but i dont WANT to be awkward anymore! a case study.

When a new trend appears, especially if it's something from decades past, I go through a series of stages quite predictably. First, I HATE IT. Then, my feelings neutralize. And, finally, one of three things happen....

I either:

a. want in on the trend desperately, suddenly, and irrationally

b. refuse to try it myself, even though I have fallen for it, or...

c. never get to the third stage at all and the ambivalence continues, indefinitely

I've been doing some soul searching into my intense reactions and, as I perused many a clog and overall online, I realized... maybe the answer lies in how I felt the first time 'round.

I mean, though I've come to Stage 3, part B [love it, but can't-quite-bring-myself-to-do-it] of the clog trend, I keep thinking about the cheap Candies clogs I rocked when I was 9-years-old. The kind with the stiff band across the toes and the heavy heels and the wooden footbed that rubbed my poor little toes raw.

And overalls, well... how can I allow myself to get back into one of those rough onesies? I was a walking conundrum, one buckle strapped and the other flying loose as I ran around in boys' tennis shoes, flashing playmates with the whims of my OshKosh denim skirtall.

Maybe if I'd been uber cool the first time around, without braces or just-permed-hair [why'd you let me do that, Mom?!], or if I hadn't been born yet and thus was oblivious to these potential disasters, maybe then I'd feel comfortable trying these things again as a 23-year-old. Maybe I wouldn't be worried about suddenly turning into an awkward pre-adolescent tomboy trying to figure out the whole fashion thing.

Alas, that's not the case, and I find myself watching the trends on grown-up-version of girls who bewitched my fourth-grade boyfriend. Fashion gods, give me the strength to break this nasty cycle!

1. meggstatus, the only girl i've ever seen pull off overalls

2. candies, the originals

3. mellow days overalls

4. megan roses, and her decidedly cool clogs