Roxy Girl

A 4 letter synonym for cool.

Although our family identified as more “middle-class,” we grew up among an affluent, upper-middle-class and upper-class community. We attended a private day school, lived in the community, and went to overnight camp in the summer. Despite the hardships our family went through, our mom made sure that we never felt “lesser than.”

Roxy was a popular surf brand in the late 1990s and early 2000s, during the fashion era of Paul Frank and those thick skateboard shoes. These were brands my mom could not afford as a single mother. I would beg for Roxy shirts because I believed they were a symbol of being “cool.” My friends donned the latest shirts, and I would sit waiting and hoping for my turn. I know, in hindsight, this sounds silly, but at the time, in my 10-year-old brain, it mattered most. This was the era when we were all getting our first email addresses (see previous post), many of which included some version of “roxygirl.”

One day, we were going to the Canadian store Winners—a magical store that features overstock, sometimes slightly out-of-season wear. I was combing through the junior section, seeing what was affordable enough for me to ask my mom to buy. That’s when I saw it: a white T-shirt with a small but definitely present Roxy logo. The excitement that overcame me was palpable. I immediately grabbed it, begged my mom to let me try it on, and she complied. I tried it on, it fit, and Mom agreed to buy it. Wow, was I ever excited. Even though I remember it being out of season (it was definitely fall/winter at the time), I wore it to school that Monday. While I can’t remember if anyone actually said anything to me, I felt so proud that I, too, was able to wear a Roxy shirt.

so “cool” here in one of my picture day photos

Winners became a beacon of hope for my prepubescent (well, let’s be serious, pubescent), materialistic brain, and for the next three years, I made sure to wear something “brand name” on picture day to be forever etched into the yearbook (and on all my grandparents’ walls).