New England Boyhood (1990-2000s)


Figure 1.--

I was born in Boston in 1985 and spent my entire childhood living in the same house in a sleepy Middle Class suburb. My parents were both professionals but my mother stayed at home with me until I was seven. I was an only child and my mother was very particular about how I was dressed. As a young boy I always had a few pairs of khakis dress slacks, some button-down shirts and turtleneck sweaters. I didn’t like wearing jeans, I found them too scratchy so instead I mostly wore corduroy pants and overalls. I wore overalls or shortalls almost all the time unless it was a dressy occasion. In 1991 I started first grade at the local school. On the first day my mom made me wear a blazer and tie with khakis dress pants and buck shoes. For most of my elementary years I wore long-sleeve striped rugby shirts or polo shirts with khakis pants and sneakers. Junior High was the most fashion conscious period of my life. It was also the period of the height of the baggy clothing style. I resolved to totally change my style for the new school. I had been ridiculed often in 6th grade for wearing shorts that didn’t cover my knees. I left public school after 8th grade and went to a Catholic boys’ prep school in the city. My school didn’t have a uniform as most private schools did, but we had a strict dress code. We were required to wear a collared shirt, tucked into dress pants with a belt.

Family

I was born in Boston in 1985 and spent my entire childhood living in the same house in a sleepy Middle Class suburb. My parents were both professionals but my mother stayed at home with me until I was seven. I was an only child and my mother was very particular about how I was dressed.

Young Boy

As a young boy I always had a few pairs of khakis dress slacks, some button-down shirts and turtleneck sweaters. I didn’t like wearing jeans, I found them too scratchy so instead I mostly wore corduroy pants and overalls. I wore overalls or shortalls almost all the time unless it was a dressy occasion. I recall having sets of all the primary colors: red, green, blue as well as brown and grey. For church I had a green blazer and white pants. I always wore a tie to church from the age of 4 or 5, though it was often a clip-on bow tie. For footwear I always had a pair of good dress shoes. My mom took me to a special kids’ shoe shop once a year for new shoes. I often wore saddle shoes, which were apparently popular at the time. I also had buck shoes, which were varying shades of brown. I hated wearing them, they were tight and uncomfortable and I thought I looked silly in them. I had sneakers for playing in and I wore them with white ankle socks. Sometimes I also wore tube socks that went up above my ankles and had yellow stripes at the top. I was forbidden to walk around the house without shoes or socks on, even sleeping with socks on.

Elementary School (1991-97)

In 1991 I started first grade at the local school. On the first day my mom made me wear a blazer and tie with khakis dress pants and buck shoes. For most of my elementary years I wore long-sleeve striped rugby shirts or polo shirts with khakis pants and sneakers. The rugby shirts were quite popular during the winter. My mom used to get very upset that I would wear holes in the knees of my khakis pants playing on the floor but I didn’t mind. It was very popular at this time to have holes in your pants, especially jeans. Every kid had holes at the knees of their jeans. I also tried to always wear my baseball cap backwards because that was ‘cool’. One thing that was very popular at the time was letter jackets like high school athletes wore. A few kids had them and I really wanted one too, but the only thing I could get was a poor imitation. I also took to wearing Keds sneakers, but I didn’t like the high-tops. As I got to be 8 and 9 I began to wear t-shirts more often and shorts more in the summer. I also liked wearing sweatpants, which were also very popular at this time. It was in the summer of 1995 that baggy clothing first appeared in my community. At first it was only teenagers wearing the new style and my shorts were still above my knees. By the next summer though that had changed and many kids were wearing baggy jeans shorts that went well below their knees. My mom was disgusted by the new fashion and said it looked like boys were wearing skirts, so she refused to buy me any of the new style. The same time that the baggy style appeared sandals also suddenly became more popular. For the first time kids had the Teva sports sandals. I stuck with my trusty sneakers for the time being but I recall being horrified in 6th grade that one of my friends regularly committed the ultimate faux-pas of wearing socks with his sandals.

Junior High (1997-99)

Junior High was the most fashion conscious period of my life. It was also the period of the height of the baggy clothing style. I resolved to totally change my style for the new school. I had been ridiculed often in 6th grade for wearing shorts that didn’t cover my knees. It was now painfully clear that any shorts that fell above the knee were ‘girls’ shorts.’ I bought the baggiest calf-length jean shorts I could and I loved them. Many kids were wearing jean shorts that nearly went to their ankles so mine weren’t too outrageous. At school and elsewhere I would wear only a t-shirt under my winter jacket no matter how cold it was. Once at school I left the jacket in my locker. Walking home it was important to carry your jacket as long as you could without putting it on, wearing just the t-shirt even though it was 40F out. I would often get home with my nose and ears red and numb and my hands shaking, but I wasn’t the loser who needed a coat. I never wore khakis pants anymore, I only had one pair for church and even those were so baggy they almost completely covered my shoes. My jeans were baggy as well but=2 0not as much as some. There were boys whose jeans were like hoops at the bottom, so you could never see their sneakers as they walked. It was also popular to have a big dangling chain connected to your wallet. This was when they introduced carpenter jeans with many pockets and a loop for a hammer. All my jeans were carpenter jeans. Many kids who were into skateboarding wore choke chains and dyed their hair blonde. The bowl cut was the most popular hair style for boys and it seemed half my grade had that haircut. Clunky black felt sneakers were the most popular, especially brands like Vans and Sketchers. I wore soccer sneakers that were similar but not so clunky. Addidas flip-flops became very popular and it seemed all my friends and the kids in the neighborhood wore them. Kids wore them to school as well, although they were banned in later years as a safety risk.

High School (1999-2003)

I left public school after 8th grade and went to a Catholic boys’ prep school in the city. My school didn’t have a uniform as most private schools did, but we had a strict dress code. We were required to wear a collared shirt, tucked into dress pants with a belt. We were allowed to wear hooded sweatshirts over our shirts and sneakers were allowed. Lucky for me this period coincided with the sudden popularity of the preppy look of Abercrombie & Fitch. Suddenly jeans were out and khakis cargo pants were in. Sweater vests went from being geeky to being cool. Hoodies were very popular and it was important that you wore the right brand. GAP, Abercrombie, American Eagle, Aeropostale and Old Navy were all acceptable. Everything needed to be branded. In summer I still wore very baggy shorts, but instead of jean shorts I now wore khakis or navy cargo shorts from Abercrombie. They were sold pre-faded, already frayed at the edges, fo r shocking prices. Footwear also changed during this period as sandals and then flip-flops became increasingly popular. By the time I was 15 I took to wearing flip-flops all summer whereas previously I’d always worn sneakers even to the beach. It also seems to have become more common for kids to run around barefoot since around 2000 as sandals and flip-flops are more likely to get removed that sneakers and socks and kids are more used to having their feet exposed.






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Created: 8:41 PM 7/10/2009
Last updated: 8:41 PM 7/10/2009