It’s a good time to be alive!
On the same day NASA announced that we’re one step closer to discovering life on other planets, Bluestar Alliance announced they’d be bringing back our favorite girls’ world. That’s right kiddies, Limited Too will be back in 2016 and is expected to reopen 200 stores over the next five years. You guys, that is so fetch. I’m so happy they didn’t close for good!
I remember my first time going into Limited Too. My mom took me to the mall on a Friday evening and I danced in my underwear in the dressing room to Hilary Duff’s Come Clean. Oh, and I made her sit on the parent couches outside waiting for me (“no you can’t come in Mom, I’m 12 now. I don’t want you in the dressing room with me. What would the store employees think!?”)
At its peak, Limited Too had roughly 600 sparkly pink stores, according to Business Insider, but they were forced to close many of them when the 2008 recession to a serious toll on the economy (parents probably couldn’t afford to buy their little girls inflatable furniture anymore). The remaining stores were turned into Justice, a travesty of our childhood left to mock us as we traversed the malls in our high school years (mainly to shop at Hot Topic).
But for those of us that remember the good ol’ days, let’s take a moment to reflect on some pivotal first’s in our lives and the incredible Limited Too outfits we wore to express our blossoming identity (while our mothers chuckled at our horrendous style):
Hanging out at the community pool (tankini):
Sometime around the summer before middle school, we discovered that boys existed and we could flirt with them (well, attempt to flirt). We’d sit around the community pool with our pink towels and a copy of Seventeen Magazine that somebody stole from their older sister. Of course, the boys never talked to us, but with still wore our adorable tankini with purple sunglasses.
First day of middle school (spaghetti straps with a t-shirt underneath):
Puberty was really awkward because there was the desire to express yourself, but also not express yourself too much or the other kids would make fun of you (a girl once said she hated me because I drew on my sneakers). Therefore, the first day of school was incredibly stressful because you wanted to look like you tried, but not like you tried too much. The result ended with you wearing spaghetti straps to show you were mature, but you had to put a tee underneath because you didn’t want to look like you were copying the high school girls (also your Mom didn’t let you leave the house looking like that).
Middle School Dance (denim skirt with mid-calf leggings):
To call it a dance is rather presumptuous. A more appropriate name would be the “middle school stand-around while you make awkward eye contact.” Regardless, you waiting weeks for this thing. You had your outfit planned out days in advance and you were even daring enough to wear a skirt (with leggings of course, let’s not get out of hand). However, when the day actually arrived, the event was too boring to be fun. Nobody would dance, they’d just stand around awkwardly in the gym.
Bat Mitzvah (semi-formal dress):
Somewhere along the way, you turned 13 and suddenly somebody was having their Bat Mitzvah. The invitations always said semi-formal dress, but what did that mean? Your mother probably went with you to your favorite sparkly pink store and helped you pick out the perfect party dress. “You girls will look so cute dancing in them,” she said. Unlike the school dances you went to, Bat Mitzvahs sometimes came with party motivators who were basically college kids that were hired to be the life of the party and motivate a bunch of 13-year-old to dance. Yeah, it ended up being pretty awkward regardless.
Limited Too really was the coolest store ever! Just take a moment to reflect on this awesome commercial they had involving a locker spa:
[Featured Image Credit: nymag]