European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 4, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Voices be in Wear by Kevin Cowherd Baltimore Sun i n its Short history this column has emerged As one of the giants of fashion reportage with such publications As go and women swear. Daily now regularly taking their cues from this a space. Building on that tradition we drove out to the White Marsh mall in suburban Baltimore recently shouldered our Way through the requisite throng of sullen Marlboro smoking youths at the Entrance and kicking Back with a big gob of dough and Salt from the pretzel pub we filed this a amp a report on what the Well dressed teen Ager is wearing Back to school this fall a is what a the look for girls this year a the look frankly we had never heard the term before. So we wandered into Marianne and posed the question to store manager Tina Conte who was doing something or other to a rack of sweaters. Folding them maybe. Quot id say the grunge look is still in the hiker look a Conte said. A a jeans Denim shirts Over sized jackets. Everything that a plaid is really everything that a plaid is really hip a there a a sentence you never read 10 years ago. But plaid is Cool now. So the pouty mannequins in Marianes window Wear plaid dresses Denim vests Over plaid shirts with leggings plaid jackets Over ripped jeans. Later Barbara butt manager of Claire a boutiques blames the whole plaid fad on of All things catholicism which would probably make a Lively topic on talk radio. A Jim from Catonsville you re saying the Pope has something to do with these kids wearing plaid a but All butt Means is a More and More kids Are going to Catholic school. And plaid is what they Wear in Catholic Well. As our visit to Marianne neared a close Conte pulled something from a rack and said Quot these Are big amazingly it turned put to be. A pair of Denim hip Hugger. It was All too Retro. Gasping for air we lurched from the store in a cold sweat As the hip Hugger evoked frightening images of Chunky Janis Joplin wannabes sitting next to us in third period trigonometry Back in 1969. Al what a the look for boys Ai the Beauty of being a today a educational system is that not Only arc you not expected to be Able to Point out Canada on a map but you re basically allowed to arrive in homeroom with an outfit seemingly fished from a Goodwill bin. Lou Anderson sales clerk at Structure delicately Calls this Quot the layered sweater vests Over Long sleeved flannel shirts Over Thermal undershirts. Worn with torn jeans. The whole effect fairly screams employed at a logging Camp. No fear to shirts with their in your face inspirational messages Quot you la never steal second with. Your feet on first Quot Are also huge. Quot no fear has taken off its out of control Quot said reach for the Beach assistant manager Justin Gillies then showing the natural cynicism that could signal an upcoming career in journalism he added Quot it la die out like everything curiously at merry go round the two mannequins in the store window wore grunge like outfits along with a this is True a cardboard tvs Over their Heads. No we did no task. Q say what a new in body piercing a not much. Apparently there Are Only so Many Fleshy outcroppings and orifices on the body that will accommodate a tasteful hoop or stud and today a Young people have just about used them All. Besides who Hasni to jabbed a ring through his or her Eye Riv at one time or another Back Ai Claire a boutiques Barbara butt reports new York times revealing the plaid look. By Cindy Skrzycki Washington Post that dream catchers earrings Are hot Sellers for both sexes despite this bizarre imprint on the pack. Age Quot according to Indian folklore dream catchers can capture Many of life a forces that descend upon you while you we prefer to use a Fly swatter. Is what does the Well dressed student Wear on his or her feet at hiking boots Are big with both sexes Nike and Reebok Cross trainers sell Well Tomboys Retro style Low Cut Canvas sneakers to girls. We were about to pop into a Thom can for More info but were shaken by the sight of a couple wearing Matching Quot in a with stupid it shirts and decided to move on. Al anything new in headgear for Young people Al perhaps the most alarming development is the popularity of the so called Blossom hats named after the. Dippy girl coming of age series on Abc. These Are Denim hats with a Flower attached to the upturned brim although the total effect is to leave the wearer seemingly poised to make a Giddy Barbie like pronouncement such As a gee math class was sure hard today Quot. A for most boys and lots of girl baseball Caps Are still the headgear of Choice with the Nike a a swoosh Caps displaying College nicknames among the most popular. In our Best old Foge Yish voice we approached Jud son Kerr 24, the manager of Footlocker and asked a is the Cap still worn backward or what a Kerr was Nice enough not to Roll his eyes and Call Security. Instead he patiently explained that it All depended on what part of the hat the wearer wanted to show off. Quot of a we said suddenly feeling the need for a comfortable rocking chair and warm quilt around our shoulders. Our visit to the mall ended at champs where a skittish assistant manager recoiled from our notebook As if it were a Glock 9 my and said Quot we re not allowed to talk to the its probably Good advice. Besides the line in front of the pretzel pub had cleared out nicely and it was time to Call it a Day. Was in a department store stocking up on Cotton underwear and minding my business when something unsettling caught my Eye. Displayed on the Racks nearby were pair after pair of some product that for All the. World looked like underwear. These things had control panels of Lycra and other Stern looking synthetics engineered to a let us put this delicately a squeeze Back into the body vast adipose Rolls of Jig. Gling flesh. What were these things. I started Reading the labels. Moo. Thie firm control body briefer had a hidden panel for extra Tummy control. Or As the Small print said _ Quot does what your diet Ai moved on to the vanity fair shaping system a sort of mini slip with a Little Stretchy thing under it. Its tag Quot shaping the body mind and this was a very sexy Black number. But for Quot sheer Power a Bali suggests the Quot Waist Nipper a a contraption descended from the whalebone of the victorian Era. It offered a color code of tags so the woman who wanted her Waist nipped could choose Light control Blue tag moderate control fuchsia or firm purple. Quot firm resembled a hot water bottle. For those who want to go whole or hog and maybe even have a few garters there were bodysuits for $39.50 that allow you to pour everything in there from breast to butt. It must be Tough to breathe in one of those things not to mention what misery it must be in the summer. And How in the world would you go to the bathroom there were at least a dozen Hooks and snaps barring the Way. / then it hit me. These weren to underpants. These weren to control anythings. These were girdles. Not that they called themselves girdles. Not one of these garments from the smallest of panties with panels to the biggest Mother of All controllers breathed the word this is because in the ethos of the 1990s, girdles Are bad. Girdles Are something frumpy and fusty something essentially dishonest. Something our mothers the late 1960s, girdles began to suffer their deserved Fate. It had something to do with the decision to renounce All things restrictive. Which was easy to do when one was say 23 and still could respectably Wear a two piece bathing suit because ones belly resembled the surface of a Kettle drum and not the surface of a Kettle. Which brings us to today. V it is amazing How the protocols of the 1960s have been belly bumped out of the Way by Fleshy Imper at yes. Women Are wearing girdles just so Long As no one Calls them that. What is wrong with a Little benign self deception this is what is wrong girdles Are not about fixing problems but hiding them. And not calling them Gir Dies just aggravates the insult. If you have a stomach or a big Back porch it is of to display it proudly on the theory that if men can have huge guts hanging Over their belts without social penalty then by god women should have that right too. And if you have a stomach or a big Back porch and decide you do not want it because it somehow diminishes you or threatens your health or feelings of self Worth then it is Fine to fix it through rituals of self denial and frenzied activity. But not this. The rows and rows of control garments and underpants with funny panels in the front Are proof that women have seized the unseemly Middle ground. Lets be honest Here and Call a Girdle a Girdle. 4 1 $ ref amp Page 20 sunday september 4.1994
