This picture was taken in 1992 when I was 17. What you might not know is that the shirt I’m wearing says CARPE DIEM and it was one of the items of clothing I loved the most my senior year in high school. Also note: HAIRWRAP. Man, I’m not being sarcastic when I say I wish those were back in style. I loved my hairwraps. I would use them to actually tie back my hair when I didn’t have a scrunchy handy.
Now – this was when I was trying my best to be “alternative”. Think Pearl Jam meets The Cure. That’s what I was going for. In theory. I obviously was not pulling it off very well. I think the Mom Jeans kinda drew focus away from the very very goth BLACK SOCKS! Ooooohhh. So daring. I did dye my hair black at one point, but still, with the Mom Jeans? And the ankle cowboy boots I used to wear? Still didn’t really do it. It was well into college before I got the hang of the alternative style. Just in time to get a fishnet sunburn on my legs. Yes. I’ve been awesome for that long.
So – Merry Christmas! Let’s Mock Me Mercilessly! If that photo above doesn’t do it for you, how about this one.
Okay, rockin’ rayon top aside…I used to STRAIGHTEN MY BANGS, people. Which is wrong on so many levels. And we didn’t have flat irons. Nope. I would just use a curling iron slowly (with hairspray fried on first for the extreme healthy hair) down the length of the bangs, always ending up with that curl at the end. Because that and a side ponytail? Too Hott To Handle.
If hairwraps make your life easier I think you should get some.. I bet they’ll come back in style soon enough! 🙂 Oh! I just checked etsy – dude, I don’t even know why, I don’t have much hair myself – and they have some cool ones. And now I wish I had a lot of hair so I could buy some myself.
I don’t know if I admitted this before to you, but I had that shirt. My Mom called it the “Jester” shirt. I remember taking it on a cruise because … It Went With Everything… yikes.. Glad to know I was not alone in my clothing choices.
But Zoot, you are missing the point. You were wearing Mom Jeans before they were even cool, therefore, you were ahead of the trend. Go you!
P.S. I still have a sweater that is in the same vein as that last shirt with the patched-together-panels. I am guessing it is out of style, too. *hangs head in shame*
I love looking at people’s old pictures. I don’t have any of myself. It’s a nostalgia factor for me. And when I am done remembering the ‘good ole days’, I always have to wonder, who started those odd trends? Fashion designers? Celebrities…. why do we follow them so blindly?
I think you look awesome. Other than prom photos there aren’t any mock worthy photos of me. I was photographed once of year at school. Those aren’t mock worthy because I wore a uniform. I’m going to try to find the prom photos to share with you on flickr.
I think that mult-colored shirt is back in style. If I still had mine, I would sell it on Ebay.
I also used to spend hours staightening my very curly hair.
Zoot, you are a confident woman. LOVE IT!!
Seriously, how cute were you then? That color-block shirt is fab.
I’m a little disoriented seeing you with straight bangs- that took mad skillz.
They weren’t mom jeans THEN, though. They were Teh Hottness.
I used to do the hairspray/curling iron thing all the time!!! 🙂 I need to get a scanner to share some of mine!! My hair used to go HIGH. with rock t-shirts and pencil black skirts.
Aww, I like being dragged around with you. 🙂
And this is a good idea. I might have to go dig up some pictures. I have more than a few. OY.
(I would never laugh at you, especially when I had the same shirt.)
Well, your hair is kind of achieving a Richard Smith height in the first picture…so there’s your Alt Rock right there. 🙂
Oh the side pony tail was the bomb…also the banana clip. And the hairspray on the curling iron? Awesome crunchiness!
Love the straight bangs… and the shirt. Color blocks!
Thanks for sharing these! I remember those days.
I’m totally digging that wallpaper, though!
Ah, the early 90’s. They were AWESOME. I kinda feel like breaking into some NKOTB now…
I think I see on your countertop the hairspray I used back then. Salon Selectives. I believe it smelled like apples. I can still remember how it smelled to this day, probably because I used a truckload of it. Fabulous pictures – I feel like I’m 17 all over again. 🙂
Wow. The straight bangs. With curly hair. I died a little inside.
Lucky for me, there are almost no pictures of me during high school. Hard to believe, but I had no idea how curly my hair was until high school, and had no idea how to deal with it properly. And it showed. Yeah, I spent a lot of time with it in two braids. Even through senior year.
I think I had that colorblock shirt and those jeans — and I wore them TOGETHER! The horror!
Thanks for sharing with us.
P.S. About the silverware? My mom swears by toothpaste — regular, not gel — or baking soda.
The last picture was like looking at one of myself. We’re both red-heads and about the same age. My hair though? STICK straight.
So, after my perm with the smallest rod possible (that’ll make it last longer, right?) would start to grow out my bangs would be straight and the rest CURLY. Although, because I was rocking on with my bad self, I would under curl my bangs and then tease them. Don’t tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about. It was awesome.
Heh, you should see my high school pics from ’84-’88!
HEE. You are brave, Zoot, to share these. That second picture? I think I used to rock that same hairstyle.
Yeah, you are one BRAVE woman. Because if I posted pictures from when I was that age? You would see me sporting NKOTB gear. I want to smack that girl and tell her to get over it.
I had that same color-blocked shirt and I LOVED it! Actually, I think I had more than one 🙂