The trend in the late 1970s horse show world was rust breeches, navy jackets, and black tall boots. I was stuck in brown and beige. Chocolate brown jacket with a deep brown velvet collar (last year's trend) beige breeches and brown tall boots. I even donned a brown velvet hunt cap to match the collar. I was 18 years old and it was my last year as a junior competitor. Struggling to keep up and win ribbons at horse shows like the cool, wealthy girls with their fancy horses, I thought a fashion upgrade to trendy colors would help. I tried to fit in. We jumped all the same 3'6" high jumps, but my fox hunting horse, who didn't know how to do a flying lead change when changing direction on course, wasn't up to the task. Sorry for all the jargon, but I thought if I could only look like the cool girls, I would magically ride better, my horse would improve, and we would qualify to ride at Madison Square Garden in the National Horse Show. It took me all season to get up the courage to ask my grandmother, who worked as a head housekeeper for a wealthy family, for the new outfit. As summer faded into fall, I got the custom made Der Dau black tall boots, the Harry Hall rust breeches, and the Ptychley navy show jacket. I epitomized the equestrian fashion trend of the day, but neither my riding nor my horse improved. The show season ended, and I wasn't going to the Garden. I hung my new riding habit in my closet and headed off to college across the continent.
Awww- what a great story, and how generous of your grandmother to decide to help you get this all important outfit. I just ordered rust riding colored pants online- huge sale, I was so psyched as rust is one of my favorite color-- they showed up (Ariat) and are diarrhea brown. They look absolutely nothing like the color way or photos online. Yours in solidarity, accordingly, you are winner #3! I'll DM you deets.
When I was in high school in the early 2000's, bangs trended again. I didn't realized I had a cowlick until I went for what were supposed to be super cute short bangs...
Hi Courtney! Excited for TP writer selection, so diverse & impressive. Wondering if you’d consider sharing your thoughts on auto fiction. Grappling with writing what I want to write about, but not being a famous person, and not wanting to be a platform junkie…sending healing vibes your way! Also, I was in college in the early 90s, so was steeped in acid washed mini skirts that zipped from the bottom, perms with highlights that looked like skunky striped corkscrews, and drinking Jagermeister while listening to the Spin Doctors. Such shame.
I think auto fiction is rad! I have no idea what the market is like for it, I have the impression gatekeepers want things a little black or white, not grey- but if it feels like the right choice for you, go for it!
First, I want to echo your endorsement of Mike Zapata's Novel in the Year course! I did the class two cycles ago as a sort of personal experiment (am I...a writer?). Mike is awesome and brilliant and so, so supportive (and assured me yes, yes you are). I am querying the product of that class right now, accepting all good vibes from fellow writers.
My sad trend experience has to do with self-care. I am a high school teacher, and like everyone in education have a fraught relationship with the work-life balance. A balance that utterly collapsed during Covid when I was teaching from my dining room table for a year and a half and holding super-supportive office hours (i.e. all of the hours) for my students who were often thrown into essential worker roles and catching up on schoolwork long after the regular work day was over. Companies were VERY GENEROUS to teachers during lockdown, including free trial access to apps we otherwise would have needed site licenses to use (with, of course, the hope and expectation that we would all request those licenses from our administrators once things returned to normal, but late-stage capitalism is its own sad trend). One "deal" for teachers that I tried was a popular app that promised enhanced mental self-care -- guided meditation practice, exercises on being present, etc. I had heard great, almost evangelical things about this app from peers, and it was consistently highly ranked in the app store, so I thought I would jump on the trend...only to find that hearing a gentle little chime and reading a push notification advising me to slow down and breathe only jarred me and then made me angry. I was breathing! I was present! In filling out my profile, it asked me so many questions about my health and mental status I felt close to a panic attack and had to delete it from my phone after less than 2 days. It made me sad not just because it fell so short of the experience I had anticipated, but because I made me feel more than a little bit broken as well.
This is for the giveaway. When I was a kid, at some point Converse All-Stars had one of their inevitable trending moments - this was the 80s but these moments seem to be a 7 year cicada or something like that. We were not trend followers. My family was solidly on the last third of your trend forecaster's adoption range, for who acquires it when. So when the tug of mindless following happened, it was already the point at which the product was basically no longer available because the market was saturated and they'd begun retooling to revive wedges or Uno. The only color left was white. White Converse - that's a good commitment for an 11 year old. My mom was like, uh, no. We begged. She sighed. Shortly after we were at a carnival, which was right after a good 'ol Midwest thunderstorm, and when we spotted a cart giving away Kool Aid Koolers juice boxes we made a bee line. Only to have the guy tilt the cart toward us, stepping heavily into the puddle he didn't realize was just beside him. So he wheels the display toward is - ta da! - just as he sends a torrent of muddy water Oh Yeah! ing toward me and my brother's brand new neon white sneakers. My mother's head exploded, and the guy saw this was maybe going to end in a death. Before she could say something, he apologized. And realizing Sorry was not enough, considered dying, and then: Offered Kool Aid Koolers. My brother and I knew there are layers and levels to disappointment, and that day we learned the second degree: Even if a 16 year old carny fucked your shoes up, she never should have bought them for us, which was obviously our fault. Me an my brother stool holding sweating juice boxes in the 85 degree night, feet soaked through the shoe and sock, now knowing that white fabric: Not the same as white leather.
Staci, do you know Jennifer Senior's piece on her aunt who was institutionalized -- "The Ones We Sent Away"? It might be helpful, if you don't know it already.
Remember the cabbage soup diet? A decade or so ago my girlfriends and I thought we'd found the holy grail for dieting--until we realized how hard it was to stomach something so boring and vile day after day but it also made it impossible for us to be around each other--for reasons I will demurely decline to point out. One unfortunate girls night in ended with all of us decidedly wanting to get OUT.
Oh gosh, so I have to admit that I’m never on trend and don’t experience too much embarrassment because #autism, a true upside! But one time my peers made me painfully aware of no longer being on trend was actually recently, when I was advised that the “big” scrunchies are no longer in, especially if you have thin hair such that the scrunchie renders your actual hair invisible. I guess we’re supposed to be using the thin silky scrunchies now? Who knew 😅
I know this because I have a ten year old who screams when I put a big scrunchie in my hair and pulls it out of my hair to give me one of the thin things of which you speak. I love this story you shared-- you are winner #1! I'll DM you deets.
At one point in late elementary school, Western-style denim skirts were all the rage. When other (thin, popular) girls wore them, they were "cute" and "trendy." When I (chubby, not popular) wore one, I got snide remarks about my "new fashion statement." This was basically the beginning and the end of me attempting to wear new styles of clothing.
at some point, puffy sleeves became all the rage - it seems every women's shirt, sweater, and blouse had puffed up sleeves. i kept giving them a try but i'm 5,'10 with an athletic built and every time i put them on, i looked like a linebacker with shoulder pads
What a gorgeous group of Turning Points participants! Can't wait to apply for the next one. (I'm lucky enough to have a copy of TOUCH, so I'm a little off-brand with my comment. :) )
When I was in my early 20s and trying to make it as a stylish actress in New York, reading Women’s Wear Daily every morning at my temp job and working at Bloomingdale’s over Christmas, I woke up one day knowing the only thing I had left to fix was my hair. In a time of bouncy curls and waves, it drooped, straight and thin. Wanting to do this right, I went to a salon for a perm, and I emerged with full, wavy hair. The next morning, I awoke to an Afro. Now, I am not a person of color, but, as my mother pointed out, a person of pallor. I told a Black friend, and laughing, she told me where to go to get a box of hair relaxer. And so, for the first and last time in my life, I straightened my hair. The next day, I went for a pixie cut.
I love this question for the book giveaway! There was a trend in the mid 90's to have permed hair - it was all over Teen Vogue and YM magazine and so I tried to perm my hair with an at home kit, except no one told me you really shouldn't perm your bangs. I looked like a poodle for an entire summer! I've since given up trying to follow hair trends. It just doesn't work out!
I permed my hair in 5th grade and wore my perm with extremely massive earrings - I wanted to be just like Claudia in the Babysitter's Club whom I imagined dressed like this....
Entering the book giveaway! During the pandemic, I wanted to be like all the cool girls, doing zoom yoga at home, and I did. However, around this time, I developed a weird rash on my face. I went to the doctor and they ordered a lupus test. To my horror, it came back positive. For months, I thought I had lupus. I was devastated. I kept doing the home yoga to calm myself. The rash came and went. Then I noticed a pattern. The rash was coming on the days after I did yoga... I considered how I didn't really deep clean the home yoga mat that I was continually pressing my face too, especially my forehead, where the rash kept manifesting. I deep cleaned the yoga mat, and I've never gotten another rash since. Then I paid out of pocket to repeat the lupus test with a more advanced specialist. Negative. It wasn't lupus; it was a false-flag fungus that transferred from my feet to my forehead via my dirty yoga mat!
What a story! I had no idea my dirty yoga mat could do such harm. Thanks for sharing this, so sorry for your rash. Duly noted! My yoga mat will be cleaned thoroughly tomorrow.
The trend in the late 1970s horse show world was rust breeches, navy jackets, and black tall boots. I was stuck in brown and beige. Chocolate brown jacket with a deep brown velvet collar (last year's trend) beige breeches and brown tall boots. I even donned a brown velvet hunt cap to match the collar. I was 18 years old and it was my last year as a junior competitor. Struggling to keep up and win ribbons at horse shows like the cool, wealthy girls with their fancy horses, I thought a fashion upgrade to trendy colors would help. I tried to fit in. We jumped all the same 3'6" high jumps, but my fox hunting horse, who didn't know how to do a flying lead change when changing direction on course, wasn't up to the task. Sorry for all the jargon, but I thought if I could only look like the cool girls, I would magically ride better, my horse would improve, and we would qualify to ride at Madison Square Garden in the National Horse Show. It took me all season to get up the courage to ask my grandmother, who worked as a head housekeeper for a wealthy family, for the new outfit. As summer faded into fall, I got the custom made Der Dau black tall boots, the Harry Hall rust breeches, and the Ptychley navy show jacket. I epitomized the equestrian fashion trend of the day, but neither my riding nor my horse improved. The show season ended, and I wasn't going to the Garden. I hung my new riding habit in my closet and headed off to college across the continent.
Awww- what a great story, and how generous of your grandmother to decide to help you get this all important outfit. I just ordered rust riding colored pants online- huge sale, I was so psyched as rust is one of my favorite color-- they showed up (Ariat) and are diarrhea brown. They look absolutely nothing like the color way or photos online. Yours in solidarity, accordingly, you are winner #3! I'll DM you deets.
Thank you! Rust is trendy again, diarrhea brown, never.
When I was in high school in the early 2000's, bangs trended again. I didn't realized I had a cowlick until I went for what were supposed to be super cute short bangs...
Hi Courtney! Excited for TP writer selection, so diverse & impressive. Wondering if you’d consider sharing your thoughts on auto fiction. Grappling with writing what I want to write about, but not being a famous person, and not wanting to be a platform junkie…sending healing vibes your way! Also, I was in college in the early 90s, so was steeped in acid washed mini skirts that zipped from the bottom, perms with highlights that looked like skunky striped corkscrews, and drinking Jagermeister while listening to the Spin Doctors. Such shame.
I think auto fiction is rad! I have no idea what the market is like for it, I have the impression gatekeepers want things a little black or white, not grey- but if it feels like the right choice for you, go for it!
First, I want to echo your endorsement of Mike Zapata's Novel in the Year course! I did the class two cycles ago as a sort of personal experiment (am I...a writer?). Mike is awesome and brilliant and so, so supportive (and assured me yes, yes you are). I am querying the product of that class right now, accepting all good vibes from fellow writers.
My sad trend experience has to do with self-care. I am a high school teacher, and like everyone in education have a fraught relationship with the work-life balance. A balance that utterly collapsed during Covid when I was teaching from my dining room table for a year and a half and holding super-supportive office hours (i.e. all of the hours) for my students who were often thrown into essential worker roles and catching up on schoolwork long after the regular work day was over. Companies were VERY GENEROUS to teachers during lockdown, including free trial access to apps we otherwise would have needed site licenses to use (with, of course, the hope and expectation that we would all request those licenses from our administrators once things returned to normal, but late-stage capitalism is its own sad trend). One "deal" for teachers that I tried was a popular app that promised enhanced mental self-care -- guided meditation practice, exercises on being present, etc. I had heard great, almost evangelical things about this app from peers, and it was consistently highly ranked in the app store, so I thought I would jump on the trend...only to find that hearing a gentle little chime and reading a push notification advising me to slow down and breathe only jarred me and then made me angry. I was breathing! I was present! In filling out my profile, it asked me so many questions about my health and mental status I felt close to a panic attack and had to delete it from my phone after less than 2 days. It made me sad not just because it fell so short of the experience I had anticipated, but because I made me feel more than a little bit broken as well.
I can relate! Because of my insomnia people are ALWAYS recommending apps like this. I love your story- you are winner #2! I will DM you with deets.
This is for the giveaway. When I was a kid, at some point Converse All-Stars had one of their inevitable trending moments - this was the 80s but these moments seem to be a 7 year cicada or something like that. We were not trend followers. My family was solidly on the last third of your trend forecaster's adoption range, for who acquires it when. So when the tug of mindless following happened, it was already the point at which the product was basically no longer available because the market was saturated and they'd begun retooling to revive wedges or Uno. The only color left was white. White Converse - that's a good commitment for an 11 year old. My mom was like, uh, no. We begged. She sighed. Shortly after we were at a carnival, which was right after a good 'ol Midwest thunderstorm, and when we spotted a cart giving away Kool Aid Koolers juice boxes we made a bee line. Only to have the guy tilt the cart toward us, stepping heavily into the puddle he didn't realize was just beside him. So he wheels the display toward is - ta da! - just as he sends a torrent of muddy water Oh Yeah! ing toward me and my brother's brand new neon white sneakers. My mother's head exploded, and the guy saw this was maybe going to end in a death. Before she could say something, he apologized. And realizing Sorry was not enough, considered dying, and then: Offered Kool Aid Koolers. My brother and I knew there are layers and levels to disappointment, and that day we learned the second degree: Even if a 16 year old carny fucked your shoes up, she never should have bought them for us, which was obviously our fault. Me an my brother stool holding sweating juice boxes in the 85 degree night, feet soaked through the shoe and sock, now knowing that white fabric: Not the same as white leather.
What a saga! Oh man. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you for the introductions, Courtney.
Staci, do you know Jennifer Senior's piece on her aunt who was institutionalized -- "The Ones We Sent Away"? It might be helpful, if you don't know it already.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/09/disabled-children-institutionalization-history/674763/
Remember the cabbage soup diet? A decade or so ago my girlfriends and I thought we'd found the holy grail for dieting--until we realized how hard it was to stomach something so boring and vile day after day but it also made it impossible for us to be around each other--for reasons I will demurely decline to point out. One unfortunate girls night in ended with all of us decidedly wanting to get OUT.
Oh gosh, so I have to admit that I’m never on trend and don’t experience too much embarrassment because #autism, a true upside! But one time my peers made me painfully aware of no longer being on trend was actually recently, when I was advised that the “big” scrunchies are no longer in, especially if you have thin hair such that the scrunchie renders your actual hair invisible. I guess we’re supposed to be using the thin silky scrunchies now? Who knew 😅
I know this because I have a ten year old who screams when I put a big scrunchie in my hair and pulls it out of my hair to give me one of the thin things of which you speak. I love this story you shared-- you are winner #1! I'll DM you deets.
Haha I’m thrilled it’s not just me who still loves a big scrunchie 😂😅🫣
I forgot that curtain bangs + a cowlick + a hot humid climate + a lazy approach to hair styling don't mix.
At one point in late elementary school, Western-style denim skirts were all the rage. When other (thin, popular) girls wore them, they were "cute" and "trendy." When I (chubby, not popular) wore one, I got snide remarks about my "new fashion statement." This was basically the beginning and the end of me attempting to wear new styles of clothing.
I bet you looked amazing! I love a denim skirt.
What a fascinating group of Turning Point writers!
at some point, puffy sleeves became all the rage - it seems every women's shirt, sweater, and blouse had puffed up sleeves. i kept giving them a try but i'm 5,'10 with an athletic built and every time i put them on, i looked like a linebacker with shoulder pads
What a gorgeous group of Turning Points participants! Can't wait to apply for the next one. (I'm lucky enough to have a copy of TOUCH, so I'm a little off-brand with my comment. :) )
When I was in my early 20s and trying to make it as a stylish actress in New York, reading Women’s Wear Daily every morning at my temp job and working at Bloomingdale’s over Christmas, I woke up one day knowing the only thing I had left to fix was my hair. In a time of bouncy curls and waves, it drooped, straight and thin. Wanting to do this right, I went to a salon for a perm, and I emerged with full, wavy hair. The next morning, I awoke to an Afro. Now, I am not a person of color, but, as my mother pointed out, a person of pallor. I told a Black friend, and laughing, she told me where to go to get a box of hair relaxer. And so, for the first and last time in my life, I straightened my hair. The next day, I went for a pixie cut.
A person of pallor is just an unforgettable phrase. Thanks for sharing!
A person of pallor! Love it.
I love this question for the book giveaway! There was a trend in the mid 90's to have permed hair - it was all over Teen Vogue and YM magazine and so I tried to perm my hair with an at home kit, except no one told me you really shouldn't perm your bangs. I looked like a poodle for an entire summer! I've since given up trying to follow hair trends. It just doesn't work out!
I permed my hair in 5th grade and wore my perm with extremely massive earrings - I wanted to be just like Claudia in the Babysitter's Club whom I imagined dressed like this....
Entering the book giveaway! During the pandemic, I wanted to be like all the cool girls, doing zoom yoga at home, and I did. However, around this time, I developed a weird rash on my face. I went to the doctor and they ordered a lupus test. To my horror, it came back positive. For months, I thought I had lupus. I was devastated. I kept doing the home yoga to calm myself. The rash came and went. Then I noticed a pattern. The rash was coming on the days after I did yoga... I considered how I didn't really deep clean the home yoga mat that I was continually pressing my face too, especially my forehead, where the rash kept manifesting. I deep cleaned the yoga mat, and I've never gotten another rash since. Then I paid out of pocket to repeat the lupus test with a more advanced specialist. Negative. It wasn't lupus; it was a false-flag fungus that transferred from my feet to my forehead via my dirty yoga mat!
See, this is one of the reasons I'm just not a yoga person. Thanks for sharing Charlotte and I'm glad it wasn't Lupus!
Me too! I still love yoga though.
What a story! I had no idea my dirty yoga mat could do such harm. Thanks for sharing this, so sorry for your rash. Duly noted! My yoga mat will be cleaned thoroughly tomorrow.
Yes, haha, I clean mine well after every use now, and wash my face right after.