By Liana Satenstein

Name: Jenny Shaab

Year: Sophomore

Major: Broadcast Journalism

“Yeah, when I was little, kids made fun of me. They used to tell me to pull my pants down because they were too high,” Jenny Shaab tells me as she lightly reminisces about middle school hecklers on the playground. “But it wasn’t my fault. I was growing! My waist was high!” Fortunately, Jenny is no longer teased by snot-nosed brats in light-up sneakers. Her once awkwardly high waist, emphasized by “high water, mom jeans,” has now matured into long legs made more sophisticated by empire waist skinny jeans.

“I’ve never actually worn this,” Jenny tells me as she takes off her black Miss 20 Mary Mack-ish pea coat. At a quick glance, her outfit is deceivingly contrived, influenced by the adult trends of commercial fashion magazines, but not enough that I cannot poke fun at her.

“Mardi Gras beads?” I jokingly ask her. The two childlike necklaces that hang from her neck could create a mismatched generational gap when paired with her clean-cut outfit, but it is the necklaces that bridge the gap between sophistication and playful individuality.

“So who influences you? Like your role models,” I ask.

“Well, my mom. She was in New York during the ’70s and very much into fashion. Her trends back then have repeated themselves. Instead of going to thrift stores, I usually just wear her stuff: her shoes, belts and here is my favorite shirt.” Jenny pulls out a slouchy ’80s long- sleeve, covered in fruit prints. “It was from my mom’s honeymoon in 1984 in the Bahamas. Look. Over here it says ‘Hot Tomato,'” she laughs.

“So you like vintage things. Do you usually get stuff in thrift stores?” I continue.

“Kind of, not really. I like getting stuff from people that I know. It has more of a story behind it. I guess it could be cool also to get stuff from a vintage place. It is somewhat unknown; you don’t know the history behind it.”

And what about her fashion mistakes?

“Okay, well, it was a skirt but with pants underneath it.” From her computer, Jenny pulls up a picture of the Hot Topic version of one of her childhood faux pas. “No! I swear they didn’t look like that! They were actually really nice. My mom made me wear them; at the time I didn’t know what I was doing. But now I understand it. It was nice clothing, and I’m glad I was dressed like that. Nice clothing is an investment. I still have a lot of inexpensive things, but I like to have a few nice things. Plus I always get a lot of wear out of them.”

Jenny has grown a lot since her younger years and now wears what she likes. At times, she channels a mature, chic feel in black turtlenecks, and other times, she channels a playful innocence through bright bangles and rings. Although she has put the teasing of trendy middle-school students behind her, her mature yet eccentric clothing choices still receive some infantile taunts.

“You know what is funny, the other day I was walking and I was wearing my cow sweatshirt,” Jenny tells me as she pulls out a fire-red sweatshirt with a cow plastered on the front, “and some girl walked by and commented, ‘Oh, shorty has a cow on her shirt.’ But, I mean, whatever; I don’t care what people say. I wear what I am comfortable in. I have grown up.”