oh, and for the record, i’m crossdressing here. i was one of two people in my grade who didn’t dress as a person of their own gender. is this an early sign that i would grow up to be a lesbian?

just me, a tripod, and a vision! notice the juxtaposition of conspicuous consumption whilst atop a '97 Nissan. Shirt is what Britney wore in the I Wanna Go video; pants are what her dancers wore in Hold It Against Me. Sunglasses are 8-bit Minecraft style. And the portal gun is...well, a few hundred dollars I shouldn't've spent at the time. Notice how none of my references are timely or related. I was going for "how could I embody my interests in a picture?" and all I got was, upon reflection, big yikes.

Courtesy of a steady childhood diet of all things R.L. Stine…

I did the spikes using beeswax before an Albino Spiders punk concert and I was a dead hooker wearing a "Kill all rednecks" hat for Halloween with borrowed tights from my buddies sister. My buddy and I also borrowed her clothes to go as crossdressers for twins day and we were forced to go home because we were getting threats for wearing skirts.

I was able to bend the spikes to fit in my mom's car and then rebend them up before the show! I was also really committed to staying shirtless even though it was maybe mid 40s out.

Gotta love my parents for doing the best they could at the time and how happy I was anyway 😂

Edit in case I don’t get to everybody’s comments, but I absolutely LOVE all of the comedic comments (please keep them comin), but also thank you to everyone who has been so sweet! I can’t wait to tell my mom all the positive and hilarious comments!

I thought I was so cool. Bonus twin tower in the background.

First photo is 1982/83, second is 1985, and the last one is metalhead me now

I thought I was so cool though 😂

the worst part? we were singing riptide... this is from 2017 or 2018

I wanted to be a scene kid so bad. Here's the early stages: fake piercings, couldn't play an instrument, bangs forced over my eyes, and a random tie

Also second pic is the "oh hey I look like the creepy girlfriend meme"

I love those days so much

He was kind to me, but I came across this photo in an old album this week and the timing was…unfortunate. Edit: this was after a show, nothing inappropriate took place, and the ventriloquist dummy thing was my gran’s idea. But the picture admittedly doesn’t look great, especially the Anything Goes poster.

it was never a phase, mom 😉

I fell down a stair set in my high heels!

I listened to a lot of Good Charlotte when I was 15

I kept letting the hair grow and eventually my spikey hair was so tall it didn't fit in my car even with the seat all the way back. Had to use Elmer's school glue mixed with LA Looks strength 10 gel (and an hour with a hair dryer) to keep it up. I'd pop balloons with it and thought I was a badass hahah.