We’ve all looked through pics from our middle school days and wondered “what the heck was I wearing” or “why did I think that looked good?” Many of us even refer to middle school as the “awkward stage” of our lives. Between braces and blemishes, there were a lot of weird things we wore in middle school that kids these days would never be caught dead in.
Ugg slippers or boots
If you didn’t have Ugg slippers or boots, that’s truly unfortunate. These were a vital part to pulling off the “look”. They basically went with everything… Well, that’s what we thought at least. You could wear them with your fave pair of flared jeans and mismatched socks, or you could fold your boots over and tuck those flared jeans into them because that’s cute, right?
Flared jeans tucked into the Uggs pared with a black Northface jacket
Another look that all the cool kids rocked was the flared jeans tucked into the Uggs pared with a black Northface jacket (yes, I am guilty of this look). You would panic when you got a stain on them because, let’s be real, your parents did not spend the extra money for the “Ugg cleaner kit”. You were only the real deal if you had the O.G. Uggs and not “fuggs” (a.k.a Bearpaws or Emus).
Aeropostle Camis
Everyone in middle school was always trying to fit in. Fitting in entailed going to Aeropostle and getting every color of camisoles in stock. The fad was to was to wear a bunch of them under shirts and/or pull them all the way down to your knees. Don’t ask why anyone thought that that was a good look, but everyone did it!
Logo sweatpants, sweatshirts, and t-shirts
Along with Aeropostle camisole tank tops, you had to have sweatpants, sweatshirts, and t-shirts with the clothing store’s name down the side. This was just to make sure that everyone knew exactly where you got your clothes from, which determined if you could be a cool kid or not.
The ultimate struggle was when you wanted to wear that cute tank top you got from Hollister to school but didn’t want to get in trouble, so you put it over a white t-shirt and voila! Problem solved. No faculty member could comment that your shoulders were showing or scrutinize the thickness of the strap because the t-shirt acted as the perfect backdrop.
Bermuda shorts and/or gauchos
If it was warm and you wanted to look good but didn’t not want to break the dress code, what did you do? You busted out the Bermuda shorts and/or gauchos. The Bermuda shorts were often patterned and you wore them with one of the shirts that had “Aeropostale” or “Hollister” stitched to the front. Gauchos were always worn with the plain v-necks from one of the aforementioned stores.
Photo by Jiří Wagner on Unsplash
On casual days you often settled for your favorite sweatshirt that had something to do with the sport you played in town. If it wasn’t cold enough for a sweatshirt, a t-shirt or long-sleeve shirt with the sport on it would suffice for the day.
Side ponies and pre-wrap headbands
Side ponies and pre-wrap headbands: 10/10 would recommend to a friend. This basically tops all of the weird things we wore in middle school. To ensure you had perfected this look, the ponytail had to literally be on the side of your head; the perfect level for selfie visibility. The pre-wrap had to be thick at the top and then gradually get thinner as it went to the back of your head. If you had good friends that shared their pre-wrap then you always had an assortment of colors to pick from.
Eye liner on top of eye liner
Eye liner on top of eye liner, a.k.a raccoon eyes. Everyone thought it was cool because that’s what the older girls did! Personally, I never rocked this look but some of my friends did. TBH, we all thought that they looked really cute. Now, looking at all the old peace-sign-selfies, we realize that it was not cute, it did not make you look prettier, and you would never wear that much eyeliner as an older girl so why did your 7th/8th grade self convince you it was a good idea?
Looking back on it now, middle school may have been the weirdest mixture of weird that ever happened.