Honestly, I did not peak until the late 90s. And by ‘peak’, I mean, beginning to feel comfortable in my skin. I was born in 1980. By 1990, when Blossom, starring the incredible Maya Bialik, was a hit but also Pearl Jam was blowing up the charts, I was stuck between wanting to wear the BIGGEST flower hat ever but also, the baggiest of jeans so it was an exciting and wild time to be alive. I LOVED the 90s. I mean, LOVED. By the time I reached 15 in 1995, I truly peaked in my 90s glory. I had the bangs. I died my hair super dark. Obvs., the choker was there. I peaked so much by 1995 that even Buzzfeed picked up on it and stole my pic for one of their 90s lists. Being included on this list next to Drew Barrymore was, and still is, the ultimate of validation of my life long belief that I came of age in the right decade for who I am now.
Why am I bringing this up? Because the 90s are back, baby, and I am HERE FOR IT. While yes, I have posted in the passed that I you could take my skinny jeans and side parts from my cold dead hands, I’ve accepted what Gen Z is bringing to us and last week, purchased a pair of flare jeans — the first pair in a solid 18 years. They are a high-waisted, Gap pair made from their ‘wash well’ system, which means that after decades of their jeans growing bigger and bigger by the minute as you wear them, now they actually stay in their original, snatching shape. If you’re midsized and middle aged, like myself, and you’re looking to upgrade your wardrobe, I HIGHLY recommend these jeans. The thing that’s going to make or break it from looking dated to modern is what you’re wearing with it. Fitted body suits (or ‘onesies’ as we call them in my household) or nicely fitted t-shirts and a long cardigan really pair nicely and keep you looking modern and not like you’re trying to look like the Gen Zs around you.
I’m starting to post a bit more on TikTok — it’s going OK? Maybe? If you’re into normalizing your feeds to include more midsize women and to deprogram yourself from the diet culture that has infiltrated our brains and trained us to believe that thin = beauty, then maybe consider giving me a follow and sharing it around. In the meantime, I’m going to attempt to do some more writing on here. My actual work has been taking up all my brain space (nothing like some casual antisemitism on a college campus to really take up your time) so haven’t had an opportunity to delve into my creative side.