My Style Heritage : Part 5 - Personal Style History

I recently inherited a boxful of old family photos. Being the nostalgia junkie that I am, I thought you might enjoy looking back with me at the women (and men) of my family, imagining what life was like for them, and admiring (maybe occasionally laughing) at the styles of the time.

In Part 1, we met my paternal grandmother, Frances.

In Part 2, we met my maternal grandmother, Margaret.

In Part 3, we met my mom, Kathy.

In Part 4, we met my grandfathers, my uncle, and my father.

And now, the final post, little ol’ me.

That first ensemble is great. You know, pajamas, winter headband, and beaded flip flops with socks were all the rage in 1989. As were cute little coats with face-crushing hoods.

“What do I do?” I didn’t know how to pose then, I don’t know how to pose now.

I’ve been told that I refused to wear pants whenever possible. Skirts and dresses 24/7. Oh, how times have changed.

I was one of those kids who’s mom pretty much always let them pick their own clothes. Which is how I came up with things like this. I don’t know how I wore that hat without getting some sort of neck injury.

I wore a lot of tie dye growing up. Like, a lot. Not only did I grow up on multiple summer camps, but my older brother was a wizard at the stuff. He could make peace signs and hearts and turtles. I remember my gym teacher in elementary school calling me a hippie on more than one occasion.

(Oh, the goose! I forget that having a cement goose in clothes isn’t a normal occurrence for everyone. My mom doesn’t have too many of those weird mom things, but we do have a goose that wears clothes. My grandmother got one first, and we got one when I was about five. We usually lived on busy roads with lots of kid-traffic, and the goose kind of became a staple in our little town. She has outfits for birthdays, holidays, pop-culture icons, etc.

In fact, I have a fitting story for today. My mom really enjoys putting together outfits from things we already have. So, one Monday morning in January, she decked the goose out in a Blues Brothers outfit that she was really proud of. A little coat and tie of my brother’s, some sunglasses, and a briefcase. However, at lunchtime, someone complimented her on the Martin Luther King Jr. outfit. She was absolutely horrified. she rushed home to change the goose as soon as she could.)

Oh, you know, just a tucked-in Power Rangers tee with some polka dot shorts.

And some Aztec fringe to the max.

You guys remember that 90s thing where everyone wore enormous shirts? I remember ordering a large when I was eleven years old. An adult large. Then you’d usually tuck it into some straight leg jeans or, better yet, self-cut jorts, and the shirt would balloon out to your mid-thighs. So glamorous.

And then suddenly around 2001, I considered myself some sort of angsty badass. I listened to some seriously questionable music, ala System of a Down, Eminem, and the ever-so-emo Dashboard Confessional.

Though it’s difficult to see in the above photo, I’m wearing men’s cargo pants, and an Incubus tee. Seriously.

And here I am, in the height of my high school glory. I wasn’t a scene kid, we were too rural, but I was close. My two best friends, Echo and Steph and I went to shows in Grand Rapids and Midland quite a bit. Pop punk, screamo, indie, and anything on the Tooth and Nail label were our tunes of choice.

Black band tee? check.
Layered over a long sleeve tee? check.
Bandanna necklaces? check.
Chopped hair? check.
Art supplies all over my clothes? check.

I’ll bet you ten dollars that I had a bandanna tucked into one of my back pockets, chucks on my feet, and some jelly bracelets on my left wrist. You also can’t see my slightly gauged ears here either.

In college, my style evolved a bit more, but you could still find me looking like this a lot of the time. As a film student, you’ve gotta layer up on set. You never quite know where you’ll find yourself. I wore that Rufio sweatshirt to death, and most people knew me on set by that plaid flannel.

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And there you have it. Twenty-four years of weirdness, and still going strong. I’m sure I’ll look back on some of these with a snort or two, but here’s where I am for now.

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That’s the last of the My Style Heritage Series! Hope you enjoyed these little blasts from the past.