The Starter Jacket

I remember several school fights over starter jackets alone. In the early nineties, this style was a staple all across america. From the inner city to the suberbs to rural towns, you could find NFL, NBA and MLB team jackets in bright colors.

Doc Martens

Klaus Maertens was a doctor in the German army during World War II. While on leave in 1945, he injured his ankle while skiing in the Bavarian Alps. He found that his standard-issue army boots were too uncomfortable on the injured foot. While recuperating, he designed improvements to the boots, with soft leather, and air-padded soles. When the war ended and some Germans looted valuables from their own cities, Maertens took leather from a cobbler's shop. With that leather he made himself a pair of boots with the now-famous air-cushioned soles. In the 70's the Dr. Marten brand took off in the UK amongst, street kids and factory workers. Then made its way to America a decade later. The classic yellow stich Doc Martens seemed to be worn by almost 80% of kids in the late 80's early 90's. As the brand grew, you had every color and style choice imaginable.

The Friendship Bracelet

The knot-craft and handweaving used to create friendship bracelets stems from Native American handcrafts, particularly from Central American tradition, and was first seen in the United States in the mid- to late 1970s. According to indigenous tradition, the recipient of a friendship bracelet must wear it until the cords wear out and fall off naturally. The idea is that the friend paid for it with the hard work and love that made it, and the recipient repays the friend by honoring the work. Removing the bracelet before it naturally falls off is a sign that the friendship has gone sour. Looking back it seems a little odd that me and my friends would visit the old Ben Franklin store to get colored string for these bracelets. But I will admit it, there was never a better feeling than getting that bracelet from the girl you liked in school. I remember wearing 2-3 of them at a time and study hall looked more like weaving class as everyone had string attached to their binders.

Girbaud Jeans

In the early 90's, if you didn't have the tag on the jeans, they just weren't the real deal. Girbaud jeans exploded on the scene amongst teens and the Girbaud tag (found on the fly of the pants) became a trend in itself. I still can't believe I spent $50-$70 on jeans when I was 13 but it seemed so worth it, to go back to school with the "right" jeans. They were popular in blue and later in black as well.

The French Rolled Jeans

I rolled my jeans so many times, I can still do it today in about 2.5 seconds. I believe this will be my generations's bell bottoms. It is one of those trends that will never come back. I shouldn't say never, but come on, this trend was rediculous. As if our legs weren't skinny enough when we were 9. My mom still has a written contract that she made me sign....it reads..."I will never wear jeans that are not rolled". That is how big this trend was in the late 80's, I truly believed that it would never go out of style!

Overalls

Since the 1960s, different colors and patterns of bib overalls have been increasingly worn by young people of both sexes, often with one of the straps worn loose or unfastened along the side and under the arm. There was only one reason I would make a trip to Fleet Farm when I was young....and it would be to get a couple pair of original dickie coveralls.

Zubaz

Zubaz (pronounced "zoo-baz" or "zoo-buz") are a brand of shorts and pants that became popular during the early 1990s. They were created by two bodybuilders, Dan Stock and Bob Truax, as a comfortable, functional short for weightlifting. They hoped to make a short that would stretch and expand with the body during a workout. In a short time, the shorts became wildly popular in the United States. The Zubaz company sold $100 million worth of products in 1991 alone. You know you contributed to that mark and most likely if you look hard enough, you still have a pair in the bottom drawer stuffed behind your socks.

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