Monday, November 24, 2008

How do they know?

All across the City of Chicago you see them. You see it in the suburban girls too.

The uniform.

It started with Aunt Maggie asking the question, "What's the deal with the side ponytail?" And there it was. The ponytail high and off to the side, but just a bit. Next is the head band or a piece of pre-wrap tied around their head. (naturally in a coordinating color)

All the girls in middle school and junior high wear them. Well, at the least the athletic girls and my girls are, as are most of their friends. So I see the look alot.

And then I noticed the other things Imelda in particular wanted. Flannel plaid pajama pants in the school colors. A hoodie from Under Armor. A North Face fleece jacket. Tees and jeans from Abercrombie, Victoria's Secret underwear from the Pink Collection (virtually anything from the Pink Collection really), sweat pants with a word on the ass. And then there are the shoes.

Birkenstocks. as if it were still the 70s and my girls ate granola!!! Yet they HAD to have them.

and UGG boots. God, they are ugly. But bit by bit the other girls at school have been acquiring them.

Yesterday we headed off to a basketball tournament. Girls from all over the city were there. What were they wearing? The same uniform. Unbelievable. (By the way we won our games so now we play NEXT weekend too, yeah us!)

After the game we stopped at the house of some friends. While we, grownups, know each other the kids had never met. As Imelda and Lillith were surrounded by a pack of girls with side ponytails and Ugg boots and Abercrombie jeans and North Face jackets. And these girls don't even go to Catholic school!

Somehow, this has become their uniform. I don't see it on tv. I don't see it in magazines. I don't see it in movies. But the network of sporty teens has taken over and created their own unique style.

Weird

2 comments:

Marguerite Barrett said...

Birkenstocks? Blech! I have horrors of Birkenstocks - of course it doesn't help that the skank that slept with my ex-husband (while he wasn't an ex) specialized in oversized shapeless sack dresses and birkenstocks. Not a good look.

Marguerite Barrett said...

As for the hair - all I can say is I'm looking forward to the day when I can pull out these pictures and show them to their kids - or boyfriends - or prospective employers - and have them turn inside out cringeing in embarrassment. Their faces are tighter than Joan Rivers's in those ponytails -and that's not a look anyone should be going for!