Of A Girl... The Teenage Years

While flipping through some photographs recently, I came across elusive ones of me as a teenager.  It's not pretty, I'm warning you now.  But, I feel I have to share these in some capacity, in case the actual photo's go MIA again, or so I can remember, or something of that nature.  Also the colouring on these photo's are terrible.  That's why I get for taking them at night in a house with bad lighting and then trying to fix them, but whatever.  Examples: I am not really yellow (8th) or purple/red (10th).  Anyways, on with all of this.

Seventh Grade

I've lightened the original photo so that my hair doesn't blend in with the paneling and door.  I don't know why I look upset and I'm holding a bunch of used present wrappings, apparently intending to throw them away.  That is a MESS of hair right there!  No make-up, no messing with my eyebrows.  This was the very end of summer, just before starting seventh grade, so 1993.

Eighth Grade

So, this was 1994/1995.  The T-shirt I'm wearing is from the second Woodstock in 1994 commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the original one in 1969.  I honestly have no idea how I obtained this shirt.  Brand new.  Not from a thrift store.  Who would let me order this?  The details are hazy, but I was excited about this at the time and obtained the shirt somehow through official means.

I was also embarrassed by my eyebrows.  I tried shaving them to get them to look more normal.  And I was a huge fan of wearing eye make-up.  As in wear it for a few days before washing it off.  I also, had not yet 'learned' the technique for touching up said eye make-up.

I also did not learn how to style my own hair up until maybe six years ago.  I would just wash and go and it shows.  My hair styling capabilities are still limited, but are preferred.  I wash and let air dry, then if I feel like it I'll use a straight iron.

California

During the summer, I flew to California to see my sister.  She paid for the flight because she was making a lot of money with no where to spend it basically.  She was personal assistant to Beth Grant and Michael Cheiffo and later to Rue Maclanahan.  Anyways, it was before Rue.  And she needed a place to stay and thus met our California Mom.  This was at her house in her office.  Obviously my sister fixed my hair because it's not all crazy and poofy.  And that is an official Ararat shirt from my previous summer vacation visiting my Aunt in Montreal.  I loved that T-shirt.

Nineth Grade

This was 1995/1996.  School photo's are taken in the autumn.  I got glasses in the spring of my eighth grade year.  Next year I'd get contacts.  Woohoo!

I'm still trying to fix my eyebrows.  And though my hair is shorter, it's still a mess.  As well as the eye make-up.  That T-shirt is something to do with coffee, but I can't quite remember.

The wearing a T-shirt with a long sleeved button up shirt over it is something I'd been doing since seventh grade, just this is the year it was captured on film.  The over shirts are vintage 60s shirts belonging to my dad.  I was doing vintage before it was cool, not to be cool, but I figured why buy something when you already have it.  There was also a vintage coat of dad's I always wore.  Mainly because I couldn't afford a new coat.  However, once I could drive (which would be the year of this photo) and discovered thrift stores, I would buy vintage coats there.  

Tenth Grade

This is 1996/1997.  I'd started doing weird up-do's the previous year.  Mainly I'd braid my hair into two braids and pin them to my head.  Either starting the braids at the very top of my head or braiding down the side.  I think this is the first.  Eyebrows and eye make-up still crazy.  Apparently I'm starting to wear lipstick.  Another of dad's vintage button up shirts and I'm not sure which T-shirt this would be.

Prom

This was a disaster I could not have foreseen.  I had a grand idea that my friends & I would dress up in prom dresses and combat boots on prom and then just go to places around town.  Never intending to actually show up at prom.  So, I purchased this 70's prom dress at the thrift store for 50 cents and I already had the combat boots (dad's military issue).  Things were good to go.

But for some reason my mom decided I wasn't allowed to leave the house on that particular night.  She knew I was going to hang out with friends, but had just decided no.  My grades were good, I wasn't in trouble for anything, but that's nothing new with my mom.  

Well, I'd planned this thing and I wanted to see it through, so I told her I had to go out that night because I was going to Prom.  In hindsight this was a bad idea.  I could have just snuck out of the house and things would have been fine.

She didn't believe me, which infuriated me.  It's not that she didn't believe me because I seemed to be coming up with an excuse out of the blue.  She did not believe me because she felt no one would have bothered to ask me to the prom.  That is what infuriated me.  So, now I had to prove I was worthy enough to be asked out to prom.  Even though I had not been asked out, and the truth being I didn't really care.  This idea of mine did not stem from being angry at not being asked.  It stemmed from the idea that I did not want to go to prom and this would have been way more fun.  If someone had asked me, I probably would have said no.  I'm about 85% sure on that.  Depends on the guy I suppose or if my friends hadn't have been up for this.

She asked who would have asked me out.  I had to make it convincing now, more to save face, than to actually get out of the house.  My original plan was on a back burner now.  This was war!  So, I did not choose a guy I had a crush on or who was 'out of my league'.  I can't remember who it was now.  I showed her a picture in the year book of him.  She seemed not to believe me (because really he was the James Franco character in Freaks & Geeks.  He would never have asked me out.  But, I stood firm and said something about him being a good friend of mine (which was plausible) & we'd just agreed to go together.  That it wasn't any big deal.  And we were just meeting up there.

It worked.  But what's said is that while I tried to save face, I still ended up coming out akin to Josie Grosie in the end.

And that wasn't the worst of it.  The worst part was then my mom and sister were SUPER excited for me!  They wanted to buy me a proper prom dress and shoes and take me to the salon to get my hair and make-up done and I felt like a heel.  They gushed over how good looking the guy was (who I'll add didn't even know I existed.  We weren't even remotely acquaintances), which made it all the worse.  I tried to put my foot down on everything.  I did not want them spending money on me over a charade.  But I couldn't wiggle out of getting new shoes or my sister doing my hair and make-up.

They were so proud and insisted on taking photo's.  So I mustered up all the smile that I could manage for this shot (which is completely fake) and headed out the door.  When I met up with my friends they wondered what the hell all the extra was about.  I said I didn't want to talk about it, ripped out the flowers, took off the make-up, put on my combat boots and my heart just wasn't in it.  The night was a complete bust after that.

Lesson learned.  Lying is a bad idea, more so if you're a girl and Prom is involved.  Don't do it.  Trust me.

The dress, however, wasn't a complete bust.  I used it to dress up as Carrie on Halloween one year.  Complete with 'pig blood' all over me.  That was a great Halloween costume.