Fictional Fashion Icon: Darlene Conner

One of my favorite television shows to watch growing up was Roseanne.  I still watch the reruns played daily on TV, sometimes for hours at a time without even realizing it.  In fact, I'm surprised it's not playing in the background right now as I write this.  Although the show has been off the air since 1997, somehow it doesn't feel outdated and it continues to make me laugh (minus the season where the Conner family won the lottery but that's a whole different post).

 

My favorite character on the show was Darlene.  The middle child of the Conner siblings, Darlene had a sarcastic sense of humor and an I-don't-give-a-fuck-attitude.  She started off the series as a tomboy but along the way morphed into a moody teenager who draped herself in black and felt like an outcast.  I found her very relateable during my own teen years.

 

Dan's fashion choices are also kind of awesome.

 

Eventually Darlene traded in her all black look for a 90's approved grunge wardrobe.  Her look was effortless and cool, like she just rolled out of bed and threw on the first thing she saw.  I see pieces of Darlene's fashion influence all over these days whether it's on the streets, runways, or the pages of the latest Urban Outfitters catalog.  Let's now take a look at some of her best moments.

Never one to shy away from her opinions, Darlene wore this "MEAT STINKS" t-shirt to her mom's loose meat restaurant, The Lunchbox.  Forget supporting your favorite band, Darlene chose to show her anti-support for meat with this tee.  If you're also anti-meat (I'm a carnivore), you can buy the same tee at Bona Drag.

 

 

Darlene's wardrobe contained the most necessary clothing item ever: denim.  Here she sports a baggy, ripped up pair with boots.  I dig it and so do these models off duty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still keeping with the denim theme, Darlene knew the importance of a denim jacket.  My closet was lacking one until I recently picked up this one by Levi's.  Bonus: it's on sale!

 

 

Plaid flannel shirts were a 90's staple and continue to be now, whether on your back or around your waist.  Darlene and her dad Dan knew this and so did those other 90's TV icons, the Olsen twins.

 

 

 

 

Darlene also knew the importance of layering pieces, which is why she inVESTed in this piece.  See what I did there?  I'm sorry, I'll stop.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll leave you with one of my favorite moments from the show between Darlene and Dan, complete with denim and flannel.

 

Images via thirdanddelaware, Style, Olsens Anonymous, TheyAllHateUs, Sass & Flash, Models Off Duty, Breaker Breaker Blog.

Eyebrow Envy

Once upon a time aka the '90s, I had big, bushy eyebrows.  I inherited them from my father and never thought much about them.  This changed when I became a teenager and noticed my eyebrows slowly inching towards each other, desperate to meet.  Yes, I was in danger of forming a unibrow.  I begged my mom to take me to have them waxed and she eventually obliged.  After the deed was done, I looked in the mirror (through watering eyes) and no longer saw two caterpillars sitting above my eyes.  From that moment on I spent years maintaining my brows through waxing, threading, and tweezing.

Throwback Tuesday, eyebrow and tube top edition.

Fast forward to July 2012.  It was at this time that I decided I wanted my eyebrows back.  Blame it on the '90s revival or on Cara Delevingne, but bushy brows were back and I wanted to be part of the action.  I stopped my routine eyebrow grooming and it showed.  It showed so much that every time I would get a manicure the manicurist would ask me if I wanted her to "fix" my eyebrows.  I resisted the urge to go back to my old ways and continued to play the waiting/growing game.

 

My current status nearly a year and half later?  Still waiting and still growing.  My eyebrows don't look like Cara's but the manicurist stopped asking if I want her to fix my eyebrows.  Progress.

 

Some of my favorite eyebrows, past and present.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images via Vogue Paris, Vogue Italia, Harper's Bazaar, Harper's Bazaar UK, Style Addict, Huffington Post, All Things Cara Delevingne.