Modern Lore 7.3: An embarrassing outfit
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Aunt Debbie thought that I could become more popular if I had trendier clothes, something to mix in with the K-Mart t-shirts and Champion gym shoes. On Hanukkah, serenaded by impressed oohs and ahhs, I pulled off the lid of a cardboard box emblazoned with Macy's red star and stared down at faux leather gold bellbottoms. They looked just like something Lizzie McGuire would wear. I wore them to school, unsure how to style them with my pilled sweaters and ratty curls, and heard snickers in the hallway follow me to homeroom.
Grudgingly, Debbie took me to Macy's to return them, reminding me of how ungrateful I had been. She flung through racks of floral leggings and asked why I didn't want to look more like a girl. I raised my voice and told her to leave me alone. A sales clerk came over to see if there was a problem between my mom and I. This was not the first time she was mistaken for my mother, who was curvy and a brunette. Debbie dyed her hair red and was thin. She had been born with a different nose, and once told me that it had looked just as large as mine. She was the right age to have a tween daughter who argued with her in department stores. Debbie forgot about our argument, deeply flushed, and corrected him. We finished circling the girls' section tensely, shocked by the price tags dangling from jeans. On the drive home, she suggested we go to Target instead, but another time, and we would bring my mother along.
circa 2003