So, did anyone remember Ruby Shoesday this week? Major kudos if you did! I personally opted for the burgundies that lovely Corey sent me…
At the bus stop today was a chubby pre-teen girl wearing a pair of sequined harem pants. We’re talking hideous black harem pants with sequins sewn ALL OVER. Over at The Fashion Police we mock the harem pant, and I believe I can promise you NEVER to succumb to their siren call myself… yet I found it impossible to look at this girl with anything but respect.
When I see these pre-teens trialing fashion-forward styles I can’t help but be impressed by their courage. I can imagine this little girl getting slated by her peers for her choices, and therefore have to applaud her bravado. What I see, rather than a fashion victim, is a fashion blogger of the future.
Would any of us be the stylish ladies we are today had we not gone through experimental phases when we were younger? How do we learn what does or doesn’t suit us if we don’t try everything once? And do those mocking schooldays not prepare us for the strange looks we might one day garner as we board the bus in our own, somewhat daring outfits?
That chubby wee girl made me feel quite proud!
Second Hand Shopper 
Oh yes, ruby shoes today – now I’ve got some I’m loving wearing them!
I totally agree with you about young experimental phase with fashion. I can remember using scarves as skirts (over leggings and with biggish jumpers, I hasten to add!) and playing with colours and shapes in a way that I probably don’t do enough of now, and I was the only one in my year with the rock chick biker jacket thing going on. I was probably braver then than I am now, though I was also less body confident and more inclined to drown myself in shapeless silhouettes. I think those years are so vital for learning both what works for you and, well, what *you* means.
Yep, you def win the ruby shoesday prize this week! Not that I have a ruby shoesday prize to give you as such…
My teenage uniform evolved so rapidly – from trying to match the sweatshirt/lumberjack shirt and rolled fringe look my peers sported to accepting that I couldn’t make that look work, straight through to not-quite-grungy: I went through a phase of styling myself on early 90s Drew Barrymore – little dresses, hair in two buns on top of my head with sunflower/daisy bobbles and a knotted shoelace tied around my neck in place of a leather thong… OR long gingham button-through dress with a HUGE crochet jumper hanging loosely off one shoulder, again with the shoelace… Then in sixth form, I discovered charity shops and built a wardrobe based pretty much entirely on Clueless!! The best thing is that although much of it looked questionable, there’s nothing that I cringe over. Because, like you say, it was all a vital part of learning who I was.
Sorry, but I hate to see kids dressed as adults- let them have their childhood. She may even be one of those kids who worries more about whether she’s thin enough to wear them, than what people think about the style itself. I’m all for fashion experimentation but not for Pre-teens.
I think I’ve confused you. I’m not talking about dressing as adults – high heels and so forth. I’m talking about trying things out regardless of what your peers think, like I did when I was 12 (with the jumpsuits you made me for example – no-one else my age would have been wearing those!) I hate to see kids in adult clothes, high heels, with earrings…
xxx
I’m easily confused these days!!
Join the club!! xx