Five Fandom Friday: 5 Characters With My Favorite Fashion

Image courtesy Katelyn Jade

Fashion is one of those things that I know I should pay attention to (jewelry is fashion and has trends just as much as anything else does, after all) but I just...can't? I love having clothes that fit well and express my wack-a-doo personality, but I have never been really into "fashion" as such. I think my choices will make that crystal clear!

5. Shannon Mullins (The Heat)

On the surface I guess it's not much of a style, but her character's grunge-y and ultimately practical/androgynous outfit is still like a comfort zone fashion for me. Sometimes all I want are wide-leg carpenter jeans (why are they all skinny jeans these days?? remember wide-leg jeans? Pepperidge Farm remembers), a white tank top, and a plaid button-down thrown on top of it all.

This is maybe not something a creator and curator of fashion (via jewelry) should admit to—after all, you don't think "fab beaded jewelry" when you think "grunge"—but some maille might fit right in. Maybe a double helix patterned wallet chain?

4. Chunk (The Goonies)

I had an aloha shirt phase for a while in high school; it's nothing short of a miracle that my closet isn't still full of them. I would also not be above pairing that aloha shirt with plaid pants. (You know what else I miss, in addition to wide-leg jeans? Plaid pants.)

3. Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski (The Big Lebowski)

LEGO Lebowski courtesy Alex Eylar

The tricky question is, is it fashion or philosophy that I like about The Dude? I guess you could say that his fashion reflects his philosophy. Lucky for all of us, The Dude's sweater is still available for purchase! Thank you, Pendleton, for getting it and being such good sports about it.


2. Alex Mack (The Secret World of Alex Mack)

Hands up, 90s girls: who among you did not lift a style from a Nickelodeon show?

I thought for second about combining the last two into one sort of "90s Nickelodeon Fashion Mag Look Book" but eventually decided against. There were basically two characters whose styles I like(d) and even emulated, back in the day. That's not really enough to roll it all together.

I eventually lost interest The Secret World of Alex Mack at some point when they brought a love interest in, but I think I watched the bulk of the show (there were 4 seasons, I probably watched around 3 of them, definitely 2). My look in middle school was very much Alex, minus the beanies and baseball caps. Was it intentional? No, despite the fact that I wish very much to wake up on my 13th birthday with superpowers like hers. Or get hit by a truck carrying chemical sludge. Whichever.

1. Clarissa Darling (Clarissa Explains it All)

 I know I definitely tried to do the "tie a corner of an oversized T-shirt" thing after I saw Clarissa rock it on an episode. I watched a lot more of this than Alex Mack—maybe because I could relate to having an obnoxious younger brother more than I could to  having superpowers and a perfect, supergenius older sister. Even if I dressed more like Alex at the time, looking back I appreciate Clarissa's outfits more. (Plus, her bedroom was just WAY cooler.) I could never pull them off, but I appreciate them.

Speaking of 90s Nickelodeon, special shout-out goes to The Adventures of Pete & Pete. I didn't take any fashion cues from the Petes (or Ellen), but I loved it just as much.