Dressing Room Confidential

Not long ago, I stopped into my all-time favorite department store, Nordstrom.  During that trip, I wound up on their 3rd floor, home to items that I rarely ever shop for.  Stepping off the escalator, I always get that "Oooo, so that's what's up here" reaction when surveying the little kids' department, housewares and such.  The juniors' department, known as BP (Brass Plum), is also located up here above the clouds.

With the music blaring Top 40 hits that the teens love (and which Muzak has probably already filtered for lyric-appropriateness - I know this happens because I used to do this as part of a former job, really), the racks of teen clothes and accessories beckoned to me.  My brain, which dug up old images and memories of shopping at the Marshall Field's bygone juniors' department, succumbed.  I wandered like a twelve year-old into the sea of plaid, lace, denim and leggings.

After a few minutes, I managed to find a few things worth trying on.  Before I knew it, I was in the fitting room with some seriously red skinny jeans and a few tops, including a drapey white t-shirt and grey tank top that the salesgirl chose to pair with the jeans.  Here's a shot of the selections:

Here's the outfit the salesgirl assembled for me:

To quickly summarize, the clothes were a fail, but actually not a massive one.  I probably could have pulled off the white top/tank/pseudo hot pants concoction, were it not for my own hypercriticism.

The best part of the visit to my teenage years?  Just being in a teenager dressing room!  How so?  Haha, the chatter!  Yes, there's more of it.  And yes, the pitch is higher and the conversations are different. Also...  you don't normally have your aunt in the room with you, simultaneously scoffing and encouraging you as you whine about everything.... and then some.

Mostly humorous, a little bit sad (girl didn't seem super confident), but generally sympathetic, I became the involuntary eavesdropper on the girl (no idea what her age was, couldn't see her) trying on outfits and dishing back and forth with said aunt, who was in the little room with her.  Some conversation snippets (not exactly word for word, but you get the idea):

Girl:  I don't like my toes.

Aunt:  What?!  What do you mean you don't like your toes?  What's wrong with them?

Girl:  I don't know, they're ugly.

Aunt:  What?!  There's nothing wrong with your toes!  You don't like them?  Put some paint on them! Of all the things to worry about at your age...

Later... girl is trying something else on, something with a zipper.

Aunt:  Now don't zip it up!  That's not the style!...  There now, you see how nice that looks?

Girl:  Uh-huh...

Aunt:  You look lovely!

Ah, toughlove.  Well, good for the aunt!  I couldn't see her either, obviously, but imagined her to be a little like one of those moms from shows like Malcolm in the Middle.  Or, honestly, Estelle - George's mom from Seinfeld.  

I listened to their conversation while I tried on my own teen clothes and did my own teen assessment of my outfit.  And I could hear my brain having its own 2-party dialogue (image below for help):

Brain of bygone teenager:  I don't know.  It's kind of cute.

Brain of almost middle-aged me:  Well, it doesn't look like anything I don't already see on Shopbop or Revolve.  Really.  Equipment shirt, J Brand jeggings...  

BOBGT:  Yeah, except you're in the juniors' department.  Dork.

BOAMAM:  Well, it's cheaper?

BOBGT:  You're trying too hard.

BOAMAM:  Hmm, I suppose it's not really me.

BOBGT:  Duh.  Besides, everything you wore when you were 15 was oversized or Esprit.

BOAMAM:  Esprit circa 1988.  Sniff.  I miss :(

BOBGT:  It's OK, but save your cash for something you really love.

BOAMAM:  You're right.  Like that Swatch from 1987 on eBay!

So, yeah.  While I ended up buying nada from the department, I was very glad to have paid that area a visit.  Not only is it good to check out the trends beyond your comfort zone, it allowed me to remember what it was like to shop many years ago, when the experience meant something a little different.  Rather than buying things because I need them for work or a wedding, I always associate the teen department with the excitement of going back to high school, pages of Seventeen magazine layouts tucked into my memory.

And as awkward as that poor girl probably felt in the dressing room, I felt weirdly privileged to have listened to an exchange that so many of us can recall.  It brought back memories of my own gawky but giddy years, and the aunt's encouragement, however gruff, seemed much-needed.

Before I sign off, let me ask you...  Do you find yourself shopping in the juniors' department from time to time?  Were you also flooded with memories of high school?  Did you love it?  Or did it make you want to gag (with a spoon)?  Superficial or not, my shopping experiences back then provide me with images and feelings powerful enough to endure the decades.  I can't imagine I'm alone on this one ;)

A Trip in the Wayback Machine

Last week, I flew home for a quick trip.  While I looked forward to the typical things I used to do, like ride the El train and try out the latest restaurants on the scene, I had an unexpected treat in store.  Staying in my parents’ guest bedroom (they've moved a couple of times since my childhood, so I sadly no longer have "my" room), I noticed the closet door was ajar and nosed my way inside.

I’ve got a coworker who likes to quip that we’re going “in the wayback machine” whenever some project or issue from the past comes back to haunt us.  Holy high school!  It’s like I got zapped back to the late eighties and early nineties in a flash.  This, however, was a welcome haunting.  Crammed in with my mom’s old clothes, I was greeted by some great threads from my days of study hall, braces and marching band (yes, I was a band geek).  There were also some fabulous old formal dresses and oversized J. Crew sweaters from college.  Even the white satin dress from my eighth-grade dance – yikes (honestly – it ain’t so different from what I see online these days)!

While I gleefully started sorting through all the treasures, I nearly died with delight when I spied two of my all-time favorites:  my green Esprit sweatshirt and my blue and white Benetton wool sweater.  Here, take a look:

For northwest suburban Chicagoans of a certain age, I’ll bet you remember the local department store called Crawford’s – and that it had a juniors department that I loooved browsing.  That’s where the Esprit sweatshirt came from.  The Benetton sweater came from a decidedly more snazzy place called the Ice House (someone local needs to tell me if it still exists), which proudly housed a Benetton store.

I also stumbled across my boxy, old Gap jean jacket (well, it’s Levi’s but was sold at the Gap back in the day…  can’t you just hear their old jingle?  “Fall into the Gap…”).

OK, the top sweater is from college, when half my wardrobe consisted of J. Crew – as in, men’s J. Crew, size XL.  I still don’t know what the heck we gals were thinking back then!  Fun and cozy, but not flattering.  The bottom is another Benetton sweater.  Hey, I live in the north - no shortage of woolly knits up here!

Other slivers of clothing that peeked out at me from the crowded rack: 

My first thift purchase from high school...  a dark-reddish, plaid men's blazer I found on Newbury Street in Boston.  I can't stress enough how underwhelmed my parents were by my newfound interest in thrift stores - ha!

A beautiful, turquoise blue blazer I bought in Venice, Italy during my college semester living in Germany.

Oh, and that eighth-grade dress…  bought in Scottsdale, Arizona on a family trip.  I’m telling you, Shopbop is selling a slew of dresses like this.  Halston Heritage, anyone?

I intend to dedicate future posts to my insane emotional ties with these clothes, my love for vintage Esprit, and the memories and nostalgia they invoke.  Depending on what I can dig up, more photos, too!  Some of my high school brands (and stores) have long since faded away, others have changed, and a few still endure.

For now, enjoy these images, and if you have a beloved article from high school days, tell me!  Guess jeans?  Z Cavaricci pants?  Extra points if you’re older than Gen X or reading this outside of the USA (I know you’re out there ;)  I’d love to hear what you wore to shreds while snoozing in Spanish class or passing notes in Algebra.

In the meantime, I suddenly feel compelled to queue up some Simple Minds and OMD on my iTunes.

Like a giddy sixteen year-old with her Seventeen magazine,
Maggie