All my friends have one ….. (lighthearted)

[MistressoftheDarkSide]

Inspired by another thread, and being laid up on day 10 of a chesty virus which has put me on my arse, but feeling marginally better so…..

I’m in my 50s so completely out of the parenting / teen trend loop, but the thread about North Face coats took me right back to when I was about 14 and my Holy Grail was a pair of flat black patent ballet pumps with a bow…..

Oh how I begged and pleaded. My DM (rest her soul) was a stickler for rules and sensible footwear, and when we couldn’t get the right sort of sensible shoes one term she even took me to an “old lady” shoe shop for the most hideous pair of clunky T bar shoes I had ever seen…. Obviously very character building….. 🤣🙄

I remember my Step Dad came to pick me up from school when I was pursuing the patent pumps, and he gleefully reported he hadn’t seen anyone else wearing them so I was denied again…..

If memory serves my Nana saved the day in the end, causing minor friction, but I wore those shoes until they fell apart…..

So, back in the day, what was the thing that you absolutely had to have to win street cred among your peers?

I see a lot of people shared my Kickers lust!

I always went against the grain and never went for street cred stuff, unfortunately one of my kids is really into labels ...noooo....

Fruit of the loom sweatshirt for school. Everyone had a logo’d one or embroidered if they were really fancy, but mum said the rules stated plain so I had to have the plain one!

Oh the sweater shop jumper, yes! Around the same era was the "Against Animal Testing" black t-shirt from Body Shop and the endangered animals duffel bag.

Levi's 501 jeans. We didn't have a school uniform but in secondary school you had to wear 501. Nothing else would do.

Jane Norman carrier bag for PE kit

I was going to say this. It was the height of fashion!

Fila trainers with the ENORMOUS tongue!

Timberland boots and then Kickers.
A Jansport back worn with the straps as long as possible (these are back! I bought one for DS in the summer holidays and told him they would become cool and DH thought I’d gone mad but lo and behold loads of boys at his school turned up in September with them too 😂).

*bag not back

Monkey boots. I thought my Mother would have a fit when I asked for those(not feminine at all) but when I showed her them in the catalogue she said Oh yes, very sensible boots those. I got the boots.

A delightful lilac pair of pedal-pushers (trousers just below the knee, but tight, not like culottes sp?) . My friend gave them to me and I wore them to death. So much so that my Mum got so fed up seeing me in them, she cut them up and used them as dusters 😱. Rip Mum 😪 (and my pedal pushers)

Another vote for Kickers! All the ‘cool’ kids at my school wore them. I was decidedly uncool but somehow managed to persuade my mum to buy me a pair and, I kid you not, as soon as I wore them to school the cool kids flocked to me saying ‘oh wow I love your shoes’ and started inviting me to parties. It only lasted a few weeks before they dropped me again but it was bonkers how much a pair of shoes dramatically boosted my popularity for a short time!

Remember how the soles would get horribly worn down at an angle so your feet would be rolling in on themselves after a while? They were probably terrible for our feet!

Yes! This was the period for me when I wanted to dress a bit goth but only when my mum couldn't see me 😂
A friend at school kindly made me a long black skirt with a purple animal print panel for my birthday! I felt incredibly cool 😎

Rockports and anything from Jane Norman to use the bag for PE

Neon green cycling shorts. What we were thinking I do not know.

Pods and Rangers shoes in my area! Sadly i had/have massive feet and they didn't make them big enough for my oversized flippers

Kickers (but our school made you take the green and red tags off).

Kappa Jacket

Adidas Poppers

Jane Norman bag with string handles for PE

Record bags were the thing for secondary; there was a range of acceptable brands, whose logos had to be writ large across the flap, including as I remember FCUK.

There was a shop I've never seen anywhere other than Leeds called Ark. They did bomber jackets with Ark / Ark Angel on the back, and I think record bags too.

If you didn't have this bag for pe it was the end of the world

Kickers….and the bag they came in for your PE kit. And if you were really cool you’d have 20 Lambert & Butler in the Kickers bag too!

When I was a teenager, I desperately wanted a pair of new rocks. My mum hated them, thought they looked horrible and refused to buy them me. The fact that they were expensive didn't help my case. When I was a bit older (old enough to buy scratchcards) I was lucky enough to win a fairly decent sum, the first thing I bought was a pair of new rocks.

OMG RECORD BAG OF DREAMS. You were really someone if you had one of these.

A kappa coat. I was obsessed, it cost a fortune but I wore it loads.

Also wanted a Chicago bulls or Charlotte hornets coat but never got one.

Kickers for school and my mums friend used so save all her river island bags for my PE kits.

In my late teens it was very low rise jeans with rockports and girl boxer shorts

Also luminous cycling shorts for me 🙈

Shell suit! 😂I have never been one for fashion, so it was more an accidental purchase at the time they were 'in' as I happened to like it... they were in at some point, weren't they?? Please someone tell me they were...

Around end of primary/start of secondary school - LA gear trainers with multiple laces/ribbons, and a Benetton duffle bag.

Thankfully by age 12/13 I was full on alternative/grunge so quickly lost interest in brand names etc and lived in band t shirts and second hand stuff.