was truly a revelation, one that probably coincided with a particularly exciting Unicorn Club book.
Here I am (third row, seated fifth from left) wearing an outfit picked by Richard Spier. The fact that my hair is curly means that I spent the previous night sleeping with a head full of foam rollers. Comfortable! I'd be willing to bet that the three red buttons on the dress bib are heart shaped. I'm gonna pretend that this was my tribute to Jenny Prezzioso. Really, it's just that my mom was a sucker for super girlie dresses*, and I was too busy reading books and being peanut-sized to realize I looked like a porcelain doll.
Here I am again, front and center for the fourth grade chorus photo. (I have the voice of an angel.**) Maybe because the photographer was so taken by my floral leggings-and-turtleneck combination that he was like "you! Little girl! That cardigan is totally rad! Come forth so we can bask in the glory of your ensemble!" But probably because I was short.
Some of you might be waiting for me to comment on the other little fashion plates in these photos. But I'm not going to, because some of these people have found me on facebook. So there's a small possibility they might be reading this, and I don't want to worry about making enemies. Then again, I will probably never see those people again, as I don't plan on attending any high school reunions. There are two important reasons behind this: 1. I have a shockingly bad memory and would not be able to reminisce appropriately. 2. I have an irrational fear of attending a real-life version of Liz Lemon's high school reunion.
Anyway. Sorry if this was too much fashion for one entry. It's kind of overwhelming, I know.
* These days, she mostly just despairs over the blandness of my wardrobe. "It's okay to wear color, Kim," she says. B. likes to bring this up whenever we're out shopping and I'm adding more grey t-shirts to my collection.
** No I don't.
I've retained a troubling amount of information about books I read during my childhood.
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17 comments
I remember those sleepless nights with my hair wrapped tightly around those pink foam curlers.
My outfits were extremely similar, but I had a little sister wearing a matching one, plus I had Sally Jesse Raphael glasses.
I also was reading a BSC book during lunch, and when the class photo was taken I probably had my nose firmly planted in paperback-y goodness until the photographer specifically asked me to drop it.
by Abby-Wan Kenobi on 4:33 PM. #
I'm fairly confident that I owned those same leggings, and probably thought that I looked very Claudia-ish. Yikes.
by emily on 6:27 PM. #
LOL.
But seriously, I have waaaaay more embarrassing childhood outfits than you.
by Under Urooba's Umbrella! on 8:12 PM. #
In the chorus photo, I wish you were the girl front row, all the way on the left. Not only is she wearing baggy floral pants and a baggy floral long sleeve top, is she wearing florals of different fabrics? That's brave fashion.
I don't think I read books at the lunch table, but I definitely remember enjoying my time as the bus on reading time. You could support yourself into some kind of almost-on-your-back position with your knees on the seat in front of you, and it was perfect for reading!
And ha ha, I just watched that 30 Rock episode a few days ago! I too sometimes wonder if, like Liz, my perception of how I was in high school was very inaccurate.
by Stephanie on 9:47 PM. #
WOW. that girl with two different kinds of floral is really pushing it...as is the boy in the first photo with the acid wash jeans. the girl to your right in the choir picture, however, seems to have some Kishi vibes going on.
Also, I was the kid who read CONSTANTLY. at lunch, during class, through dinner at home, even walking between classes...my parents would punish me by taking my books away.
by mysticgypsy128 on 11:00 PM. #
If those were indeed heart-shaped buttons on your dress, then you are officially too rad for me. I totally wore those kinds of porcelain doll dresses too... That is, until I got SUPER FAT in 3rd grade and could no longer fit in such dresses. Sad day.
by amy kelinda on 10:12 AM. #
Even better than reading during lunch?
Slipping a book in the front waistband of your PJS and pretending that you have to go to the bathroom when you should be in bed.
My parents thought that I had some sort of digestive disorder. Nope. Just sitting on the bathroom floor and reading.
We also had a series of mirrors set up to capture the streetlight outside, bounce it off the mirror above the dresser, on to a second stand mirror,
I could have been a great engineer.
by aimee on 12:34 PM. #
The first pic kind of looks like the dress from Small Wonder... just sayin'
by Wendy on 2:31 PM. #
The only meaningful thing I did today was read every post on this blog. and laugh uproariously. [thanks, SP&A]
honestly, you rock. and are so funny. and love the BSC more than I or my older sister [avid reader/remember-ers over 21. she had the claudia doll when we were younger. those purple boots were amazing.
something you have NOT mentioned though - the BSC movie. I would love to hear your quips on the subject
by saignacio on 11:36 PM. #
Hahaha...those leggings! I think every stylish (errr...yes...) girl our age had to have a pair. Mine were a strange psychedelic pattern that I wore with a captain's hat from SeaWorld Ohio. Pretty sure my parents only let me dress that way because they thought I was a tiny tribute to the Grateful Dead.
Olive
www.VisforOlive.blogspot.com
by Anonymous on 12:45 AM. #
Haha, that is fantastic. You know, I juts get satisfaction in my old photos that I didn't pick or buy my own clothes. That is my only defense. Adorable photos, though.
by Caity on 8:48 AM. #
by evilcat on 5:32 PM. #
I know exactly what you mean about the Liz Lemon thing.
And, on a side note, while we're on the subject of reading and school buses and beloved Claudia, I remember figuring out that I could read an entire BSC book on the ride home from school (we lived in the sticks obv.). If I didn't quite finish, I'd stand in the driveway, (probably wearing floral print leggings), reading the last few pages and thus avoiding piano practice.
by evilcat on 5:34 PM. #
Just found this blog after reading an article that they are re-releasing "updated" versions of the BSC club books in an AP article. This is so much fun -- I hadn't thought about those books in years! It should be interesting how they will update the clothes in the updated books ... apparently Stacey will no longer have a perm and will have an "expensive haircut."
by elizabeth.speck on 10:25 AM. #
I had pink foam rollers! And the best day of my life was when I realised I could sit in the library instead of going outside to play! Squee!
by Carly on 2:54 AM. #
i'm so glad your blog exists, what a riot. i remember my own 90s pilgrim dresses and shudder.
by Andrea on 5:12 AM. #
I can certainly relate to being glued to these books back in grade school. In probably third grade, we had Media Room time. After computer playtime (playing "Oregon Trail" on those huge floppy disks"), we had quiet reading time. I was so captivated by "Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls" that by the time I looked up, everyone had gone back to homeroom. I have no idea how long I was sitting there after they filed out. How they managed to leave with out my noticing it or them noticing me, I don't know--I was in my BSC trance (how could I not be? It was a Claudia book).
by Libellule on 9:35 PM. #