10 Middle School Trends That Made No Sense

Middle school, like many others, was probably the most awkward time in my life. Everyone thinks they are way cooler than they actually are when they’re in middle school. Looking back on some of my old pictures makes me cringe. Some trends that everyone thought were amazing, are actually quite questionable. If you saw me participating in any of these middle school trends…no you didn’t.

1. When everyone posted “Like for a TBH and rate.”

I started middle school in 2011 and most everyone started to download Instagram for the first time. If you’re anything like me, you probably posted like 20 pictures of “like for a TBH or rate” and then kept liking other people’s because you wanted to know what they thought of you. It was so stupid honestly; not sure why there was ever a trend where people literally rated each other based on how they looked. I can’t count how many times I was so upset with what people said to me in their TBH post. I’m glad this trend has died out.

2. The hair feather trend.

What were girls thinking back then? Did we actually think it was cute to get colored feathers in our hair? I remember I was so desperate to have feathers in my hair, I even got clip-in ones before I could get the ones attached to your head. They lasted for a while too and then when they fell out, it was a tragedy. Feathers were just the hipster, cool thing to do. If you had a feather in your hair, you instantly became cooler.

3. Abercrombie and Hollister shirts that had the company name on them were the shit.

I went to a private school where we had uniforms so every free dress day every girl would literally show up in one of these shirts. We were literally a walking advertisement. You probably had a stack of the Abercrombie and Hollister shirts with different fonts so you could change it up a little too.

4. Every girl’s obsession with Uggs.

It would be super hot outside and girls would still wear Uggs! Also, people thought you were so cool if you had sparkles and bows on your Uggs. Girls would literally wear them to the point where they looked so worn out and old. They just were the style back then. Having a pair of Uggs was like the best thing ever. After Christmas, everyone would get a new pair of sparkly Uggs and literally cry.

5. Silly Bandz were the best jewelry.

People used to trade them too! Even celebrities created their own Silly Bandz and people loved them. Middle schoolers went crazy for Silly Bandz. The more you had, the more people envied you. Wearing a stack of Silly Bandz was a middle school right of passage. My middle school got so annoyed at people for trading and wearing Silly Bandz that they literally banned everyone from wearing them. People would still trade them on the DL though.

6. When every girl wanted a pair of Toms.

Tell me why I have like 20 Toms Shoe Bags in my closet still? I wanted sparkly Toms so bad I begged for them for my 13th birthday. For some reason, girls thought Toms were so stylish and it was seen as cool to wear them to school. I mean they were comfortable, but honestly, they’re not the most attractive pair of shoes ever. If I wasn’t wearing Uggs, I was probably wearing my Toms (with the sparkles, of course). Also, some people bought the fake Toms knockoffs and everyone instantly knew for some reason. Why was it such a big deal?

7. Layering Justice tank tops under everything.

Remember Justice? I probably had about 20 lace tank tops with the built-in bra from there that I wore under EVERYTHING. Even if I had another tank top I thought it was still a good idea to layer another tank top underneath it. You wanted people to know that you had a sparkly lace Justice tank top underneath your outfit. Justice was literally the go-to place for any sparkly piece of clothing back in the 2010s. I’m glad people matured from wearing their sparkly lace tank tops because trust me it was not a good style.

8. When Fresh Tops was a thing.

Does anyone remember Fresh Tops? That online clothing store that sold all those graphic shirts that everyone wanted? Most of the designs they stole from other companies like Forever 21, but people still wanted their tops. My 2013 wishlist literally had all of these tops on it from Fresh Tops that I wanted so bad, especially the 1D logo ones. It was a horrible company though. Every time I ordered from them they would send the wrong shirts or it would take forever to send. Plus they never responded to their emails when I asked for a refund so not sure what happened. Then they kind of disappeared and that was that.

9. Everyone’s obsession with Photobooth.

Photobooth pictures were the thing back in Middle School. When you were with your friends, you would take 100s of pictures of you in the different Photobooth filters and think you guys were the coolest people ever. All of the Photobooth pictures would take up so much storage on your computer but you didn’t care. People progressed from Photobooth to VSCO.

10. The OG Brandy Melville graphic tees.

When Brandy opened, everyone was obsessed with their graphic t-shirts, including me. I longed for a shirt that said “I love you to the moon and back” and all of the alien logo shirts. Brandy has definitely improved their shirts, but you most likely still own one of the OG shirts.

Let’s just say I’m glad middle school ended. I can’t believe I participated in some of these trends, but everyone goes through phases, am I right? Hopefully, these trends brought some nostalgia back for your middle school days.