Skinny-jean-ified

Two of my 12-year-old students came skipping toward me this past week and proclaimed, “Look, Mrs. D., we’re skinny-jean-ified.” They stood arm in arm, beaming up at me with their brand new skinny jeans.  Their next statement exemplifies one of the reasons I teach middle school students. “Hey, Mrs. D., you should get yourself a pair of skinny jeans and get skinny-jean-ified.”  As I desperately slurped on my coffee after a very long week of parent teacher conferences and bus duty, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at their delightful meld of adolescent naivety and optimism. First of all, skinny and my name have never been used in the same sentence and secondly, the very thought that my wardrobe could be jettisoned into the 21^st century by a pair of jeans is implausible, at best. Despite the improbability of following up on their suggestion, I must say their sincere fashion advice gave me great delight throughout the day.

It also inspired me to think back on what was fashionable when I was their age. I was a product of the 60’s, pivotal times on many fronts. Hippies, Woodstock style concerts, and flower children were getting a lot of attention on the national scene. We were carrying out our own rendition of the fads and fashionable flavors in the Midwest as well. Here are a few of them.

1) Bell bottom jeans—never mind that one could easily hide a small whale in the bottom cuffs, we felt cool and that was all that mattered at the moment. I promised my husband that I wouldn’t mention his red striped, uber cool, corduroy pair of bell bottoms…oops, too late.

2) Mini-skirts—no surprise that this was a fad of pariah proportions in my conservative circles. Many of us discovered that a few rolls of our skirt waistbands quickly converted a modest skirt into something a bit more modern. School personnel saw to it that we didn’t get by with too many rolls. The thrill was in testing the limits.

3) Drive-In theaters—hot muggy evenings, cars stuffed with friends on bargain night, crackly sounding speakers, salty popcorn. It just didn’t get better than that.

4) Dippity-Do hair gel—I was obsessed with creating the perfect side curls out of my chopstick straight hair. Gooey globs of gel were applied before bed, secured by pink, crinkly tape, in hopes of morning glamour. What I achieved was a big comma shaped curl and a red mark on my cheek where the tape had been pulled off. A kink in the hair, yes. Glamour, not so much.

5) Granny dresses—the antithesis of the mini-skirt. Think Bohemian style with a very white Dutch girl trying to pull it off. Groovy.

6) Gum wrapper chains—intricately entwined, zig zags of gum wrappers created by those with crafting abilities. Needless to say, I never created a single one. Crafts make my hands cramp up.

7) Tanning creams—a very new invention and a great product if you didn't mind looking like a pumpkin in July.

8) Mood rings—baubles that were supposed to change color to match your moods. Probably not such a good idea for teenagers.

Suffice it to say, each generation enjoys a sense of camaraderie and adventure when a new invention or style arrives on the scene. After 50-plus years, I can safely say that it’s okay to hang on to a few relics of the past. You never know when they might be just what the vogue doctors are ordering.