Someone said to me the other day ‘You’re 23! These are the years!’. I looked at that person with a dubious look on my face. First off, the phrase ‘These are the years!’ has been used to reassure those in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s…hell even 50’s! So there goes an empty statement. Secondly, without hesitation, I would say that my teens were MY years. On the tube today as I was heading towards Brick Lane, a trio of girls circa 14-15 yrs old were gushing, giggling and getting all excited about making their first trip out to Spitalfields Market ("It’s like Camden but like, so much cooler!’). In their seersucker sun dresses, vintage bags, short shorts and suitably scuffed up plimsols/old school high-tops, they were the epitome of London teendom with ‘alternative/retro’ aspirations. I had to let out a sigh when I saw them, thinking back to when I was the same age, discovering the same places as they were, thinking everything was so damn cool and actually thinking I was pretty cool in whatever fandangled get-up I was wearing.
The insecurity I had in myself as a teen somehow benefited my obsession with fashion and gave me an outlet to seek, discover and experiment. I keep on saying the ‘ripe old age of 23’ which obviously isn’t actually THAT old but somehow I’m feeling the heavy weight of all of those years as I secretly yearn for those teen years again. I haven’t seen it all, done it all yet but it does seem that where my style is concerned, now that I’ve ‘found’ what fits/suits me and what gets me ticking, there’s none of that teenage uncertainty/anxiety which I strangely crave.
This is two posts in a row where I’m sounding deranged. Blame the intense sun.
Hmmmm bubble, it sounds like you still have enough insecurity to benefit several obsessions.
Looking back, I hate my teen years. I wish I was like you susie – finding the bright side even in something like teenage insecurity.
hey!
i was wondering if you are going to the chelsea college of arts BA textiles show on wednesday at the village underground. (at old street)
my friend is a designer showing there and it should be really cool.
do drop by if you are free 🙂
^
I think it’s a bit of an English thing and less a susie thing! haha. I’m SO glad i’m out of my teen years now though. I think it IS different growing up in a big city (I come from a small one) and i did have fun but i feel already i have more perspective and the ability to earn an income and have an effect on the world. Though the girls in the pic seem cute, i’m glad i’m not there.
If you replace the trainers with ballet flats, they look like half the girls at my school…and I live in California.
Ooh great picture. It was neat to see it after reading the post. I agree. I am 17 and I feel like I am getting old as if these next so many years will scream by and I won’t get an opportunity to grasp these years.
oh my, last night, i went out with a group of 23 year olds. it was fun, but i felt like the old hag. then i had brunch with my dear friend who is approaching 50, and i felt like a puppy. perspective is relative, and it doesn’t really matter because all any of us really have is today.
Susie sometimes I am amazed at how many people/places/things let you take pictures of them!! Haha.
Trust me Susie, as someone over 10 years your senior, you think you’ve found your style and you have for now, but as you grow you WILL change, it may a slight, almost unnoticeable shift, but your body will change, your face will change and so must your style to accommodate. BUT you learn to re-invent and discover new things that wouldn’t seem fitting for one of only 23, but when you recognise that changes have happened, those things somehow now work. I think being in your 30’s and 40’s is very much like getting your teenage years back, as you can push boundaries again. 20-somethings are all experimenting and doing their own thing, so it’s impossible to stand out, there are no boundaries at your age. But it’s more difficult taking risks once you are in and beyond your 30’s, because there are very clearly conceived boundaries as to what is befitting someone of this age. So you get to break rules again!
sorry for the OT, but after you wrote about the 15% off promo at creatures of comfort (thanks for the tip!), i ordered a lovely isabel marant dress (yay!). I’ve paid 32 usd for international shipping & handling and when i finally got my package, it was just a padded envelope sent by airmail (postage paid: 5,40 usd), it wasn’t even registered. i was wondering if you (or somebody from your readers) ordered from them before and if my order was just a glitch (they didn’t reply to my email).
I’ve ordered from them before and it was sent Global Priority but it was in an envelope and it was about $30 but they also marked the package as a gift so I wouldn’t pay any customs, so for me it was worth it.
oh no i’m a teenager and if these are the best years of my life it would not be good. i long to be your age! one so i can leave ireland and move somewhere with more fashiony people and another is every thing seems better at your age
Oh god, I feel like a very young pup right now! I’m 14 years (in about 2 weeks I’ll be 15) and I’m trying everything out about fashion, daring and over the top combinations. Its true, I find everything cool (well.. not EVERYthing, but yes, a lot). I’m a real fashion addict, and with my shoppingmate i could be one of those girls you pictured!:)
http://mrschocolate.blogspot.com/
God I feel so old now, all the readers on here seem to be very, very young!
I’ll get my coat…
DJM, don’t leave!
I can tell you that the bulk of my readership demographic lies in the 20-30 yrs age bracket…. with the teens close behind…. and strangely, 40’s-50’s after that. So you represent a minority here that I badly need!
Ok then, I’ll set my coat and copy of Women’s Own down for now…
WOW!I NO THOSE GIRLS, THE ONE ON THE LEFT IS CLOSE FRIEND AND GOES TO SCHOOL WITH ME! SHE IS GOING TO BE VERY EXCITED WHEN SHE SEES THIS! the excitment is gone and so are the caps lock, it so unfair the small boy you photographed outside east finchely i also know and these girls…why does everyone else meet you and not me!
sorry for the rant,
much love
I have the (mis)fortune of knowing two out of those three, they’re 14 by the way!
(I think they have been to Spitelfields too)
x
ha this is jokes the purple one is me! how did you take a picture without me noticing?
x
Just wait till your 36! Yikes. Personally my teenage years sucked, 20s were tough, 30s have their own challenges but are much, much better…
I have that purple dress.
Hmm, is that good?
Ilana: By the powers of a non-flash…
I do apologise if this came as a bit of a surprise… I would have asked for the photo…. but you guys seemed very deep in convo…. plus the photo was meant to be more illustrative than pointing anyways…
As for the argument of ‘Which decades is the best?’, it’s a pretty subjective thing depending on of course your age…. but at the moment for me, and as some have mentioned, the 20’s are feeling rather shaky/insecure whereas my teens were spent not worrying….
The irony being when you’re young you have the youth but not the money. By the time you can afford to wear what you want, there are all these ageism rules in place!
As George Bernard Shaw once said “youth is wasted on the young”.
WOW!
THATS ME IN THE BLUE DRESS.
whaaaaat?
how did you take the photo without anyone noticing, mental. you must have some sly photography skills. but i guess we were a bit chatty and hard to diturb.
haha ilana
snapped without permission
😮
I was on the train with those girls on Sun so I guess I was on the train with you too. Small world!