Believe it or not, these pictures are actually from my happier days in high school, when my hair wasn't permed and my angst was at bay. No wonder I kept them all.
1994: Forgive the uneven reproduction quality of this shot for a moment, and ignore the baggy green Mom Jeans. This picture has the hallmarks of the Meimei style: side-swept bangs, red lipstick, and a fitted, solid-color top with sleeves. In this case, said top was a black mock turtleneck, which I was able to pull off for as long as my chest remained, shall we say, in development. (Damn you, college weight gain!) If I were to restyle this picture, I would've chosen a long-line T with a more flattering neckline - say, a V-neck - and better-fitting low rise jeans, to avoid the sagging-butt effect shown here.Also, I should mention that the cool watch I'm wearing here is, believe it or not, a Swatch. I remember this because I had to swap out the cheesy, worn-out plastic strap for a classier one in green croc leather.
1995: All I can remember from this shot is that this was taken during one of the happiest moments of my life - happy because I was hard at work covering an event for the school paper (ask Scribey - she was there), and I was definitely in love with... um, where was I? Now, I like to joke that this picture is proof that my ego is definitely bigger than my actual hair - as you can see, the shadow behind me makes me look like I got myself a full-blown wig, when in fact I'm actually sporting a plain, one-length bob. And I like how my makeup has all but worn off here, too. What I don't like: the jacket, and the overdone eyebrows. Which reminds me...
Senior year photo: This was taken within a day or two of the last one, but GOOD GRAVY where was Kevyn Aucoin when I really needed him? Ten years ago, I posted a Photoshopped version of this one, where I tried to alter everything from the foundation line on the forehead to the toothy Joker grin... it just didn't work. If anything, though, I think this is actually a great example of a pattern I've found in my pictures from the last decade: the more makeup I wear in the picture, the more insecurities I actually have to hide from the camera. The worst pictures I've taken during my teens, in fact, can be attributed to a combination of too much makeup - dark lips, heavy brows, pasty foundation - and not enough spark behind the eyes. In retrospect, though, I really had no reason to be insecure at all; the old rivalries were beginning to fade away, the studying wasn't going to be so bad, and it wasn't going to take long before puppy love gave way to deeper and truer passions for life and love itself. Oh, well... at least we've come a long way from all of that, and it's all good from here. :)
