Fashion Time Capsule: My So-Called Life Edition

In 1994, I don't know what you were up to, but I was in 7^th grade and every Thursday night when I wasn’t requesting Pearl Jam at a school dance I was planted in front of the TV, watching My So-Called Life with bated breath. The friendships. The teenage angst & self-exploration. The fashion! And you can bet that every Friday I went to school looking and feeling like my best interpretation of Rayanne Graff:

For those of you poor souls who aren’t familiar with the show, it centers on Angela Chase (played by Claire Danes, obvs), a middle class good-girl from a two-parent family living in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. Angela has been a good girl her whole damn life, and when the series starts out, we find her on the brink of an adolescent identity crisis, needing a damn change. So she hooks up with BFFs alterna-slut Rayanne and queer, eyeliner-wearing Ricky. And thus begins the rest of her life.

I love how this show captures the 90s formula of formal-meets-casual style spot-on: flannel shirts, military-inspired boots, babydoll dresses. But it does this in a really unique, creative, liberating way that is much more about identity than it was about conforming to certain trends or styles. The very adolescent moment of saying, fuck it – I’m not going to wear this anymore:

Because I want to look like this instead:

The show’s pilot episode begins with one of the best style-as-identity quotes I can think of -- as Angela leans over the sink while dyeing her hair Manic Panic red she thinks:

“When Rayanne Graff told me my hair was holding me back, I had to listen. Cause she wasn’t just talking about my hair. She was talking about my life.”

*Chills*. So epic. Angela’s style that comes out when she changes her look is, like her, sort of serious, understated, traditional but with somber undertones. Lots of dark, sad patterns in heavy layers. Comforting clothes. Chunky boots, baggy dresses, flannel shirts, plaid with black, etc.

Like her sweater’s a cave where she might need to go hide inside of at any minute. All the comforts of thumb holes and turtle necks and jewel-toned velour and thick, pill-y wool.

In contrast to Angela’s muted, pajama-chic look & good-girl background, her best friend Rayanne is basically a hot mess. Seriously. She struggles with alcoholism and almost ODs at the party she throws with the birthday money from her absent father, she wants to sing in a band, and fails. She’s voted by a class poll as having “most slut potential” & claims to have tried sex with “every kind of guy,” and that it just feels “numb.” Aw, girlfriend. Her outfits are like her in how they mix hardened, tough-girl elements with an ecstatic sense of fun and possibility. And she’s beautiful & complicated, for real -- in a way that few female teenaged sitcom characters have a chance to be even still today.

Her look is sort of this manic nouveau-hippie chick. Always rocking outrageous hairstyles replete with plastic baby barrettes, mismatched earrings and colorful streaks. Always with sexy touches and/or ridiculously playful ones.

Here she is in a sweet Dead t-shirt:

A red sequined beret and coordinating flannel? Why not.

Rayanne’s look clearly is somewhat influenced by her Steve Nicks-esque cocktail waitress mom, who reads tarot cards and drinks margaritas, and never, ever cooks. Here she is:

Oh, Amber!

What I love about Rayanne’s look is how much of a TAPESTRY it is. Like how she presents herself to the world is so literally a collage of her past & her experiences. Who has time to match their earrings when they are so VAST and containing of MULTITUDES?!

And then, of course, there are the boys of MSCL. Um, is it hot in here? Or is it just Jordan Catalano:

I dunno, I guess there’s not really much to be said about Jordan’s style. Baggy flannel shirts, shaggy hair, corduroy jackets, obligatory 90s gas station attendant shirt & his weird douchey rune necklace hanging from a piece of twine. But there’s just something about you, Jordan, that keeps me from going to someone else.

And anyway, what kind of a teenage boy gives a shit about fashion anyway? Which brings us to…

Ricky:

Arguably MSCL’s most lovable character, hands down.

Ricky has a rough life: over the course of the show, he’s abused by his family, battles homophobia, ends up homeless, and eventually lands living in his English teacher’s house. He’s also a Grade-A sweetheart, a hopeless romantic and a great friend, and he has such killer style.

When asked by school nerd Brian Krakow about his eyelinered eyes, Ricky explains: "Okay, see, the Egyptians? They wore eyeliner to ward off evil spirits. They believed that if they outlined their eyes that the good spirits would spot them easier. I read it in a book. So that's why I tried it...the eyeliner, I mean."

And then he clarifies that he doesn’t actually believe in evil spirits: “Basically, I just like how it looks.” Such an awesomely honest appraisal of appropriation in fashion -- the deep & significant reasons we have for wearing what we wear, and the shallower ones.

At his best, Ricky’s kind of like a teenage, suburban version of Prince. Here he is rocking some truly regal attire:

All in all, My So-Called Life was a great show that tackled a lot of important issues, & it can be appreciated on many more levels than just for its fashion. But it was so excellent at showing in a realistic way how teenagers grapple with their identity -- and how fashion can play such a major part in that. If you were busy in 1994, do yourself a favor & check it out in 2010.

Claudia Kishi: Style Icon

This past week, I read the new and much-anticipated [by me] Baby-sitters Club prequel, The Summer Before. The book was just released in April, and I flipped through each page with bated breath as I watched Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne and Stacey plummet forth toward their Baby-sitters Club destinies.

Those of you who, like me, were adolescent girls in the 90s probably remember Ann M. Martin’s iconic Baby-sitters Club series, and those of you who read the books are surely familiar with Claudia Kishi – my favorite BSC member and personal style icon. And those of you who aren’t definitely should be.


Claudia is the Vice President of the club, she has her own room with her very own phone line where club meetings are held, she loves art, Nancy Drew, junk food, babysitting, and – perhaps above all – fashion. Each book in the Baby-sitters Club series is filled with descriptions of Claudia’s trendy, sophisticated, artistic and jubilantly out-of-this-world ensembles.

I have loved Claudia since the day I met her, when I was in second grade and she was in seventh. I was completely obsessed with her style sense when I was in elementary school, and I dressed to the nines every day in enormous earrings, side ponytails, fluorescent pants and oversized t-shirts in the name of Claudia. I’ll never forget the morning on the school bus when fellow BSC-aholic Jessie W. said of my giant homemade earrings and sneaker-shaped purse, “You’re just like Claudia!” It affected me in ways she never could have known.

Clearly I was not alone in my Kishi-mania. I’ve bonded with plenty of women my age over the wonder that is Claudia Kishi. And Kim Hutt’s mind-blowingly awesome & hilarious blog What Claudia Wore http://www.whatclaudiawore.com/ focuses on the Kishi aesthetic, and features new clothes from contemporary designers that Kim deems “Claudia-approved.”

Claudia approaches each of her outfits with a true artist’s eye. She operates joyfully within the wonder, awe and naiveté of the suburbs –and of adolescence – and her fashion sense’s scope is seemingly endless. This girl dwells in possibility to the max. Far from the fashion oppression of designer logos and status symbols, Claudia’s relationship to fashion is purely about freedom, expression, art and fun.


As quoted on the Scholastic BSC homepage, Claudia says, “Clothes are my trademark. I think clothes make a statement about the person inside them. Since you have to get dressed every day, why not make it fun." You said it, sister.

Here are some amazing descriptions of Claudia’s outfits from the original books in the series. Go forth & be inspired:

From Kristy: “I rang the Kishis’ bell. Claudia came to the door. She was wearing short, very baggy lavender plaid overalls, a white lacy blouse, a black fedora, and red high-top sneakers without socks."

From Mallory: “Claudia was wearing a pair of soft, balloony purple pants; a neon green long-sleeve leotard top; a wide, red braided belt; and a pair of soft, red ballet shoes. Her hair was swept into a French braid with wispy tendrils hanging loose. From one ear dangled a long earring made up of small papier-mache tropical fruit. In the other ear, where she had two holes, Claudia wore two small papier-mache hoops.”

From Jessi: "Claudia's style is unique. She doesn't often wear jeans, but she was wearing them today - only she'd cut patterns in the legs of the jeans (which were major faded) and was wearing leopard tights underneath so that they showed through. She was wearing her Doc Martens with yellow shoelaces, and she'd used matching shoelaces to pull her hair back into a thick, long braid. Her earrings were a pair she made herself, out of little yellow feathers and black beads. And she was wearing a black and yellow striped flannel shirt buttoned up to her throat, with another pair of shoelaces made into a sort of bow tie."

Kishi, you brilliant maniac!

The Summer Before finds Claudia & the other sitters on the brink of the seventh grade, and Claudia is just entering her role as Stonybrook’s lead fashionista. Her family and friends watch on in wonder as a style icon is born:

“Wow, look at Claudia,” said Kristy breathily.

Claudia was wearing willowy black pants, cinched at the waist with a drawstring, and a boldly patterned summer shirt with ties that she was adjusting around her midriff. Her midriff would have been bare, but Claud had slithered into a lacy black tank top before she’d put on the shirt. On her feet were delicate silvery sandals, and her hair, which was looooooooong and thick, was held away from her face with two silver combs.”

Quite an outfit for the summer before 7th grade, if I do [breathily] say so myself.

Here’s Claudia getting ready for her first boy-girl pool party:

“My bathing suit – a new bikini – was fine, but I had to make it into An Outfit. I looked through my hats. I looked through my jewelry. I looked through my sandals. I pulled flimsy tops and summery pants out of my closet and tried them on over the bikini. I even experimented with making a beauty mark on my cheek with a glop of mascara…”

Upon seeing Claudia on the first day of school, Stonybrook newcomer & Claudia’s best friend-to be describes Claud’s outfit:

“She was by far the most fashionable dresser I’d seen at school, with her big earrings and chunky bracelet, her bell-bottoms (which I was pretty sure she had decorated herself), and her fluorescent-green hat that looked like a bejeweled engineer’s cap.”

Ahhh, what!!! Bell-bottoms she decorated herself and a bejeweled neon green engineer’s cap!? On the first day of seventh grade. Be still my beating heart, Claudia. You’re so psycho & gorgeous & amazing, and I love you so much, more than ever, forever and ever.

Another Brick in the Mall

At Forever 21 about a month ago, I found a kind of awesome, stylized Pink Floyd tank top. And it reminded me of high school – a time when my wardrobe was full of not-so-stylish Pink Floyd t-shirts, usually paired with enormous Jnco jeans, long greasy hair and hemp necklaces galore.

The old rock band t-shirt reinvented with more refined materials and modern, flattering and/or feminine cuts have been a bit of a fashion phenomenon the past few years. Many a reconstructed tee are sold on Etsy and by designers like House of the Gods, and they’re all over stores like Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters.

I’ve been very torn about how to feel about these shirts. When I stumbled upon this gem, I carried it around Forever 21 for a good half hour, confused and terrified, before ultimately deciding it was worth the $15.80.

Music by 60s and 70s rock bands ­– the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, etc. – was, for me, my formal introduction to teenage rebellion, and my best friend and I obsessed over Pink Floyd, saving our lunch money for the event of them ever getting back together. As a 14-year-old growing up in the suburbs in the 1990s, I found so much comfort (and so much discomfort) in this radically emotional music from several decades earlier. Lyrics like “Mother, should I trust the government?” screamed at me from my t-shirt and my stereo simultaneously while I laid in my bed, thinking about how totally fucked up society was. This exploration of deep, dark emotions often was not pretty: it sometimes went hand-in-hand with depression, eating issues, drugs and a slew of other self-abusive behaviors. And in some ways, I feel insulted to be offered re-entry into an emotionally charged adolescent world where I first learned to question the status quo via a $15 Pink Floyd tank top.

And yet… in a way, isn’t that what fashion always is? Whether you find your inspiration flipping through a fashion magazine or through Janis Joplin liner notes, it’s always an attempt to make a connection; to get in touch with something that resonates with you in a way that sometimes defies logic. And to mark yourself as a part of it, claiming it as your own, even if – like Pink Floyd to a teenager in the 90s ­– it belonged to some other culture, community or generation entirely.

Finding a shirt like this at a store like Forever 21 feels sort of like a really amazing thrift store find in that it is cheap & it is very well possibly the only item of its kind in the entire store and you found it stuffed amongst string bikinis and ill-fitting pin-stripe pants that you know better than to even attempt to try on. And I imagine that this clothing is, in effect, for now grown-up Pink Floyd fans. Or Led Zeppelin or Doors or Eagles fans. My shirt seems to me to not say “I Heart Pink Floyd" as much as it says, "I hearted Pink Floyd, and I survived, and I continue to heart them now from a very specific distance and angle."

There’s something awesome and powerful about repurposing garments from your past in a way that suits you now. As if to say, “Hey XL Pink Floyd shirt that I wore in 9^th grade when I was sad and stoned and self-mutilating and hated my body: I have arrived.” The one I got at 4E21 is oversized in a much more deliberate way, with a scoop neck, and a racer back. It has the words “What Do You Want From Me” written in pink in all caps as if in spray paint with an enormous open-winged owl, and the back is slashed in a very precise-yet-punk way & it’s totally excessive and kind of embarrassing but also exhilarating. As if it’s saying, “Hey 1996, I don’t need you. It’s over.” Instead of crying hopelessly or secretly slicing my arms with a pocket knife while listening to Wish You Were Here on repeat, I wear a shirt with over-the-top laser-cut shreds going down the back in a straight line. And I wear it unabashedly, with a pair of skinny jeans, metallic heels, and no hemp jewelry whatsoever.