Trends run through schools quicker than head lice and cold bugs. A high school is a particularly nasty breeding ground for trends of all varieties. Remember Pogs? Those bad boys bankrupted unwitting parents for a good chunk of the 90s. Or how about Pokémon cards? Teachers the world over despaired at children subtly playing those, rather than doing any form of work. It was very cool at the time, but could you imagine going outside on your lunch break and playing a game of Pogs? Or trading Pokémon cards with the person at the desk next you rather than doing your job? There are certain trends that just need to stay in high school. Here is a list of 10 high school trends that need to die.
Number Ten: Drawing on Converse. Individualizing your school clothes comes with certain barriers and boundaries that mean you cannot be as creative as you may wish. Aside from plastering everything with pins or writing on your bag in Wite-Out, there are not may other options, thumbholes notwithstanding. However, outside of school there is a world of options. One of these options is decorating Converse trainers with slogans, quotes and inside jokes. Do you think decorating your boots before going out at night out will increase your coolness factor? Didn’t think so.
Number Nine: DIY Thumbholes in School Jumpers. Adding individuality to clothing is always popular in school. Being able to adapt your clothing gives you ample opportunity to display how cool you are. Decreasing the size of your school tie or adding a trouser with a slight flair, or even adding hair adornments could add to your coolness rating. But the best way, the coolest way, was to actually change the school uniform itself. For this very reason, thumbholes were epic. The downside was that your cuffs were inevitably covered in food or ink/paint. Now go and cut holes in your work suit and show your boss how cool you are.
Number Eight: Microsoft WordArt. Need to make a document or project individual? Use WordArt! That’s what everybody else does. In schools the world over, WordArt adorns hallways and classrooms informing passers by of all kinds of classes, meetings, rules and regulations. Next time you need to give a presentation at work to a prospective client, pop in some WordArt for that added cool factor. Not.
Number Seven: Fluorescent Shoes. If you ever wanted to make sure you got noticed, this was the way to do it. These brightly coloured shoes stood out like a sore thumb, which is probably why they were banned from a number of schools. But wear them outside of school, and you were a fashion guru -especially if you combined them with popper tracksuit bottoms. This would be an ideal outfit to wear to your next interview.
Number Six: Scented Gel Pens. Sniffing each others’ pens was commonplace in high schools. These pens had a variety of fruity and appealing smells, and they certainly brought some entertainment to class. The kid in the classroom with these pens was the cool one. Classmates from all corners of the room would venture forth to have a good whiff. But this came with hazards. Pens had a habit of going AWOL, or there would be a number of pupils with multi-coloured noses where they had sniffed too close. Now go into work and ask to sniff a colleague’s pen. I double dare you!
Number Five: Shaving Your Head But Leaving the Fringe. Schools can be a great avenue for experimenting with hair: bowl cuts, middle partings and perms have all found a home in the playground. However, one trend does stand out. The vogue of shaving your entire head, but leaving the fringe. It was a bold look and showed exactly how cool you were because you could pull it off. Actually, no you couldn’t. And you definitely can’t now. So don’t.
Number Four: The Yes/No Eraser Game. This had to be done correctly. Take one eraser of your choice, use something to write ‘Yes’ on one side of the eraser. But one does not simply write ‘Yes’ on an eraser. You need to indent the word into the eraser by going over and over it. Now do the same on the underside with the word ‘No.’ If you have some fancy multisided eraser, do this to all sides with equal numbers of ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ This can now be used to make all of the important life decisions. Carry it with you into adulthood, and it can be used when that loved one proposes to you. Nope, it definitely never fails.
Number Three: Wearing Backpacks on One Shoulder Because You’re Cool. Many parents were driven mad by broken bag straps that had been used to carry double the weight that they should by cool students wearing them on one shoulder instead of two. Some companies even started producing bags that were specifically designed to be worn over one shoulder, but the cool factor came from rebelling against the two straps and sticking it to the man.
Number Two: Filling Your Entire Arm in ‘Shagbands.’ These simplistic, thin plastic bands were worn by high school students across the land. Legend states that each color referred to a different sexual act, and if you broke one of the bands you had to carry out whatever that band’s color correlates with. It was not uncommon to see students with so many they could no longer bend their arms. Wear as many of these as you can to work now, and see how many colleagues, bosses and clients you can lure into breaking some of them and entering into the unbreakable vow.
Number One: Putting ‘Flair’ on EVERYTHING EVER. Pins were awesome: fact. Pins for bands, pins for films, pins for TV shows, pins that advertise how cool pins are – you name it, there’s a pin. Your coolness was therefore measured by how many pins you could fit on your bag. This does not transpire into adult life, and it is not acceptable to put under ‘Skills’ on your CV.
