YA Fashion and Stereotypes...Today!

Quick Update: Just finished typing up a faux movie review for my journalism class’s April Fools Issue. It’s a sci-fi/dystopian-macabre-adventure/action-soppy romance. Its lead actor is Justin Bieber, and Charlie Sheen voices a talking animal. Figure THAT out.

Song Stuck In My Head: “Stay Home” by Self, via soundtrack for 1st Shrek movie (rather random, I know)

Heey, guys, long time no…blog. Spring break’s over, I’m back in the computer lab, I got TWO, count ‘em, TWO new followers in my absence (to whom I wave vigorously to) and it’s time for something fresh.

This post is mostly inspired by a purchase I made the other day, a long and very Joan-Jett-esque leather lacket. One of the buttons is missing, a pocket’s torn in, and there’s some tears. That kinda just makes look more badass though. : ) I LOVE it. And not just because it looks rocker, but it fits this thing the baddie wears in my WIP. Which got me to thinking….

What DOES fashion say about the tweens/teens in your WIP? Anything? Everything?

I am so not going to make it seem like I know anything about fashion in the real world of teenagers. I have a dorky-rocker look going on with lots of colors, ties, gloves, skirts, and heavy makeup. Very hybrid.

Here are what I would call today’s stereotypes though. It has evolved far from the broad classifications (cocky jock, cheerleader-prep, uuber-nerd, poetic goth, and plaaain/everyman) that we all already know and love. Much more distinct….




Jock has developed into…

Richer, preppier, well-to-do “jocks” - For some reason, wear a lot of white. Long shirts. Lifetime supply of shorts. These tend to be the ones on track or cross-country teams, but also basketball too.

Buff, more classical, tanned “jocks” - The vest is still a popular artifact, if you want to keep that in. More pants too. Definitely for more of the football variety, but soccer and baseball too.




Cheerleader has developed into…

Girl “Jocks” - These are the girls who walk around with the jerseys and sports outfit’s a lot like it is their wardrobe. Depending on whatever sport they’re in, of course.

Actual cheerleaders - Not too much of a similarity between them, except for their size. Just remember they almost ALWAYS have their hair up.

Fashionistas of the future - Girls with big, layered hair made by extensions and a lot of short skirts, heels or boots, make-up galore, fishnets, lace, etc. Sometimes I see them wearing designs they made in fashion class. Good for them.



Uuber-nerds have developed into…

Modernized geeks/nerds - Think a lot of cargo shorts and a lot of baggy t-shirts. The most common hair is short, sorta-touseled but thick hair that makes you think of Daniel Radcliffe in the first Harry Potter movie.

Girl geeks/nerds - More fashionally awkward clothes. Think stuff you’ll see in a thrift store a bit more, haha.

And, my fave, fan girl geeks - Band shirts, lots of colors and randomness. I have friends who wear pigtails and then ones who merely straighten their hair. There’s usually some sort of thing on their clothes or backpacks that relate to animals too.



Poetic goth has developed into…

Dark goth - Yep, they still wear black. Dyed hair. Fishnets and the occasional leather glove. When it comes to girls though, not-so-Goth accessories like silver jewelry have become more commonplace. Don’t ask why, because I do not know eiter.

Rocker/metal Goth - A lot of black, but more skinny jeans, band or Hot Topic shirts, and so many accessories that one might scream. Their hair is usually wild, colorful and creatively dyed but usually joined by black (underneath or in highlights perhaps).

Plain/everyman has developed into…

Well, nothing. This sect shall always exist, the epicenter of all the others. Today, that usually means Wal-mart or Target clothes. I’m not sure about shirts, since my high school has a t-shirt uniform. Skinny jeans are still way too popular (if it was just girls I’d understand but there’s nothing more traumatizing than a guy wearing skinny jeans low enough to see his boxers). Shoes are mostly converse or sneakers. A lot of hair is straightened when it comes to girls. Relatively simple when it comes down to it.

Stereotypes have come a long way since John Hughes. There are more in-betweens, more specific classifications. When deciding what kind of teenager your main character will be, don’t over think their wardrobe. Sometimes fashion can just be natural.



What sort of fashion-stereotypes do your characters already seem to be like? How about your favorite YA characters when it comes to clothes? After all, there are many interesting people out there besides Plain-Jane/girl-geek hybrids like Bella Swan.

Okay. The laptop screen is starting to dizzy me, so time to catch some Z’s. I’ll talk to you all later, hopefully! Expect a Rec of the Week on a book next week. ;)

And I'll leave you with a trailer for the movie I'm sort of DYING to see right now (it involves a girl in a mental asylum, haha!)

THERE ARE NO WORDS FOR THIS

Quick Update: Just checked out two books dealing with teens in a mental hospital to read over spring break. Haha.

Song Stuck In My Head: EVERY. AVRIL. LAVIGNE. SONG. EVER. CREATED.

Pretty amazing day I had yesterday. My friend may or may not have broken up with her jerk of a boyfriend, finally. The adorable gay guys in this "gay-straight" alliance club me and a couple of my friends attend were friggin' HILARIOUS yesterday during this game we played. We didn't have to trek in my P.E. class.

Oh yeah...and yesterday I bought this CD here...



Pretty amazing day indeed!

And I listened to it all in one sitting, barely breathing. My face probably looked like this...

There's no greater joy than being a fangirl. I truly regret the day I do that weird "growing up" thing (haha) and don't obsess over things like musicians and movies, because it's an inner happiness that can rarely ever be obtained. I mean, it has its downsides (me and one of the aforementioned friends were recently ready to cry and sob because we JUST found out the guitarist and drummer left one of our favorite bands) but the upsides (is that a word?) were worth it.

I won't post a long, overly detailed review on here, to save you guys the time. Avril Bandaids has a post thingy just for reviews, so I think I'll put my long, overly detailed opinion on there. It's definitely a CD I would recommend though, if you ever decide to purchase an Avril Lavigne album. Just sayin'.

And to keep this blog-ish, have you guys ever waited for a CD/book/movie/etc. so long and so passionately that you felt it in your veins? How did it feel when that wonderful, spectacular, beautiful thing came into your possesion? Sharing time! Haha!

Okay, hopefully I can talk to you guys later this week. We have two early release days, then a week off for spring break (even though I live in a mega-party town, I'll probably stay inside 24/7) but I'm hoping to visit the library and visit. :)

So whether or not I talk to you guys, have fun, and see you later!

PLAYLIST OF THE MONTH: Nostalgiac, Bittersweet Songs

Quick Update: My mom just got herself her first Facebook! I'm not too terrified (yet) because I rarely go on there and she doesn't know how to use it anyways, xD.

Song Stuck In My Head: Pretty much this entire video.

I'm drafting this in math, instead of doing notes. I failed to write the blog last night, since I sorta dozed off while listening to Avril Lavigne songs. Sleep deprivation will do that to you.

Anyways, welcome to the second ever PLAYLIST OF THE MONTH! And today's theme is *drum roll* NOSTAGLIA. As in, missing somebody or a part of your life that you can never go back to, with a mixture of happiness and downright depression.



This is today's theme mostly because a preview of one of Avril's new songs - Wish You Were Here - is dancing in my head. Also because we mentioned something about conserving old memories in my history class.

And now, moving onto the music!

INCUBUS - 11 A.M. This song is very bittersweet, almost-acoustic tune, and Brandon Boyd's vocals match it perfectly. With lyrics that mention how the garbage day is a sad day, since there are things you're throwing away for good. They use the best metaphors. I'd definitely recommend looking up the lyrics to this when you listen to it.



THE CARDIGANS - Erase and Rewind. Totally not a song I would typically listen to, but someone put it in the background of a video I watched once, and it stuck. IT's a very soft, mellow tune, and really descriptive of how it feels to be unable to go back and change something in the past.

SICK PUPPIES - The Way. My favorite band! This is one of their earlier songs (circa 2000) when they were living in Australia still, and it's definitely the soft song on the album. But it's still pretty amazing, and very nostalgiac over "the way things used to be".


METRIC - Combat Baby. Metric is one of my Indie vices. :) Anyhow, it's a very dark and moody indie-punk song, about missing the way things were, even if the way things were weren't the most enjoyable thing over. Stuff like "I miss your ranting", and "do you miss my all-time lows?"




GREEN DAY - Whatshername. The ultimate modern rock, post-break-up song. Trying to forget the person, trying to remember, it's a whole mass of confusion. Since the entire American Idiot album is about the fictional "St. Jimmy", it makes sense that the girl he loved would get her own song, however nostagliac.

I guess I'd thought it would be cool to have a playlist with this theme, since last month's theme was all love songs. These are songs that hit hard when the love and spark is gone and fading. A lot of fictional characters go through this feeling after all. Can you guys think of anything that represents that emotion to you?

And that's today's blog! I have no idea how inverse functions (today's lesson) work, but I'm thinking my life will go on. I guess I'll talk to you all later. Expect a very, very, VERY Avril-themed string of blogs next week. xD




Later, and be sure to have an awesome weekend!

ZOMBIELAND! (Rec of the Week Post)

Quick Update: I’m in another fight with my WIP right now. We’re giving each other the silent treatment, so I thought I would finally blog, haha.

Song Stuck In My Head: “I Believe In a Thing Called Love” by the Darkness. Such an awesome yet weird song.

My hand really hurts right now. We had one of our “standardized tests” today in school, and it was the writing portion. I’m so used to writing illegibly and all over the place that writing as neatly as possible on lines just gets on my nerves. It doesn’t help that I had a panic attack because in the two pages we have to write on, I started on the second by accident (it shouldn’t matter, especially since I made a note, but until it gets graded over the summer I will never breathe properly).

Anyhow…onto the topic of ZOMBIELAND!



Once upon a time, two screenwriters realized there was a serious lack of zombies on TV. Movies had a lot of them, sure, but what about primetime? Only their pilot bombed. So, with encouragement, they decided to instead make it a movie and release as an independent film. However, with big names from Woody Harrelson to Abigail Breslin signing on, it instead became a feature film. And…tah-dah.

Zombieland is the farthest thing from a zombie flick. Narrated and told in the point-of-view of geeky, shut-in “Columbus”, played rather redundantly by Jesse Eisenberg, it instead follows four survivors of a viral disease gone bad. As Columbus words it, “Mad cow became mad human became mad zombie”.



Columbus lived because he was lonely and feared people, and created many rules for himself, which is mostly small things like avoiding bathrooms and checking the backseat for any monsters. Woody Harrelson’s character, “Tallahassee”, is a tough, badass modern cowboy - basically a polar opposite of Columbus - who makes hunting zombies (and Twinkies, apparently) his main priority, having lost his baby son to the disease. Joining on for the ride is sister duo my favorite actress Emma Stone (“Wichita”) and Abigail Breslin (“Little Rock”). The sisters are cons with serious trust issues, and lived by pretty much playing other guys for what they had, and because they look out for each other.

This not-so-merry band of survivors end up together, and staying together when they realize it can be a good thing to not be alone in this mess. Together, they avoid the zombies and end up saving Wichita and Little Rock in an epic zombie-fest at an amusement park.



There is only reason I need to give to watch this movie, and it is the characters. Sure, their clashing personalities is a laugh, but there is a depth to each one of them that is rarely ever seen in horrors or comedies, as this is both. The movie is pretty much shaped around them, and how they would actually react towards a messed up situation like this. Definitely a rarity for Hollywood films these days (no offense, guys…okay, maybe a bit).

Here’s one of my favorite parts from the film, if you guys wanna watch. It's Tallahassee on the hunt for Twinkies. ;)



So, has anyone else seen it and have comments? If not, then…another time. It’s the first week of the month, so I’ll try another Playlist post. Any ideas for song themes? :) Oh well. I guess I’ll go back to listening to Avril Lavigne (all I’ve been doing the past week or two, with her album out, well, NEXT WEEK!) and see if my WIP will talk to me. Ooooh, hey, American Idol is on…. *torn*

Later!