La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
AS A TEENAGER, I SAW myself as a bit of a fashion plate. Or perhaps it would be better to say I imagined myself as a bit of a fashion plate. When I was around 11, my sister Dale took me shopping for some school event that was coming up. She forced me to step out of my comfort zone. I went home with black and white check pants and a red and black polka dot tie. That was all it took. There’s a photo somewhere, but I haven’t been able to find it.
When I was 15, Dale began to take me on regular shopping sprees. She taught me how to spend more money than I should have been spending (and to supplement her shopping budget) but she also taught me to be a bit adventurous in my style. I’d like to blame my Nehru shirt in 1968 on Dale, but I was only 14 and I think I did that all on my own. The medallion and “Granny Glasses,” too.
The first two photos are from a Halloween party that year. It was just six of us. I was grateful the host’s mother didn’t want the mess from bobbing for apples. The final photo was taken by Dale on our balcony. I have a feeling she also thought I looked cool.
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COMO ADOLESCENTE, ME VÍA A mí mismo como un modelo de moda. O tal vez sería mejor decir que me imaginé a mí mismo como un modelo de moda. Cuando tenía alrededor de 11 años, mi hermana Dale me llevó de compras para un evento escolar que se avecinaba. Ella me obligó a salir de mi zona de confort. Me fui a casa con pantalones a cuadros negros y blancos y una corbata de lunares rojos y negros. Eso fue todo lo que necesitó. Hay una foto, pero no he podido encontrarla.
Cuando tenía 15 años, Dale comenzó a llevarme de compras con regularidad. Me enseñó a gastar más dinero del que debería haber gastado (y a complementar su presupuesto de compras), pero también me enseñó a ser un poco aventurero con mi estilo. Me gustaría culpar a Dale de mi camiseta de Nehru en 1968, pero solo tenía 14 años y creo que lo hice todo por mi cuenta. El medallón y las “gafas de abuela” también.
Las dos primeras fotos son de una fiesta de Halloween de ese año. Éramos solo seis de nosotros. Agradecí que la madre del anfitrión no quisiera que el desorden de buscar manzanas en agua. La foto final fue hecha por Dale en nuestro balcón. Tengo la sensación de que ella también pensó que me veía genial.
¿Alguien más había mordido ya esa manzana? ¡Puaj!
• Con mi novia, Hilary, jugando a Twister. Almorcé con Hilary y su hermana — 50 años después— la última vez que estuve en Nueva York (haz clic aquí). No jugamos Twister.
You DID look cool! Love it!
Jennifer:
Trendy was more like it. I didn’t really evolve to cool until I was 15.
Definitely one of the cool kids, I had a Nehru shirt in olive-green, bought it at JLHudson in Detroit.
David:
I was never really one of the cool kids although I was often one of the cool loners in later years.
WAY cool! That time in our lives was so impressionable and open to experimenting/exploring……..everything.
Great photos, Mr. Cool!
Jim:
I’m so glad I saved these photos!
Okay, I’m just gonna say it …that could be me. I had a Nehru jacket and the gold medallion and the granny glasses, though mine were red.
And ::::he said proudly:::: I picked ’em all out myself!!!
And I love how you’re playing Twister with your girlfriend but you’re nowhere near her ….even then!
Bob:
I WAS only 14 and a good boy (until about a year later). Was Carlos trendy, too? SG was a bit behind being from South Dakota.
Carlos thinks he’s trendy, but, of course, he’s like SG. One day he might catch up!!
HOLD THE PRESSES…..
You played twister with a girl!?!?!?
Mads, Scoot is making a semi-fashion statement here, and you go straight (so to speak) to twister with a girl? Tsk, tsk 🙂
Deedles:
Well, if he hadn’t you would have!
Mistress Maddie:
A year or two later and I was playing more than Twister.
Groovy, man, groovy. Peace out.
Debra:
By the time I was 15 I started hanging out with a bunch of much older (18 to 22 year old) hippie types — living in sin and everything. One of those loved the word groovy. I could never get comfortable with it. But I did try to peace out.
I don’t remember ever seeing a Neru jacket in person. When I see one, I think of Sammy Davis Jr. He seemed to live in those things while they were so briefly fashionable. You were certainly cute though, Scoot.
Deedles:
Ah, yes, Sammy Davis Jr. How could I forget his Nehru jackets? And the medallions. Thanks, Deedles. I WAS cute, wasn’t I? I didn’t think so at the time, but I tried.
You were adorable, Scoot! Still are.
You definitely looked like a cool cat…except playing twister kind of hurts the reputation part lol
Cheapchick:
Twister was cool if we all hadn’t been so innocent. (By the way, I’ve tried commenting on your recent blog posts but don’t think I’ve been successful.)
Someday I should show show you my plaid pants and blue sports jacket ensemble.
Urspo:
Oh, no. I could never do plaid pants. And, yes. I want to see the photos!
I’d give you cool points. Very chill in that last photo.
Mary:
Yes, I was so chill. With my sister taking the pictures and my 8-year-old brother standing by!
Aren’t you glad that was the fashion when you were in your teens instead of your twenties? How sweet of Dale to take you shopping, etc. I was on my own, hence the headbands, beads, mini dresses, and fringed leather drawstring purse of my teens.
Wilma:
Yes I am glad the trend hit before my style REALLY mattered. I outgrew my hippy style in my final two years of college. Then I was thinking about a job. Dale was the best to go shopping with. She had great style. But between 15 and 16 I went all hippie with beads, torn jeans with patches and metal studs everywhere, hair to my shoulders, work shirts. Still, if I had to look respectable for some event, she took me out again and found really cool but nice clothes. Dale never went truly hippie, although she had a couple of peasant tops.
OMB, DUDE! were we NOT fly back in the day! for me, it was mini skirts and fringe purses and a riotous mix of colors. none of those pix survive (thank the dogs and cats).
anne marie:
Oh I wish those pics survived. They are so much fun to look back on. Dale of course did the mini skirts, too. She was about 5’10” and mostly legs. I remember her about to head out the door one day in a mini dress with heels and her 5-foot-long legs when my father called out, “Hey. Aren’t you forgetting something.” “What?!?” she snapped. “I said I’ll see you later.” He said, “Yeah. But you forgot your skirt!”
You’re gorgeous, dahling. Simply gorgeous.
Love,
Janie
Janie:
I don’t know who that was; he was cuter than I thought.
I’m going to start calling you Dooley.
Walt the Fourth:
Dooley noted. I always wanted a nickname that stuck.
A budding George Harrison.
Kirk:
When we was fab.
You little Beau Brummel you!
Willym:
Just don’t call me a fop.
That was a VERY trendy look! Kind of like Donovan — did they call you Mellow Yellow?
Steve:
Quite rightly.