now that's what I call old school

At my K-8 Catholic school, we wore little Catholic schoolgirl uniforms. During my time there, girls could choose between cardigans and pullover V-neck sweaters (pullovers were considered manly; I had a pullover), polo shirts or Peter Pan collar blouses (polo shirts were considered cooler; I had the Peter Pan collar), black or white shoes (black was prettier; I had white), and, for the older girls, whether or not you surreptitiously rolled your skirt up at the waist to make it shorter (my skirt went down to my ankles for three years until I grew; then it hit below-the-knee).

As a result of my early stylistic oppression, I had a severely underdeveloped wardrobe until high school (which, in retrospect, is probably a good thing because I had and still have atrocious taste). For Free Dress Days (which grew increasingly important as you neared junior high) I would always* wear the same outfit (baggy Winnie the Pooh jeans from China (whaaaat?), light blue long sleeve t-shirt layered under my pink Paul Frank snail t-shirt, which I still wear... which is gross) because I was trying so hard to look different from my then-friends, in their tight flared jeans and graphic tees with monkeys and sparkly phrases about how cute they were.

*Always, referring to sixth seventh grades, I think, after which point I decided to adopt a really embarrassing Hot Topic junkie look. This leaves out K-5, but I think I used to wear pajama sets my grandma made to school on Free Dress Days, so...

That Paul Frank t-shirt was my first clothing purchase that I thought out and decided by myself that I wanted. Of course, my mother paid (I think I was 10 at the time), but still - it was liberating to have my first pink item of clothing that declared I AM A GIRL, featuring a random picture of a snail, and something that even the pretty blonde/redhead girls thought was acceptable.

I guess I still have that graphic tee mentality, judging by my desire to acquire (...) any of these Ivory Skies t-shirts (I am so sorry, you guys. Rhyming unintentional), which feature ancient artwork. EPIC. Except for their being based in London and total priceyness. I don't even want to attempt to DIY this because the level of detail is too much for my shaky hands, bad drawing skills, and tendency to get frustrated while holding scissors, but if I had to spend the rest of my life wearing graphic t-shirts only, at least one of these would find their way to me. Found via tee zine.