song of the day: smile, lily allen
as i was prepping to write all these articles about style, i got thinking about how my style has changed. when did you first start buying your own clothes? in jr. high i kind of bought a few things here and there but i think i really started buying all my own clothes in high school and i think that's where my real style evolution begins. to sum up my style: "anything on sale." other than a few babysitting gigs, i didn't have a job through most of high school. so my fashion choices were really limited. truly, i don't think i paid more than $20 for anything the whole time. i will say this right now, i was not a fashionable kid. back then, i didn't care about clothes that much.i was going through all of the old photos i could find. what i found, is that i was too embarassed to put any of them up here. i think my high school style had two real periods. for most of grade 9 and 10, the last dregs of what i call the chubby period, a typical B outfit would be: a striped polo, worn over a long sleeve top, with flared jeans. (no they weren't popular at the time but yes, i still wore them) it was all about comfort. although, it has ALWAYS been about jeans. i think i've only owned one pair of sweatpants my entire life. i did have a lot of cool accesories though. interesting quirky pieces eithered borrowed or bought and i wish i hadn't lost most of them now. i had these rainbow star earrings that led me to meet one of my BEST friends. the end of grade 10 also marked a mini-goth phase punctuated by a LOT black nail polish and a bad attitude. SO glad i grew out of that.
by grade 11 and 12 i think the main word to describe my style was cute. i wore a lot of graphic tees with silly sayings or cute pictures. my short torso meant i could buy clothes from the kids department so i had a whole range of places to buy them from. there were a lot of skirts and sneakers involved. i remember in the winters i'd wear my scarves indoors, before it was popular to do so. i got a lot of strange looks. there was this grey zipper hoodie i had that i carried with me EVERYWHERE. i kept sewing the holes up cause i didn't have the good sense to throw it away and buy another one. but it really did match with everything.
since university 2 years ago, i've really toned things down. ditched the cutesy graphic tees for simpler pieces. traded hoodies and sweaters for cardigans of all shapes and sizes. i still LOVE jeans, although i tend to favour a skinny fit now. there have only been MORE scarves and a lot of dangly necklaces. oh! and i finally started using makeup. it sounds small, but those few changes have made all the difference in the world.
now that i'm at the end of it, i highly reccomend you track your own style evolution, it's so interesting seeing where you've come from to get a better sense of where you're going. i like the idea that i'm pressing onward to stylish, one blog post at a time.
what were your wardrobe staples/signature items from the past and how are they different now?
got the photo from here.
It's always quite interesting to think how our style has changed over the years. Most of us have made significant changes.
I went through that kind of goth phase as well in high school. Just like you said, black nail polish and a bad attitude... During that time, most of my clothes came from Hot Topic. My parents bought my clothes through high school. My mom hated the way I dressed, but she tried not to debate my preferences. I look back on the pictures of me wearing Dickies, band shirts, huge skater shoes, and studded cuffs and just wonder, "What was I thinking?!"
It seems that for both of us, we made changes after high school. I know since I've been in college, I've dressed more girly and purchase more flattering clothes. So glad I'm out of that terrible goth/punk phase!