With the 90s fashion resurgence, there has apparently been a renewed interest in Sassy magazine. People who weren't even born during my Gen X teen years are wearing things I wore to high school and college. I could write a whole entry titled "Let's Not Do That Again". :)
Amid this 90s vintage fixation the young kids have, my thoughts drifted back to Sassy after spotting a few issues in a vintage store. As the weird alt/heavy metal girl in a small town, in a trailer across the street from a cow pasture, my Gramma's gift subscription to Sassy was a Godsend among the other options for light reading. (I preferred classic literature anyway.)
As a little girl, I was given She-Ra magazine, on which I drew armpit hair, chest hair, and moustaches on everyone. I had been He-Man fan and had a serious conversation with my aunt prior to starting school, making my case for having my name legally changed to Teela. I didn't need no stinkin' She-Ra, although I did like playing with my neighbor/friend's ice lady doll.
Until Jem came along, I admit I sometimes enjoyed Barbie magazine with it's fashion spreads. I remember a particular floral pastel Ralph Lauren-esque spread in which a lovely black model had a ponytail at the nape of her neck, gathered again at the bottom, creating a big, beautiful puff past her shoulders. I also remembered showing my momma and requesting the hairstyle for school, and being disappointed to hear "Honey, your hair won't do that." (My hair was thin and blonde and would not grow. It's ok. I made up for it and had all the hair I wanted after I dyed my hair black and could easily match all kinds of weave to it.)
In my teenage years, along came 'Teen and Seventeen magazines. I tried "fitting in" at certain points of my formative years. I tried to relate to these publications. I just couldn't. Then, along came Sassy. Sassy showed me a lot of things, mostly through reinforcing that it was ok not to fit in.
Sassy had models that looked like regular teenage girls, who even sometimes cut their own hair or did their own piercings. I could relate to that. They had regular articles on DIY accessories and clothing- making retro pillowcase dresses, skullcaps from turtlenecks, and rocking (actual) baby tee-shirts before "baby tees" were manufactured. As a girl who hand-sewed her own patchwork top hat (loved and hated by many, for the record) inspired by Linda Perry and Slash, and DIYed her jeans into bellbottoms in admiration of the late Cliff Burton, I could relate to that.
In the same vein of rock-star inspiration, Sassy showed me that was okay, too. They published fashion spreads inspired by Axl Rose and T-Rex, and showed models in other articles wearing things like a vintage Cramps tee shirt. A particular piece on mix-matched swimwear separates (before separates were widely available- you really would have had to mix up different sets or thrifted pieces) still stands out in my mind, and I still seek out pieces in thrift stores that complement each other when no exact match is available or desired.
Sassy's poetry page featured pieces sent in by readers that often questioned social norms, asserted independence and self-confidence, and reassured other girls like me through the words of others who weren't concerned with fitting in. It was like a coffeehouse-on-a-page for those who had no such tangible haunt to speak of. (My hometown had one, I just couldn't get there.) Sassy's articles often enlightened on topics that other magazines wouldn't touch, or flat-out made a mockery of some of the typical articles one might find in other magazines geared toward young women.
Sassy taught me today, via a quick eBay search, that if I would have held onto my back issues, I could be making a small fortune right now- especially if I would have kept the one with the Kurt Cobain cover.
In short, Sassy taught me it's fine and dandy not to be like all the other girls. I thank God they did, too- because in those brief, fleeting periods wherein I tried, I sure as holy hell couldn't. I've always only been able to be me.
Photos to follow soon...
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