trends.

I've always followed the rule that if you are old enough to have worn the fashion trend when it first came out, you shouldn't wear it again when it inevitably comes back in style. This is maybe the only fashion advice that I learned from my mother, and I believe that she said it in relation to why she wouldn't wear a pair of really cute 70s-ish ankle-strap platform sandals. This was the 90s.

Me and my mom. Don't I look thrilled.

Now, to be clear, I count ankle-strap platform sandals as classics, and therefore perpetually in style, but her rule has stayed with me and come in handy so much over the last few years of 90s style revival. It's really hard to see fashion that you L-O-V-E-D everywhere and know you shouldn't wear it. And yes, wear whatever makes you feel good and all, but let's be real. Unless I'm gardening or painting, I have no business wearing overalls, especially denim overall shorts worn with one of the straps hanging off. (For the record, this is the last thing I would ever have predicted would cycle back into style and I've actually seen it on multiple fashion blogs. I'm still embarrassed that I wore it, but even more embarrassed for the people re-wearing it.)

Anyway, I broke the rule today. It's actually the first fashion impulse buy I've made in forever and admittedly something that I may never probably will never wear. And technically, I didn't wear bell-bottoms the first (second?) time they were in style because I was too concerned about what my frienemies would think if I deviated from my uniform of colored jeans, baby tees and Reebok hi-tops.

From Zara, but gone now.

I'm usually so good about planning my wardrobe and shopping from lists, and today the only things on my list were a flowy floral dress (score!) and some jeans. These were folded on a table with a bunch of other jeans and on clearance. And the perfect length which is unheard of since I'm 5'3" with short legs. I'm gonna pretend that they're just 70s inspired (and not 90s does 70s inspired) and then I won't have remembered the original trend. But I'm certainly not going to pick up a pair for my mom.

I was surprised that I couldn't find any pictures of me in my colored jeans back in the day, but these were pre-digital days and almost all of my childhood photos were lost to Hurricane Katrina. On the plus side, I found evidence that explains why I can't bring myself to wear a romper:

Little me in my purple romper. My sister is staring at some random guy instead of the clown behind us.