In tenth grade, I had a big perm. Big! I also had too much makeup, Madonna bracelets, and ripped jeans. I did theater, dated musicians and artists whenever possible, and generally considered myself to be a bohemian. This “boho” style even included an ear piercing waaaaayy up on my right ear.
In contrast, there was a girl who sat next to me in Chemistry class (we’ll just call her Michelle). Michelle always looked perfectly put together. She moved to my town from the South with a charming accent, perfectly matched head-to-toe outfits and not a hair out of place. She was also on time, always did her homework, and was always polite to teachers. She was....my high school Kryptonite.
I have to admit that Michelle’s “perfectness” made me feel in high school that I was a little bit of a mess – which was totally not the case. I was actually the better student and had an amazing group of friends that I still have today.
If I could go back in time and give myself advice now, I definitely would tell both myself and Michelle to be who we wanted to be and just not worry about anyone else! We had years to go and a lot of experimenting before we found our true styles.
I am happy to report that Michelle (still not her real name) and I are now Facebook friends and both look completely different from high school – but our styles have met somewhere in the middle.
What about you—did your style evolve over time, or are you exactly the same now as you were back in high school?