J. Crew: If It Came Back Today, Would You Wear It? (Holiday 2002 Edition.)

Whoosh.  Whoosh.  Whoosh.

That is the sound of me walking down the hall at the school I was teaching at during the winter of 2002.  I blame J. Crew. 

Check out these lovely outfits.

Woah.  Those jeans are low slung on the hips and super long AND bell bottomed.  Hoo boy.  And of course she isn't wearing high heels or anything to help her legs.  Nope.  Just a pair of cute socks.

Overall, the outfit just borders on boring, but I couldn't let this outfit go at just boring. 

Do you all remember the jeans that were so long and yet every single woman wore them with flip-flops and/or flat shoes of some sort?  And then the hems (especially in the back) got so ragged and unkempt and dirty?  And yet somehow, someway, this was considered kind of cool?

I admit to doing that.  I know, ugh.  That whoosh, whoosh, whoosh sound lasted for far too long...probably from 1997 till 2005.  Eep.

(Having said all that, this model is beyond adorable!  Love her cute look, wish they would bring her back!)

Oh, look, the same basic outfit!  How inventive!  No wait!  They added a scarf and some kind of pair of loafers! 

You just know that those pants hems are so gross, right?  Even the walk from the model trailer to the location spot probably gathered some awful dust and germs. 

(And her crotch.  Why did they do that to her?  Mean.)

Yeah, the shoe selection in the early 2000s was kind of horrible.  My aging hippy momma wears these with pride today.  But since she is an aging hippy momma, she would never spend more than $10 for a pair of clogs, mules, or loafers from the local Goodwill.  These would be far too rich for her blood.

I admit to having mules, clogs, and loafers!  In many shades of brown!  They were probably all from J. Crew.  Just kidding.  I couldn't even go there.  Back then Parade of Shoes existed and they satisfied all my boring shoes needs.  Living large was Aerosoles.

To make it worse, I wouldn't wear the mules or clogs with the jeans because the back of the hem always got caught in the heel of the clogs and mules, so I settled on wearing the longer jeans with tennis shoes or loafers.  My ragged hems were horrid.  (I need to drag out a pair of jeans I kept from this era specifically for doing chores in...and photograph the evidence.  Yikes.)

Quick memory that I am reminded of from this shot: Back in the mid-90s I was on a softball team at work and I was flirting with one of the other guys on the team and he totally flirted back and somehow, at the end of the flirting, he picked me up just like this model (Marisa something?) is being picked up.  I was floored.  Not that I was all huge or anything, but I am not exactly tiny, either.  I still kind of think of that guy like he is superman. 

BTW, the most color in this catalog is on Marisa in this shot.  That pink sweater is about it.  LOL.

So tell me...did you enjoy this look?  Would you still wear it today if J. Crew reissued it???

Talk soon!