Compulsory Canadian Content

Anyone who knows me well, knows that as a general rule I'm not particularly girly in the usual ways. Or at least I didn't used to be. In fact, for a long time I used to always be about one step behind on any and all trends. As a young girl I ended up getting into the odd trend of the day, but usually a few weeks after everyone else. While a few weeks may not seem like a big deal, in kid world that's an eternity. I wasn't into Spice Girls until right before Geri left the group. I wasn't never properly obsessed with boybands. Now I enjoy Backstreet Boys, N*SYNC and all the rest for the ironic nostalgia factor. I think back on all the silly crazes that sped through the playground at my elementary school and there were a few that I was with from the beginning, others...not so much. Beanie Babies was the only craze I beat everyone else too. I was with Pogs, marbles, Animorphs, Pokemon, yo-yos and Crazy Bones. But things like Britney and Christina songs or jelly bracelets were met with my 12 year old skepticism.

So perhaps this explains my skepticism towards trends and crazes today. Fashion-wise as a kid I wore clothes from Northern Getaway for years. I also didn't really get to pick my clothes - my mom pretty much controlled that. For several years she tried in vain to curb my tomboy tendencies by placing me in dresses, skirts and bright coloured tights. The result was me going out at recess and ruining the outfit and having to wear my gym clothes the rest of the school day. Or at the very least, I ripped the tights. When she finally gave up on that, she settled for making me wear a skirt or dress the first day of school every year until about Grade 7. Somewhere in my young life we reached an agreement that there would be no more dresses and we would make due with skirts. Then suddenly all my dress clothes became pants. Controlling the type of clothes (dresses vs. pants) was the only way I had much say in my clothing.

( the transition continues )