When
jcpenney contacted me about doing a back-to-school-themed post, I jumped at the chance. It's been years since I've had a first day back, but the bookworm in me still gets excited every August.
Top: Courtesy of jcpenney // Shirt as skirt: Thrifted, $1 // Shoes: Dolce Vita via Gilt, purchased with credit // Ring: jcpenney, $10
The challenge was simple: create an outfit inspired by a school picture from childhood. While I couldn't find any first day photos, I did find a relic from picture day, which was just as important an occasion.
This gem dates back to 1994. As you can see, I was going through my grunge phase at the time. Just look at that flannel! I would have made a good little second-grade Seattleite.
While shopping, this
gorgeous yellow number was the first thing to catch my eye. I reminded myself to focus! This top bore no resemblance to my inspiration. Then... a lightbulb! It dawned on me how cool this pattern would look paired with red plaid. The only trouble was, I don't have any plaid skirts. Then I remembered a post on
the Concrete Catwalk awhile back in which Jessie fashions a button-up shirt into a skirt, so I gave it a shot. Paired with some strappy black sandals (the next best thing to combat boots), I thought this look captured the rebellious spirit of my bygone style while still looking grown-up.
Tell me about your best (or worst) back-to-school look in the comments section of this post for a chance to win a $50 gift card from
jcpenney! Open to US residents only. Entries will be accepted through Wednesday, August 31st at noon central time.
Oh man...I can see the picture in my head. There I am in a white tee, with a giant mens green flannel as a sort of cardigan over it. Huge baggy jeans with holes in the knees (probably cut by hand, not in battle field of playgrounds with my roller blades or bike), and giant white platform sneakers. I thought I was the coolest kid. I'm pretty sure I was wearing one of those elastic black choker necklaces too. Classy lady, always.
ReplyDeleteI love this mix of prints, and that skirt totally reminds me of the days of tying a shirt around my waist...you know, every day!
ReplyDeleteYour hair looks so glamourous!
Love this outfit, and I love JCP! Hmm... first day outfit... I seem to remember wearing a backless linen top & bell bottoms. Could have been 1st day of school, could have been any day at school, but we'll go with 1st day!
ReplyDeleteOh I love this look! The top is SO pretty :) and that school photo is SO cute ^^ x
ReplyDeleteI love how you used a shirt as a skirt. So original. I may have to try that sometime.
ReplyDeletexo, rv
http://aneclecticheap.blogspot.com/
I'd have to say my 2 worst picture day outfits occurred in 5th grade (green corduroy Winnie the Pooh overalls) and 6th grade (faded black Levi's carpenter jeans and a Nike basketball t-shirt that read 'I'm the Queen of this court, Jack').
ReplyDeleteUgh, what was I thinking? Or better, what was my mom thinking?
My worst back to school out fit was a dress that came with a matching scrunchy headband with a huge bow on it. The print was huge hawaiian floral in bright pink, green, and yellow. It looked like I stole someone's curtains out of their hawaiian beach house to use as fabric, in the 80's. Horrible!
ReplyDeleteMy very first day of Kindergarten I dressed in all purple- Purple shorts, tee shirt, vest (90's!), socks, and tennies. I love the picture we have from that day. So cute!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love how you can pull off the shirt-as-skirt trick. Looks great!
your hair is killlller like this. it's the perfect mix of lady-ness with the plaid!
ReplyDeleteOy, you're making me feel old. I'm pretty sure I had that same flannel, but I was in high school at the time. Ack!
ReplyDeleteOne grade school year I thought it would be fun to color a section of my (blonde) bangs with a hot pink hilighter... and baggy purple leggings under a denim skirt...
ReplyDeleteI was always a t-shirt and jeans girl growing up. I think the worst back to school look for me though was actually my hair — the year I discovered the blowdryer but not the diffuser was not ok with my curly hair.
ReplyDeleteI really really like this combo so fab - Ariane
ReplyDeleteMy worst photo look was my 1st grade photos. I had on a cute purple dress with a Popsicle necklace, but the school decided to send us out to recess immediately before our photos were taken- and THEN they gave us our combs to fix our hair. So my hair was all messy and sticking up and my eyes were squinted in my school picture and in the yearbook.
ReplyDeleteWell, the outfit that comes to mind isn't technically a first day ensemble... but since you cheated I think I will too. :)
ReplyDeleteEvery Friday at my middle school if you wore orange and black you were entered into a raffle, which was drawn at the monthly school assembly. Not being a loyal Tiger, but just a kid who never won anything, I would try to come up with outfits that weren't obviously Tiger-themed, but just point out the smidges of color to my homeroom teacher. Anyway, my go-to Raffle Friday outfit?
A short-sleeve, crew-neck, ankle-length, Lycra, orange&hot pink&lime green tiny flower print dress with black foamy platform sandals.
I wish I had been in to grunge....
As a freshmen in high school, for some reason it was really cool to buckle your belt on the side and wear a brightly colored one with a billion holes. All I remember is feeling so trendy on my first day as I buckled my belt on my hip. At that time I also wore glasses and had braces...I am so glad that extreme awkwardness has been left (mainly) in the past. :)
ReplyDeleteMy mom has a first day of school picture of my sister and me, and we're wearing matching dresses, made by my aunt. They were sweatshirt tops, and bandana printed skirts, and we're both wearing cowboy boots, and HUGE bows. Classy!
ReplyDeleteMy worst back to school outfit had to be for 5th grade, circa 1998. I honestly don't remember what top I wore... The pants were bell bottom jeans from Walmart's Jordache line that had black/white racer stripes down the sides. I wore PLATFORM Keds-like white tennies from Walmart as well. I was superhot stuffs.
ReplyDeleteLove your grown up look! :)
wow! I don't usually shop jcp that yellow shirt is fabulous! And such a good price!
ReplyDeleteI remember vividly that for one of my first days I wore a black spandex shiny baby tee with sunflowers all over it. Then, to top it off, I added clip-on earring that were big fake sunflowers... Actually, you know what? I think it was kinda fabulous for an elementary school kid :)
I love that top!
ReplyDeleteThis is the most genius thing ever!! A flannel top as a skirt?! I feel like my world was just rocked haha. It looks great with that top. The picture of you is so cute, I love your little grunge phase
ReplyDeletexJennaD
My best back to school outfit was an adorable purple dress that my grandma made. It even had smocking on the front and princess puffy-ish sleeves. I LOVED IT. I had my preschool photos taken in the dress and had my mom give me cute little curls in my hair. :)
ReplyDeletefashionfrugality at gmail.com
Back when B.U.M Equipment was big, I wore one of those shirts for school picture day. In the picture, it was cropped so that all you could see was B.U.M.
ReplyDeleteI remember wearing a matching top and bottom set with clowns on it. It was awesomely scary.
ReplyDeleteUntil my junior year in highschool I attended a private school with very stiff plaid uniforms, so every back-to-school outfit was, in a word, uniform. Having been freed from the plaid jumper and peter pan collar blouse, I spent my final two school years at the uber-casual end of the spectrum--primarily in velour track suits. Gross!
ReplyDeleteThere is a photo that exists somewhere in this world….first day of fifth grade….
ReplyDeleteacid wash overalls with only one buckle done, a green tshirt with the sleeves that folded up to reveal purple, some brand new adidas kicks, and the perm that my mom made me get every year. But in this photo, the flash made my perm’s shadow huge. FROTASTIC.
I’m much better now, I swear….
First day of kindergarten I wore the best Little House on the Prairie inspired dress. It was blue and white gingham and too big. I still have the picture of myself standing front of the tree in the front yard.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing a fashion blog post last year about Michelle Obama wearing a blue floral print dress and jelly shoes. My first thought was, ahh...jelly shoes, how much I loved them as a kid (well, except when they got rocks stuck in the heels). Then I remembered that my first day of kindergarten outfit, chosen by myself was...a blue floral print dress and jelly shoes! (And Katy, you have such a pretty smile, we should see more of it!)
ReplyDeleteI had a pretty serious obsession with cats and animals in general growing up, so, as you may imagine, there was many an animal-printed sweater in my school photos. And I kind of still love animal printed clothes, not gonna lie. :)
ReplyDeleteWith the new school year in full swing, I’m pretty upset that I won’t ever have to choose a “first day of school” outfit ever again. One of the many pitfalls of graduating college. Anyway, this is how my mother dressed me on my first day of Kindergarten: Polka dots, horizontal stripes, pink trim, and a pink quilted backpack shaped as a doll. I still can’t decide if this is the best (blackmail material) or worst (outfit) my mother has dressed me in.
ReplyDeletehttp://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqib8bCGpE1qaqxl2o1_400.jpg
I used to wear the same dress for the first day of school every year from first to fifth grades. my mother had made it for me - it was a pink and green plaid [think Easter colors] with panel of smocked flowers over the chest. very girly.
ReplyDeleteas much as I loved that dress, I'm pretty glad I no longer dress like that.
Thanks for the amazing inspiration on this blog.
ReplyDeleteMy worst school picture was probably 1st grade. My mom was a teacher and could be there to help my sister and I get ready...Let me put it into a some key terms here: Permed, mullet, teased, missing teeth, and wrinkled shirt. I think I managed to destroy all of them, but my mom may be hiding a copy for my children to mock me one day.
Yup, love it. I have so many flannelette shirts - definitely gonna try wearing them as skirts!
ReplyDeleteMy best back to school attire, though never captured on film (thank God), consisted of black pants, a bright pink striped sweater and yellow canvas hi-tops. I remember literally crying about this outfit since I didn't like the hi-tops at the time, but I'd wear those now if they'd fit! So, it was more of a best outfit in hindsight.
ReplyDeleteMan, I had a lot of terrible back-to-school outfits. Terribly awesome. I remember in second grade I thought school uniforms were cool (probably because my school didn't have them), so my mom bought me one anyway. First day of second grade: white button up, plaid uniform jumper, lacy ankle socks, saddle shoes, and a headband with a huge red bow.
ReplyDeleteBack to school outfits are always the best! I used to agonize over my outfit for weeks. I think my best outfit was in 9th grade when I was really into the 60's/70's hippy look (this was in 2003!). I wore these patchwork jeans that literally had patches sewn all over. Then I wore this billowy brown peasant top and boots. I had my hair flipped out, Farrah Fawcett style! I loved that outfit.
ReplyDeleteIn 4th grade, I wore an over sized shirt that had two bears eating cookies on it and said "In the cookies of life, good friends are the chocolate chips!" with yellow leggings, white high tops, and treasure troll earrings that had green hair. Clearly, I was awesome.
ReplyDeleteretrokitty [at] gmail [dot] com
Hmmm....I'm seeing myself in skin tight knee length olive green striped shorts with a matching t-shirt and white tennis shoes and big bangs! Awful to think about now, but I was in style back then :)
ReplyDeletetara.huff(at)gmail(dot)com
I love the plaid shirt inspiration you drew from your school picture. Cool way to wear a plaid shirt as a skirt. The two patterns look really neat together. I especially love that ring you're wearing though!
ReplyDeleteyay! love your take on the tied shirt-as-skirt look! :) XOXO
ReplyDeleteFirst day outfit that was best at the time and worst in retrospect - my first day of kindergarten, I wore a pink shirt with matching pink and green striped leggings. Paired with my LA Gear light up tennies, I probably thought I was the coolest kid in school!
ReplyDeleteLove the plaid shirt as a skirt. I may have to try this!