When I was in my late teens I was a full on rock chick. I loved bands such as Poison, Enuff Z’Nuff and Extreme. I even went out with a drummer for nearly two years. And, yes, that’s me back then. Note the big hair!
My friends and I spent every weekend traipsing around the south of England going to gigs, drinking far too much and staying in utter dives overnight. It was a laugh but it also helped us grow up because we were responsible for each other. Yes, we got into some scrapes, but then which teenager doesn’t, but we always made sure everyone was home safe and sound and ready for school or work on the Monday morning.
This is the band we went around with and, yes, that is my ex-boyfriend on the drums.
It all seems like a lifetime ago now and the last time we all met up was about ten years ago when Carrie, the eldest of the group, got married. Well, the last time until last Sunday.
It was Tee’s (one of the many nicknames we had for each other) 40th birthday and her parents invited us all around to their house for a garden party. It was so surreal seeing everyone again. For a few moments we didn’t know what to say to each other but quickly we got back into the piss-taking, gossiping and general raucous we’d always known. Yet, in a weird way, we were more grown-up, more sedate than before. It was more Pimms o’clock than headbangers united.
This is us now! A little bit older and, maybe, a little bit wiser but it was so much fun seeing everyone again and, of course, it gave me excuse to doll myself up, even if I was completely overdressed. Nothing new there then!
I wore my new Betty Page dress that I recently bought from Deadly is the Female. I think this has rapidly become my new favourite dress as it is so comfortable and fits so well. It has hip pockets, which are fantastic if you’re feeling a little bit nervous (as I was) and don’t know what to do with your hands.
I teamed it with the cute red earrings I bought from Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair in Bath, my favourite red heels which look like genuine 1950s shoes but are actually about 10 years old and the red vintage Kelly bag I bought from Frome a little while back. Unfortunately there were no full-length photos of me to show you the whole outfit but it wasn’t really a posing kind of a day. I was there to just enjoy myself.
We’re already planning our next meet up and think it would be best to try and relive our youth by going out to one of the venues we used to frequent. However, I’m not sure we’ll last until the wee small hours of the morning like we used to. We’ll probably all be tucked up in bed with a hot cocoa by midnight!
