(NOTE: I have since absconded this outfit as after viewing photos from the shoot. I hadn’t realized just how short the skirt was (in certain shots my bum was completely in view, not very ladylike). My personal style has also changed since when I shot this a few years ago. But nevertheless, people seem to enjoy this outfit alot, so I thought I’d let it see the light of day again. Enjoy!)
Although I didn’t put this outfit together until I was well out of school, the whole ensemble made me think of a British Commonwealth schoolgirl. (It brought back fond memories of living in New Zealand and watching students all neatly filing into schools with their matching uniforms. Granted, I’m sure it was no fun for them, but since I never had to wear a school uniform here in the States, I found the whole look rather intriguing.) Originally I had slapped on the outfit haphazardly to keep myself warm backstage during a runway show, but after hearing a few squeals of admiration from other models I decided to document what silly thing I had put together.
The setting here is at one of my alma maters – East Literature Magnet School in Nashville, TN (now known as East Nashville Junior High School). I attended there for 8th, 9th, and part of 10th grade. Sadly, my desire to devour classic literature and be challenged academically there was not satiated there so I moved on to another school. But as far as this blog post goes, it makes for a great backdrop!
The top part that I’m standing on in the photo above was a popular spot for us more adventurous students. We’d jockey for position to get the highest spot then see who could jump off and gain the ever-coveted ‘cool stunt’ status. After doing this photoshoot and knowing how high up that precipice is, that has got to go down as one of the dumbest things I ever did in middle school.
I would like to say that I’ve traded in my textbook-laden backpack for a lighter, more svelte, grown-up tote, but nay, I’m still using my school backpack for transporting my work supplies. (Though I have to give credit where due, Swiss Army makes fantastic gear. My backpack, which I bought at Target about eight years ago, not only holds up, but has little to no signs of wear at all! Best $50 I ever spent.)
In college there were seven of us that all had this same Swiss Army backpack in my TV Production class. So we all agreed to put something on our backpacks that signified it being ours so there was no mix-up in picking up someone else’s backpack by mistake. So while everyone else put on various band and music-related memorabilia, I flew my geek flag in the form of a Bumblebee keychain. Even when I go on film or TV sets these days, this backpack will still appear (inevitably a grip or best boy will have this exact backpack), so Bumblebee still comes in handy!
Dress: Forever 21
Tights: DKNY
Socks: Topshop via Ebay
Shoes: Goodwill
Glasses: Gifted
Backpack: Swiss Army via Target
All photographs taken by © Abrea Crackel 2011. http://abreacrackel.com/
