8:07 a.m. Wednesday, At home: I'm getting up early this morning to go to the mall with my friend, Nicki. I'm working on a story about how people react to the way a person dresses.
Nicki is helping me get ready for my day of adventure. She's going to dress like she always does, in a T-shirt and jeans. Today I'm going to dress as a depressing-looking, Gothic freak.
I'm looking to see what reactions I get from shoppers and managers. The outfit I chose is mainly black with a silvery waste wrap tied under my black handbag. I'm going to line my eyes with very black mascara, silver shadow and very black heavy mascara. I've got on black lip liner with deep red in the middle. I drew a design around my left eye because I saw a girl with it once and thought it was unique.
Our first stop is the McDonald's in town, where I work. Some of the people I work with wanted to see how my final make-up came out.
9:15 a.m., At McDonald's: I walk in with my new look. "Wow, Megan you look so different. It looks great," says Mandy M, 16.
Josh, who's been labeled a freak at school, says, "You look amazing. You look like you just walked out of the Palladium (a local club) on the night of a 'Kittie' show. Totally hot, dude," Josh says.
"That's not hot," says Chris, a straight-A jock on the Varsity football team. "She looks deranged and unnatural."
10:00 a.m., At The Mall: Nicki and I walk into Abercrombie and Fitch. Normally, I would buy my comfortable guy's jeans there. We browse. Three or four crew members approach me and ask if I need help. I feel crowded. I never get this much attention when I'm just wearing my jeans.
I approach the manager, pull out a normal, everyday picture of me and explain that I'm doing field work for a story about teens and the way they dress. I ask her if she would answer a few questions. She gladly agrees.
Q. "When you first saw me walk in, what did you think of me?"
A. (haha) "I thought security may come in handy today. I was wondering why you would shop here."
Q. "Was it your idea for all the crew members to ask if I needed help?"
A. "Yes, it was. I apologize for that now. I didn't realize. I wanted people around you at all times."
Q. "Why?"
A. "I'm a new manager, so they're expecting me to screw up sometime soon because of all the pressure of having so much responsibility. I figured I'd keep you under close watch to help save my butt."
Q. "If you don't mind me asking. How old are you?"
A. "I don't mind at all. I'm 22. I should be more open-minded for my age."
Friday, 8 p.m., A local prep school: The kids of a local private school are having a back-to-school dance. I'm going with Ashley, a junior who works with me at McDonald's. I'm dressing freaky.
Ashley lets her friends in on the scam. They're really cool about it and don't look
at how I'm dressed the whole night. They just look at my personality.
"I probably wouldn't have talked to you if Ash didn't tell me what you were doing," admits Jason, 17.
Then I start dancing with Jordan, a popular senior varsity lacrosse player. People are really staring at us, especially the girls who do everything they can to be with that guy all year long. A 'freak' meets him and within minutes they hit it off.
It's funny to watch those girls furious with the fact that Jordan went beyond looks and was with me for me. Ash tells me later that they started dressing in comfortable fitted T's and jeans to get Jordan's attention at school. I wasn't looking for the jealousy reaction, but I got it.
GOING PREPPY
My next experiment is dressing as a 'prep' at a local concert. All the bands in the county get together at the Palladium every two weeks and have a battle of the bands. My band was going on fourth that night.
Saturday, 7:30 p.m., My house: When my drummer and bassist get to my house, they're all decked out in their leather and chains for the show. I'm wearing a sweater and black dress pants.
"Meg, what's the deal with your clothes?" says Tommy, the bassist. "Where's your usual leather pants, black baby tee and chain linked wallet?" He can't stop laughing. "You turnin' prep on us, Tuff?"
I tell them what I'm doing. I'm only going to wear the sweater off stage. I'll change to my regular garb for our show.
8 p.m.: At the club. The security guard busts out laughing. He's used to seeing me on stage being a typical rock female singer, working the crowd. "Do you plan to rock the crowd with that getup? C'mon you look like my sister, the geeky soccer player that can't live a day out of khakis and sweaters," Jimmy laughs.
I explain that I'm ditching the sweater for the show, but he still laughs at me.
I wasn't really comfortable and won't wear it again. So my night with the band left me with only criticism. They really didn't like the prep look at the concert. I guess it
did look a little funny. I mean a sweater at a rock concert?
The NEXT DAY: I go to the mall in my prep clothes. Back at Abercrombie and Fitch, no one bothers me or asks if I need help. At Gadzooks, Lauralee, one of the girls I go to school with, is working and she asks, "What's up with the prep?"
In the mall halls, people walk by and smile. They look so pleasant and comfortable with me walking near them, unlike when I was dressed in all black and wore a lot of make-up.
Just goes to show. What you wear makes a difference. But should it? And are we missing out on meeting some great people, just because they dress different than us? Something to think about.
