LOL – Middle School
This is a continuation of a very different kinds of series on my interest in jeans. Make sure to read the other posts!
My transformation from “gangsta” pants (or ones that sag below the belt and sometimes below the butt) to trim and fit skinny jeans has been an interesting road, to say the least (although it’s worth noting that I’m not all-the-way-skinny, just skinnier-ish).
I started with these low riders because I thought I was a thug – literally. I thought I was an “OG” or original gangster (this was back in the early 90′s, so give me a break).
Yeah, I know. What the hell was I thinking? But I truly believed that I was and that I was all about that type of lifestyle. The way I talked, the way I walked, what I wore, and of course who I hung out with.
I’m sorry to admit it but I even wore a gold necklace and got an earing at one point. Yup, when I go in I go in hard. Sidenote: I regret the earring since I don’t wear it anymore yet there’s still a hole in my ear – doh!).
Necklace and earring…?!?
But that slowly began to shift and the most dramatic shift came when I started my first year as a Freshman in High School. It’s simply because my parents saw fit to send me to a private school that had a serious dresscode that included slacks, button downs, dress shoes, and even ties.
Yes, I know. I wanted to kill myself. I told my parents a thousand times that I hated it but I was forced to comply, and over those four years I did away with thug life and entered into a time where jeans were only for the weekends, and because I was still relating to that culture and hanging out with similar people who went to my school my tastes began to change.
The result was a more fitted approach to jeans than before. They weren’t completely skinny jeans but they were defintely not falling off my backside.
Over time, in college, I eventually moved even closer to nicer jeans and I began to appreciate the many different styles that were available. It’s most likely because I joined a college in a major metropolitan where styles were vastly different, fluid, and immense.
I loved that and I enjoyed this new renaissance of style in my life.
Not so goofy looking.
The next biggest change was when I married my much more sensible and stylish wife who knew designer clothing and how to put them together is a more than sensible fashion.
She became my buyer where she would purchase clothes for me and dress me to become a much more mature individual and adult. To be honest, she was helping me catch up to her style and approach to looking decent. With her counsel and loving help I eventually moved to skinny jeans where the fit was perfect and the style was flawless.
Now, there’s a lot to say about how “fixed” I have become and although I’m still not there yet (or even close to being stylishly-epic) I’m infinitely better than where I was before.
I’m grateful for it because I love these jeans even more than the ones that I loved when I was young.
Thank God for wives – they are so incredible!
Amen! Wives are the true force behind us all!
best post ever.
LOL!
I love the evolution! I think it’s interesting to see how tastes change over time. While I know I’ve influenced my husband’s state of dress in certain ways, he’s definitely changed mine in a sense as well, for the better.
It’s all fun and games until the button falls off your FAVORITE jeans at work and you’re forced to improvise with a WordPress pin and your dear friend Chris is too busy scrambling for his camera phone to give you a hand.
Very awesome article. Indeed a change!
Ah, the thug phase. I’ve been there! Didn’t leave that long ago either, LOL!
I used to be embarrassed about it but after realizing that everyone goes through stages in life, especially impressionable kids, I’m cool with it now.
But remember, you’re not a thug until you rock a LA Raiders Starter jacket with matching Starter hat, and mad toggles on your Starter coat draw strings with all black Jordans, un-laced!
Holla!
The first picture is awesome!
Ah, the thug phase, embarrassing! I used to where my dad’s jeans, with a super tight tank, leopard print bra, several silver chains, brown lipstick and of course K-Swiss shoes. Oh and let’s not forget ½ a bottle of gel applied to my wavy hair, it was actually crunchy. What the heck was I thinking?!
I’m so glad that phase didn’t last long. Unfortunately, when I think all the picture have been destroyed another one pops up. Ugh.