Last week I was camp shopping with my step-sister and we found the most ridiculous duct tape I think I've ever seen - Hello Kitty printed duct tape. Pretty ridiculous. And awesome. This made me think about some of the past camp trends I've seen in my 12 years at camp.
Why duct tape, you ask? Well, I'm not sure why, but my last year as a camper (aka aide year), duct tape fashions were ALL the rage. Literally everyone at camp (counselors, campers, office staff, probably kitchen staff too) had at least on duct tape bracelet. What's appealing about boring old silver duct tape? Nothing. These were the ridiculous hot pink, neon orange, teal, lime green, etc colors. Girls even started making duct tape bows! I think the next year girls had duct tape shoes! It was absolutely crazy.
Another trend from my aide year was our half aprons! At our reunion in Dallas a few months before camp, we were shopping and saw some really cute aprons at Anthropologie. Of course, they were expensive for camp use, so we decided we'd get fabric and one of our cabin-mate's grandmothers made little half aprons for us to wear everyday. My apron was bright blue with little dots of other bright colors - very cute and summery. Since then several other aide groups have done the same.
Long before everyone was wearing Nike running shorts and before we all wore Soffees, everyone wore wind shorts. The plastic shorts that stick to EV-ER-Y-THING-uh when sweaty, which is 97% of camp. Back in the late '90's wen I started going to camp, that's what everyone wore. Slowly, Soffees were introduced and by 2001, they were the new standard. In the past few years, Nike running shorts have been the THING. Everyone wears Nikes and hardly anyone has any Soffees any more except for dance and War Canoe. In face, I cleaned out my Soffees this morning and was shocked at how many I had! I giving away about 15 pair, at least, and keeping a few in basic colors like black, grey, red, etc. Fun fact: I found 5 pair of red in this drawer which made me question how many red pair of shorts I owned in my 8 years as a camper.
Another transition I've seen at camp: Walkmen and CDs to iPods. Seriously made packing for camp so much easier!You don't have to go through your mounds of soundtracks and mix CDs to make sure you're only taking the essentials (and then get to camp and have forgotten something) and taking up a ridiculous amount of room in your backpack/trunk in the process. Now you just make sure you've got everything on your little iPod. So much easier!
Some trends, like Nike shorts, are seen elsewhere in the world, outside the camp gates. One of these, one that I have never and will never understand is Crocs. Thank goodness, this was short-lived because they're the summer version of Uggs - UGLY. At least Uggs serve a purpose when worn at the right time of year. Crocs serve no purpose but to be ugly.
Another trend I followed from camp to the real world was Twilight. When I had girls entering their freshman year of high school who were all obsessed with the same book series, I knew this just had to be a camp trend. Short-lived, everyone at home would be clueless. Oh, was I wrong. While I'll never understand why crazy people get Twilight tattoos that take up their entire backs or sides, I do understand some of the obsession with the books.
Somethings go in and out of popularity at camp. Bead bracelets are about an every other year trend. Sometimes you see girls with 27 bracelets going up their arms. Sometimes just one or two. Another is lanyards. I guess that more depends on who is head of arts and crafts. If they're relaxed, girls make all these crazy shapes and colors with their lanyards. If they're not as relaxed, lanyards are few and far between, as well as boring colors and just the typical square shaped lanyard.
Some recent trends include: fishing shirts, bows, chacos/tivas, and last years' obsession with silly bandz.
Stay tuned for this year's camp trends.
