It’s fierce out there when you don’t have the right stuff for going back to school. And this year the right stuff includes Soaps and a shrug.
No, not the kitchen suds or the shoulder shift. We mean the hip sneaks with special plastic soles that guys like for sliding down banisters and the minuscule arm-and-back covering to accent skimpy shirts all thegirls are wearing.
These are fads to be sure, along with butterfly and dragonfly hair clips and Backstreet Boys tunes. But while the eternal popularity contest can cost as much as $90 for shoes or clothing, it also can cost as little as 50 cents for a funky addition to your ‘do.
Beware, however, if you hit the books without the right cargo pants. Hawaiian print shirt or Pokemon trading card.(note: accent over the e) Ask Robin Lasker, 10, of Schaumburg, who has seen the consequences of a fashion foul-up.
“You see a lot of whispering and pointing,” she said.
Adds pal Mary Kay Justus, 11: “My first day of school I didn’t have any hair clips. That was kind of bad.”
But what’s hot in one town is not in another. At one Palatine elementary school, it’s in to play with marbles and wear curly shoelaces that don’t need to be tied. In Naperville, “Kiss Psycho Circus” comic books are the rage, while in Schaumburg, it’s the “X-Men Plague of Evil” comic series.
One thing’s for sure: The ’70s are in. Just take a look at the movies and the re-emergence of tube tops.
And one other thing: No goodbyes. It’s “peace out.”
