"IT WAS MY MUM'S IN THE 80S"

Why I think hand-me-downs are the coolest thing ever.

I went to see the new Mean Girls film the other day, and YES, it was as bad as you would expect any Gen-Z take on a millennial classic to be.

However, it wasn’t the singing or the borderline cringe-acting that bothered me the most, nor was it the fact that they re-imagined ‘The Plastics’ as social media influencers (ugh! I just hate when films mention social media; in my opinion, it’s the main thing that separates the films of today from the 90’s classics.) It was that, to my memory (which cannot be trusted as I was far too distracted by the film’s poor fashion choices to follow it properly), they completely cut out my favourite part.

I always looked forward to the scene between Regina George and Lea Edwards that plays out as so…

R: “Oh my God, I love your skirt! Where did You get it?”

L: It was my mom’s in the ‘80s.

R: Vintage, so adorable.

L: Thanks (Lea Walks away)

R: That is the ugliest effing skirt I’ve ever seen.

The ‘y2k’ miss-sixty-esque tartan mini skirt that Lea wears is, in my opinion, completely and utterly ICONIC (yes, I have now paused my writing to search up tartan mini skirts on Vinted). But that’s not the only reason I love this scene; I love it because every time I watch it, it reminds me of all the ICONIC pieces that my very own mum has passed down to me.

Over the years, my mum has given me her highly treasured Morgan De Toi corset top, her pink lace trim Jane Norman crop top, a black two-piece she used to wear clubbing, and even a pair of Rock & Republic flares (I know, what you’re thinking—my mum sounds like she has the type of wardrobe that would have Depop Girlies foaming at the mouth with jealousy).

But the fact that these pieces are now deemed fashionable is not what I love about them (okay, okay, I lie, it is in fact very handy that these pieces are trendy again). What I love is that whenever someone asks me where I got my clothes from, like Lea in Mean Girls, I get to respond with pride about how “it was my mums in the 90s/00s”.

The clothes that were once part of her story as a twenty-year-old are now part of mine, and that is why I think hand-me-downs are just the coolest thing ever!!!! It’s also why I wish fast-fashion companies would stop pumping out poorly constructed clothing that falls apart after just one wear.

How are people going to pass on Shein when it hardly survives being worn on a night out or a spin in the washing machine?? The answer is, they’re not, and I think it’s a shame that not many people in the future will get to say when asked about their outfit, “Thanks, it was my mum’s in the 2020s” (ew, just typing 2020s makes me feel old).

P.S. I promise I can write without making Mean Girls references.

P.S. I promise I can TRY to write without making Mean Girls references.