Emmy Lou’s dress reminds me of a Villager number I had about a year after this was published…and those ghillies, too. It was my favorite outfit, all bought with my own money, which I had to save for some time in order to afford it. Worth it, though! Nowadays, where I live, anyway, high-school girls don’t even wear dresses except to proms. They’re surprisingly style-free, considering how much time and money they spend on their hair and nails.
I gradually went over to “flats only” twenty-two years ago when my daughter was an infant and it was just so much easier to juggle and carry everything without also having to balance on the tiny bottoms of the 3" heels I liked then!
@comicbuff24 “Why do you think that is? regarding the style-free approach…”
**
I’ve been pondering that question since I posted those comments earlier. The kids probably don’t see themselves as “unstyled;” to them, a uniform of jeans, sneakers or flip-flops, with a t-shirt or tank top, IS a style. It just looks totally conformist and bland to some of us outside their culture. When I was in high school in the 60s, like Emmy Lou, girls wore dresses or skirts, blouses, sweaters, and nylons, with flat pumps or other cute flats. (No pants on girls at school for a few more years, and definitely no jeans, even on the boys.) There was much more variety to the girls’ outfits. And we were not wealthy, either; we were probably not quite as stylish as Emmy Lou and Taffy! I know my own daughter has developed a much more varied wardrobe since moving on from high school into college and working, and while (to my taste) there is still WAY too much cleavage on display, at least it’s not the same “uniform” every day!
Maybe the “uniform” thing is just adolescent fear of standing out. Also, in my daughter’s urban school, it might have been a blessing, as it would have masked the economic disparity between the upper-middle-lower budgetary levels. They actually had a dress code: no denim, no sneakers, no hoodies, no bandanas (nothing resembling gang paraphernalia, as we have lots of gang activity here). Both sexes wore collared shirts (usually polo shirts) and skirts, if any, had to be no shorter than two inches above the knee. This made wearing skirts very dicey, as different administrators would measure differently! Interestingly, to me, that was the “stylish” length when I was in school!
annieb1012 almost 11 years ago
Emmy Lou’s dress reminds me of a Villager number I had about a year after this was published…and those ghillies, too. It was my favorite outfit, all bought with my own money, which I had to save for some time in order to afford it. Worth it, though! Nowadays, where I live, anyway, high-school girls don’t even wear dresses except to proms. They’re surprisingly style-free, considering how much time and money they spend on their hair and nails.
annieb1012 almost 11 years ago
My ghillies were flats, though, whereas Emmy Lou’s have kitten heels. Nobody in my school wore anything but flats.
annieb1012 almost 11 years ago
@Night-Gaunt49
I gradually went over to “flats only” twenty-two years ago when my daughter was an infant and it was just so much easier to juggle and carry everything without also having to balance on the tiny bottoms of the 3" heels I liked then!
comicbuff24 almost 11 years ago
Emmy Lou is classy..that’s what I love about her…
katina.cooper almost 11 years ago
And considering that Alvin and Gregory both got their allowance today, Emmy Lou and Taffy also get popcorn and drinks at the movie.
annieb1012 almost 11 years ago
@comicbuff24 “Why do you think that is? regarding the style-free approach…”
**
I’ve been pondering that question since I posted those comments earlier. The kids probably don’t see themselves as “unstyled;” to them, a uniform of jeans, sneakers or flip-flops, with a t-shirt or tank top, IS a style. It just looks totally conformist and bland to some of us outside their culture. When I was in high school in the 60s, like Emmy Lou, girls wore dresses or skirts, blouses, sweaters, and nylons, with flat pumps or other cute flats. (No pants on girls at school for a few more years, and definitely no jeans, even on the boys.) There was much more variety to the girls’ outfits. And we were not wealthy, either; we were probably not quite as stylish as Emmy Lou and Taffy! I know my own daughter has developed a much more varied wardrobe since moving on from high school into college and working, and while (to my taste) there is still WAY too much cleavage on display, at least it’s not the same “uniform” every day!
annieb1012 almost 11 years ago
Maybe the “uniform” thing is just adolescent fear of standing out. Also, in my daughter’s urban school, it might have been a blessing, as it would have masked the economic disparity between the upper-middle-lower budgetary levels. They actually had a dress code: no denim, no sneakers, no hoodies, no bandanas (nothing resembling gang paraphernalia, as we have lots of gang activity here). Both sexes wore collared shirts (usually polo shirts) and skirts, if any, had to be no shorter than two inches above the knee. This made wearing skirts very dicey, as different administrators would measure differently! Interestingly, to me, that was the “stylish” length when I was in school!