Of course, I blame Hot Topic for this whole mess...

Having returned from a day spent at the Mall of America I can conclusively say that in addition to being a slut I am officially a crotchety old man. Not to go all Seinfeldian or anything but what is the deal with 15 year old girls these days? I was deeply disturbed by all the junior-high exhibitionism I witnessed on my trip today. Now granted, I don't hang out with 15 year olds nearly as much as I did when I was 15, but it appears that the rules of what one can wear have entirely changed from 1990.

Back then, what the girls wore was not structurally different from what the guys wore - sure, it was somewhat more pink and NKOTB-oriented than typical guy-wear of the time. But in general it was the same "T-shirt and jeans" philosophy. Not anymore. These days apparently one isn't socially acceptable as a junior high school girl unless you've successfully seduced a married father of two a la "Lolita". When did this happen? I was deeply disturbed by the time I suddenly noticed a tight pair of jeans out of the corner of my eye, only to discover that the girl occupying them could have no memory of Ross Perot's presidential bid.

The dress of 15 year old boys isn't much better, but they are still following the "I'm tryin to look stupid"-chic mantra that junior-high boys have followed since prehistoric times ("Dammit junior, don't you have anything to wear *but* that same, infernal black bear pelt!? I don't care if it says 'Vote for Eegah' go back upstairs and put on something else so you mother can beat it with a stick in the river with the rest of the laundry!"). At least nobody mistakes junior high boys for strippers.

This is exactly why I worry about ever having a daughter. By the time she's 15 they'll either be naked constantly or will have regressed to puritan fashion as a firm of rebellion. Here's hoping "Pilgrim-chic" becomes very popular with the kiddies ASAP.

Comments

Stacey Pelika said…
Maybe it's something about MOA. I was there yesterday (we should have rendezvoused, yo! we could have hung out with Ole, too!) and commented to my mom that I was very grateful that fashion when I was in high school consisted of oversized rugby shirts with jeans rather than the slut-wear one sees now. I hypothesized that I could have ended up as one of those plump girls who so desperately wants to look hip that she ends up showing an inappropriate fat roll or butt crack. I like to hope that I would have more dignity than that, though.
Nobody said…
Thank EFFING GOD that I was a teenager when stretch pants, ENORMO sized shirts, levi cut-offs, and concert T's were in?!

As if being a teenager isn't bad enough... the pressure to be sexy would SUCK!

And yes, I cry for the "normal built girls" who end up looking deformed by the scary low cut jeans. Sorry, unless you're built like Kate Moss... you gonna get that weird fat bubble thing over that waist.

Yuck!
towwas said…
Yeah - the Christmas show included a teen chorus, which included many very sweet girls and a whole range of fashion disasters, but we particularly felt bad for the girls who were not praticularly overweight but also not stick-thin and my *god* someone should have told them the ultra-low-rise was not flying.
ThatIsMeWhat said…
Somehow I was the dorkiest possible person in high school so I was never really pursued by guys until the end when I became a little more stylish. I call it "protective dorkiness". All you have to do is convince Grrdaughter that straight legged jeans and pocket protectors are in style!
KC said…
OK, I'm telling my age here, but when I was in high school the style was Levi's jeans (they had to be Levi's), a semi-fitted solid colored t-shirt, and to top it all off: an old green army shirt as a jacket. If the army shirt had the original owner's name on it, all the better. Come to think of it... that wasn't what I wore in high school. It's what I wore in junior high. What did I wear in high school. I really can't remember right now. I am getting old. Selective memory.