Since fashion of the 90s has become increasingly popular, I've been reminiscing a lot about what I used to wear and what influences led me to wear those things. It's funny and a little embarrassing to watch a movie or show from your childhood and realize just how much that show impacted your life. "Oh, that's why I was so into seances and late 60s fashion!," I exclaimed after recently watching
Now & Then. I was such a Samantha, but I looked like Chrissy.
All of my reminiscing and exclamations led me to my sketchbook where I drew myself at different stages of my life. So, here it is, an evolution of my own personal style.
I thought I'd start at age 9. This is the first time I can recall caring about what I wore. This is when I began to make sartorial choices and care about what my peers thought of my clothes. I very clearly recall the experience I had shopping for these green jeans. Colored denim was a big deal then, just as it was a couple of years ago. I hopped on the band wagon both times. Give me color or give me death. While shopping for school clothes with my dad at JC Penny, I discovered that I was too big to fit into any of the girls colored denim. I did, however, fit into the boys colored denim. I decided to get the pants, but I was so embarrassed that I had to buy boys pants, that I made my dad play act a scenario with me about how we were buying the pants for my brother.
Let's talk about this shirt shall we? While watching the movie
It Could Happen to You, I recognized this top on Rosie Perez and laughed. I thought that this shirt made me everything that I wasn't. I thought it made me look elegant and wealthy, when in reality, it made me look like an upholstered clown. I also found, while watching that movie, that I love everything Rosie Perez wears and if I had a body like hers, I would have been copying all of those looks when I was 9.
At this point I had zero interest in shoes, so I can't remember what kind of shoes I would have worn with this outfit. I can only imagine that they were brown and hideous.
Like everyone else, I was also very influenced by the fashion choices of
Blossom. Obvious.
For me, 11 was that age when I wanted to dress exactly like my best friend.
We both had bob haircuts and the same Adidas tennis shoes and jackets. My favorite store was
579 and my style also included crochet vests, over sized looney tunes t-shirts and excessive yin yang/peace sign accessories.
I remember when my best friend first came to school with Adidas low tops. Everyone was amazed by them because they were so different from the ugly high tops that we had previously known. I went out and got myself a pair as soon as I could. I wore them until they disintegrated off of my feet. Besides my beloved chucks, they are the only tennis shoes that I remember having a very strong connection to. The best part is, they're popular again. I bet I could find a pair exactly like I used to have. Yes,
these...or better yet,
these.
I rocked the thigh highs and knee highs like nobody's business, which is a fashion choice that I never shook and probably never will.
The funniest part is that while I wore all of these provocative clothes, I had nowhere near a body that suited them. I desperately wanted to be seen as older, but I still had the round, flat chested body of a prepubescent fat girl and I wasn't fooling anyone.
1997/1998
This is when I first got interested in vintage clothes and it all started in my Father's closet. It wasn't my Father's cowboy button ups and blue jeans that I was interested in, but all of his and my Mother's clothes from the 70s. At that point, most of them didn't fit or were so hippy that I only wore them for theme days at school, but I did find some favorites. One of which was this shirt. I loved orange, still do, and found that menswear button ups were my thing.
Overalls. That's all I have to say about that.
If you don't think wide leg rainbow piped pants are awesome, you are a fool.
1999/2000
For a brief time in my life, my style was very tomboyish. I worked at
PacSun, so I had a lot of skater clothes and shoes. I loved sporty shirts, like baseball or rugby tees. Team colors like red, kelly green, baby blue and bright orange dominated my wardrobe.
This is when flared jeans were coming into style and I loved them. I wore them all the time with my men's button ups and witty t-shirts.
Stars were cool.
I didn't wear dresses.
2001/2002
My friend Sara and I both owned this dress, but we went to different schools, so it wasn't weird. I would probably still have this dress if it wasn't for the drop waist. I no longer own anything with a drop waist because it's terribly unflattering.
I developed a bit of a bad ass persona and rocked a lot of big black boots, fishnets and ripped jeans. I also had a love affair with Savers and owned a lot of 70s dude sweaters. I was like a mixture between
Dora Diamond and
Donna from That 70s Show.
I started to make my own clothes and I cut my own hair into a
Janet Jackson inspired long shag. It. Was. Awesome. In case you're wondering how I cut my own hair, I would simply make a clean pony tail at my forehead and cut it about 5 inches from the base of the rubber band. It wasn't a perfect shag, but my hair was always wavy or messy, so you couldn't really tell. It did come to a point in the back, which wasn't ideal. If you wanna know how to cut a perfect shag (with help),
read this.
2003/2004
This was when I cut the collar off of every t-shirt or polo shirt that I owned. 80s style was back in full force and hot pink was the new black.
I lived in mini skirts and knee high socks and was very inspired by the fashion sense of
Enid from Ghost World.
Along with wearing boys' t-shirts, I wore boys' underwear too. My boyfriend just loved that.
2005
In 2005, I had the first job that required me to dress up. White blouses, slacks, v-neck sweaters, satin camisoles, round toe pumps, and full skirts filled my wardrobe. Ivory, light pink and black were my colors.
At last, I was an adult who sold
very expensive fixtures and furniture to people like
Norm Coleman Sr and I dressed the part. That was a dark time for all of us...
2006/2007
This is when I dominated the
Louise Brooks bob and wore red and green like it was my job. I loved all things polka dots and white flowy skirts were very popular. I had about a dozen.
I found those big plastic hoop earrings at Urban Outfitters and spent way too much on them, but I still wear them today. Worth it.
Have you ever had a pair of shoes so perfect that you wear them until they disintegrate, mourn them when they're gone and years later regret not buying multiple pairs? These were those shoes. They're Rocket Dog ballet flats like the ones worn by
Miho in Sin City and they were the best shoes I've ever owned. I routinely check ebay for a pair, but have yet to find any in my size.
I drew that brown beret in the "other staples" section, but I didn't actually buy that hat until 2009. I mostly wore a white knit beret in 2006, but I still wear them both today, so I got the timing confused.
2008/2009
Notice something different? Yes, I have a short haircut, but I also have a waist! None of my past outfits accentuated my waist and that's why I was so foolish for so long. Granted, natural waisted garments were not previously popular, so I didn't know any better. It wasn't until 2009 or so that I started tucking my shirts into my skirts and finding a much more flattering silhouette.
This is also when chocolate brown was the new black and I found it to be much better then black for my skin tone. Needless to say, I rocked a lot of brown.
This haircut and silhouette are pretty representative of my current style, so I thought this was a good place to stop. While my style has certainly evolved since 2009, I find it harder to analyze and to pin point my influences because I'm not far enough removed.
Maybe I'll continue this in a couple of years.
